How We Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Manny

Even Steven Spielberg would blush at last night's Hollywood moment at Dodger Stadium.  Insert token "Mannywood" reference here. 

We all saw the clip.  Manny comes off the bench for a pinch hit and Chavez Ravine explodes like a 1980s WWF crowd hearing Hulk Hogan's "I Am A Real American" music.  Then LA's dread-locked hero delivered the big slam, a grand slam, to put the Dodgers up 6-2.

Vin Scully told reporters that was the loudest he's heard Dodger Stadium in 20 years.  Essentially, last night was the most electrifying moment in Dodger history since the Kirk Gibson home run.  Who among us is qualified to argue with Vin Scully over anything Dodger-related?

There is definitely a greater issue here. 

Other faces of the steroid era have been crucified by the media.  And they've certainly tried to do it with Manny.  The Jay Mariotti's and Skip Bayless' of the world were tripping over each other to point their fingers like nuns in a Catholic school. 

Even LA's own Bill Plaschke played the moral police, Tweeting that Manny should not be allowed to pick up a bat during his suspension.

I wonder if Plaschke threw a party when Manny got pegged by a pitch two nights ago out of some misplaced sense of karma.  Since Plashcke climbed his tower of judgement, comment forums lit up with Dodger fans boycotting Plashcke's columns.  

Dodger fans have made it clear they simply do not care.  At the end of the day, is sports not supposed to be about the fans?  If the Dodgers don't care, if the fans don't care, why should aging sports writers who have completely lost touch with the public care? 

In the court of public opinion, Manny has somehow landed higher than any other player convicted of performance enhancing drugs.  How did he do it?  Well, to embrace an old cliche, it was simply a case of "Manny being Manny." 

Yes we're all tired of that phrase, but it applies so perfectly to the situation.

With Clemens, Bonds and A-Rod, they gave the media something to dissect.  Their soundbites and denial only tantalized the frothing dogs that are the sports media. 

Manny, as usual, escaped into his private little world.  The most he said was "it's not like I killed or raped anyone" and then he went about his business.  Somehow, and much to Bill Plaschke's chagrin, life managed to go on.

I realize the irony of criticizing the sports media through a sports media outlet, but it's 2009 and that's just how it goes.  In the Twitter era, everyone has an avenue for expression. 

Formerly a one-way street, media distribution and consumption is now a crowded highway.  The print media dinosaurs may not like to hear it, but the aforementioned comment forums are just as important to the process as the articles themselves. 

Now, fans are allowed to bite back quicker than a letter to the editor. And thanks to that the fans message on Manny has been clear "Enough already. Let's just watch some damn baseball."

What has been lost in the Manny demonizing is the play of the Dodgers.  They've had the best record in baseball all year, playing just as well without Manny as they did with him. 

So as long as he's bringing Dodger fans to their feet, even old school Joe Torre can look past some past use of performance enhancers.  We are at the edge of a tainted era and it would be a lot easier for all of us if we just accepted that and moved on. 

The other question is, where does this leave Manny's legacy? 

His Hall of Fame fate is in the hands of sports writers, and luckily the highly politicized Baseball Writers Association of America finally let in Keith Law and Rob Neyer. 

Not saying they'll vote for Manny, but their modernized approach to baseball writing will inject some new blood and help clear the stuffy, conservative air created by the older baseball writers who initially opposed the wild card. 

No matter what happens with the Hall of Fame, Manny will go down as one of the most polarizing figures in sports history.  Polarizing is an easy term to apply but it couldn't fit Manny any better. 

Like a bad breakup, Boston fans will be bitter but secretly remember all the good times they had with Manny.  His home run against the Angels in the 2007 ALDS will be remembered in the pantheon of great Boston sports moments, as will his ill-conceived attempt to cut off a throw from Johnny Damon.  But that's just how it goes with Manny.

If the Dodgers win the World Series this year, Manny will springboard above Kobe in terms of LA love.  If he doesn't, at least fans will know that, unlike Kobe, Manny's personality is not even the least bit contrived. 

One thing that cannot be lost is Manny's approach at the plate.  His vision, his hands, and his reputation for being a batting cage rat cannot be understated.  In other words, he did all the things that steroids really would not have helped anyways. 

So is there a quick, easy answer to where Manny fits in history and what this all means to the integrity of baseball?  No, only time will tell on that. 

One thing is true though, if Barry Bonds is the king of the steroid era, then Manny is the court jester.  Odd, questionable, but in the end you cant help but like him a little.  He keeps the fans smiling, and if you don't think that's a good thing then you might as well just give up on sports all together.