Here Comes Manny Claus!

Only Manny Ramirez could create controversy with an overwhelmingly gregarious act.


At an event on Saturday at which ManRam donated his classic car - a 1967 Lincoln Continental convertible, on eBay if you're interested - to the Franciscan Hospital for Children in Brighton, Ramirez jumped right past 2008 to discuss his plans for 2009, making it clear that he would find a home with impressively-lined pockets, whether it was in Boston or not.

“I don’t know but we’re going to see. They want me to stay, I’ll stay. If not, I want to move on. But my meaning is, I’m going to become a free agent after 2008 and move on.”

Still not convinced that he's going to find a rich home outside of Boston if he needs to (cough, cough, Mets, cough)? This one line, which, like the preceding quote, was told to the Herald's Michael Silverman, says it all:

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “If (I’m) here, (I’m) here; if not, I’ll be fine.”

Ouch. Not such an impressive ringing endorsement. But then again, this is Manny we're talking about, right? Does it even matter if he's focused on the field when he's not in the batter's box? If last year's ALCS is any indication, he probably doesn't. Manny's declaration that "The world is going to end," was one of the catalysts behind Boston's resurrection from the dead.



What's more, by all accounts Ramirez has never been so content in Boston. He's happy there, his legacy in the city is well established, one of two or three irreplaceable keys to the Red Sox' two World Series titles. And unlike past seasons, when the drama about his spring training arrival swirled until he set foot in Ft. Myers, Ramirez has been training his head off with none other than Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia at Athletes Performance in Arizona. Quite an about-face for a guy some thought had reached a level of apathy from which he wouldn't be able to return.

Then again, this is Manny. All of this could change, possibly within the next week. Certainly his charitable donation this weekend was testament to that, and the unpredictability that is the world inside Manny's head.

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