Manny, All-Star Game
I have to weigh in on this Manny All Star game thing. I never had a problem with Manny. Because my mother is from Ohio, my cousins and uncles are Indian fans. By default, I used to watch Cleveland games and have been to the old stadium (held like 80K and around 5K would go to the games). I watched Manny when he started out with the Indians. I kind of get annoyed with his lack of respect for the game, but whatever. He is one of the greatest hitters in my generation. If he fails to run out a play, or makes his manager look like a fool, or not go after a pop-up, or try to turn a single into a double to make a point and gets thrown out by 30 feet, or hides when a manager rings his doorbell in the off-season, or constantly asks to be traded, or goes out drinking with opposing team players while he is home sick, or has an affair and promises his wife he will get out of Boston but then doesn’t, or anything like that, who cares. He can hit the ball far, he can hit the ball often, and he can catch a pop-up. Plus he goes to the bathroom behind the Green Monster during the game. He is fun.
But this All Star thing kind of bugs me. And I’ll be totally honest, if he were a Yankee I would change my story. Maybe. But maybe not. Look, Manny is not hurt. He has been in a ton of All Star games and doesn’t want to play. If he were hurt, he would not have played this past weekend. And Bud Selig has to grow a pair and call him on it. One player doesn’t mean a thing. But like one person cheating on their taxes, if one turns into a lot, then it does mean something. What the MLB All Star game will become is the NFL Pro Bowl. It will become a B list player line-up with the big studs opting to head to their Floridian mansions. It’s not a good trend for the All Star game. Forgot for a second the fans that expect to see him play, they get shafted, but there are so many other studs to watch that Manny will be forgotten. What I want is for Selig to stand up to the Sox ownership and tell them to send Manny or forget about getting invited to his off-season country club again.