Red Sox, Rays and Manny Ramirez

The Sox dropped two to the Rays this week and a postponement of the third game came as sort of a relief to Red Sox Nation.  It seems that after their similarly abysmal start, Tampa Bay has tuned up just ahead of the Sox and started turning it on this series.   John Lackey has been skipped in the rotation but with four games at Fenway against Toronto before going on the road against Oakland and Anaheim(!), the Sox look to pick up a handful of wins and start to climb the standings.


One thing missing from the Sox-Rays series was, of course, Manny Ramirez.  Retiring last week just five games into the season, Mannmy ran afoul of the MLB Drug Prevention and Treatment Plan.  Rather than face a 100 game suspension for his second offense, he called it quits.  Arguably one of the greatest right handed hitters of all time, he will now sadly be known for the way he left the game, rather than how he played it.  Red Sox Nation will always remember him as the heavy hitting companion to David Ortiz, Manny who helped Boston capture it's first World Series title in 86 years and his offensive production earned him World Series MVP honors.  The Nation will also remember Manny being Manny, getting into dugout scrapes with Kevin Youkilis and feigning injuries when he didn't want to play.  I was at the game in Anaheim when Manny fell all over a routine liner and the Nation knew that was the beginning of the end.  Fans still wear number 24 around and we have to remember Manny exactly as he would've wanted us too.