Boston Sports Wrap: David Ortiz on Manny Ramirez, Gary Payton Disses Rajon Rondo

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz talked to WEEI's morning show Wednesday, saying he attempted to get Manny Ramirez to resolve his issues, but that even he knew Man-Ram wanted to leave. You can listen to the entire interview here, but I wanted to pull out some highlights:

"Everything started one day that I told Manny, 'Hey, look, look at the numbers that you have put up your whole career, and you have never been able to win an MVP, there's a reason why,'" Ortiz said. "And the media is our family."

He urged Ramirez to "pull yourself together and start getting connected with the media because that's how you express your feelings and people get to know more and Manny's good things, that people don't know about Manny. And he agreed with me."

But it was this comment that really threw me. When asked whether the Sox would have beaten the Rays and won the World Series if they had Ramirez:

"Probably," Ortiz said. "I'm not going to lie to you—probably."

Not exactly a glowing endorsement for the current state of the club. Perhaps if Mike Lowell wasn't injured, that might have made a difference. Jason Bay had an awesome postseason, but Lowell's absence, Jacoby Ellsbury's horrendous ALCS and the black hole of the 7-8-9 slots in the lineup were what killed the team in the postseason. Saying all this, they still made it to Game Seven of the ALCS and could have won that final game...not too shabby.

Ramirez is a great hitter, but because of his issues (and Scott Boras' desire to get to the free agent market), there was no way it was going to work. In the end, a guy that brought a lot of greatness and fun to Fenway Park for almost eight seasons is now seen as a pariah. Good work, Scott and Manny. Good work.

Gary Payton is a bitter jerk. You remember Payton, the future Hall-of-Fame point guard that had one run with the Boston Celtics and was rumored to join the team this past season as a veteran backup to Rajon Rondo. The C's instead went with Sam Cassell and the team won their 17th world championship. Payton must be upset about that decision as he decided to publicly diss Rondo on NBA TV this past week:

For the record, Rondo averaged 10.6 points and 5.1 assists per game last season at just 22 years of age and put up 21/8/7 in the Finals-clinching win over the Lakers. Seriously "Glove," show some class in your old age, OK?

The news of Pats' linebacker Adalius Thomas' season being over might have been a bit premature, if you believe this from the Boston Globe:

"Two sources said doctors have not told Thomas he is out for the season. The decision may ultimately come down to what the prognosis is for his recovery time and whether the Patriots think it's worth sacrificing a spot on the 53-man roster for an extended period to keep the option of having Thomas potentially ready to return. That decision could be made as soon as today, when Thomas goes for a follow-up."

Dustin Pedroia continues to rack up awards, earning a Silver Slugger award to go with his Gold Glove at second base. For those of you keeping track at home, the AL MVP will be announced this Tuesday. However, we really think the award Pedroia should be taking is an Oscar after these performances.

The news of the Red Sox freezing their ticket prices for the 2009 season has made the media rounds and we agree that it's a nice gesture in this bad economic era, even if they have some of the league's highest ticket prices. But note this: the team is adding 350 new seats for next season and assuming an average face value of $50, that's just over $1.4 million in new revenue in addition to the money they'll get by selling out every game.

It's a good thing they (and other teams) are doing, but they are still going to make a killing this season with ticket sales alone. Now if the scalpers had to freeze prices, that would be a story!

Josh Nason (josh [at] smallwhiteball [com]) is the publisher and main writer of Small White Ball, an all-encompassing sports blog that began in 2007. You can also read on mixed martial arts, boxing and pro wrestling at brother site RopesRingandCage.com. If you're using any part of this post, please link back to www.smallwhiteball.com. Thank you!