Takin' a T/O with BT: Everybody Needs Some Manny Sometimes

Saturday night it happened—what we've been waiting for since the beginning of the season.

Manny Ramirez joined the 500 home run club.

Unlike what we've come to expect from Manny, there wasn't really much fanfare.

Sure Manny strutted, high-fived, and hugged his way around the bases and back into the dugout, but for a guy who hit the longest single in Major League Baseball's Playoff history last year, he was surprisingly quiet.

I mean, before belting 499 three nights earlier, Manny hadn't homered since May 12.  Every day we wondered when it would happen, and we pondered when he would join the 23 other men to accomplish that feat before him.

We hoped (or worried depending on who you are) that Manny would do something memorable with that 500th shot—you know, strut his stuff or walk it out with flare.

So what happened?

Maybe the wait made us apprehensive, and we were expecting the show that we normally get from Manny with his bathroom hijinx and high-five shenanigans. I mean we weren't expecting him to run up the wall and high-hive a fan again right?

Perhaps there were some out there who just need another reason to rip on Man-Ram; to declare, "If he can't show respect when he reaches one of the game's greatest milestones, then I truly have no reason to cheer for him."

Or were we just surprised that the class clown finally took the big exam, seriously?

For a guy that looks like he just likes to have fun and loves the game he gets to play for a living, he sure takes a lot of heat.

He's engaging with fans, he's lovable, jovial, he can laugh at himself, he's got personality, and he's talented—any of those reasons are enough to cheer him on as one of your favorite players.

But because of his fun-loving nature he becomes vilified by some—who wants a role model that's going to show the kids out there that it's fun to play baseball?

It'd be terrible to be a former batting champion with two World Series rings and a World Series MVP award right? What about the career leader in post-season home runs?

Maybe they should look up to someone like Barry Bonds who's rigid, curt, seemingly self-centered, quick to anger, and found himself in a whole whack of legal trouble.

I mean, he proves that all baseball is good for is a pay-cheque and a whole boatload of notoriety.

Wait...we don't want the kids looking up to that either do we?

So, despite Manny being the absurdly happy alter ego of Barry Bonds, we vilify him (with the internet and satellite TV nowadays it's so hard to find something to do so why not?), showing people that too happy is just as bad as too mean and that they need to find the middle ground.

Needless to say, the accountants in the audience should loosen their ties and take out their pocket protectors. Calorie adjusted meals will also be served after the show.

There's nothing wrong with a guy like Manny.

Yes, his defense is here one minute and gone the next, and maybe his in-game concentration pales in comparison with that of your average catcher in T-Ball.

But he also makes the game fun to watch in a way that no other sport offers.

There's also nothing wrong with the fact he's quotable—it's just that now everything seems to get blown out of proportion by the media with regards to Manny.

Would it have really been the end of the world if the Sox were eliminated from the playoffs? No. Nor is the fact that Manny wouldn't mind wearing pinstripes.

The great thing about him is that Manny is who he is, and he isn't going to try and disguise that. He literally lets it all hang out—whether it's his dreadlocks or his pants that are overly baggy, this is Manny Ramirez.

The NBA doesn't have anything close to Manny Ramirez, unless you count Gilbert Arenas and his blogging ability.

Until Jeremy Roenick lost his mojo, he couldn't be counted on for some Manny-capades of his own (like Ice Dancing in Vegas), but now he's just let the NHL fall to the hands of the less-than-admirable Sean Avery.

And there's a reason they call the NFL the No Fun League.

Nope, if I show my children film of Manny Ramirez and his antics, I won't have a problem if they aspire to be like him—inefficiencies in the field and all.

After all, being one of 10 players all-time with 500 home runs and a career .300 average? That's pretty damn good.

But then again, that's just "Manny being Manny."