Manny Ramirez and the Media Revolt That Drove Him Out of Boston

Yes, I'm a Red Sox fan. Yes, I love Manny. Still do to this day. I wish he was still in Boston.

Manny Ramirez has been the best Red Sox hitter ever since he signed in 2001. Better than David Ortiz, despite what the numbers show. Ortiz would probably be a 20-25 home run hitter per year without Manny's protection.

Unfortunately, Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy was looking for something to write about.

He could have written about Joba Chamberlain outdueling Josh Beckett in a 1-0 loss to the Yankees. Maybe even about Mike Lowell's rare ejection from the game or the more than questionable umpiring.

Instead, Shaughnessy decides to write about Manny possibly faking a knee injury in order to get out of the game.

Shaughnessy states that "The Red Sox are fed up with Manny," and he also states that he's "comfortable with the theory that Manny is using his alleged knee injury to send a message to the ball club."

Shaughnessy, that's great and all but you have no evidence whatsoever. Not only could he not provide any quotes from Red Sox management or ownership, but his theory is one that could easily be qualified as libel.

Manny's MRI's showed no injuries, but some knee injuries can't be found through MRIs. But Shaughnessy is gonna milk this for all it's worth.

That article was written on July, 26 2008. It was the first of six articles about Manny leading up to the trade deadline.

Shaughnessy is an influential guy. Influential as in able to change the opinions of people. His articles are always on the front page and the Boston Globe is something that can be spread through the Associated Press.

Shaughnessy's articles spread everywhere, whether fans realized or not. And the media took advantage.

Manny has had issues with the Red Sox front office ever since he signed the contract. The Red Sox were able to deal with him and his talent more than made up for it. While some of his antics are inexcusable for a job, people who are great at something often get away with inability do deal with others.

But the media stopped recognizing this and made him out to be a monster to all of baseball fans. Eventually, enough was enough.

Manny was provoked to the point in saying, "The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me." He also said that mental peace was more important to him than anything and he wasn't getting that with the Red Sox.

Boston used to be Manny's home. He lived there for years. He said he wanted to retire with the Red Sox in the 2008 preseason. His happiness and confidence changed the attitude of the team in 2004. Manny used to be a perfect fit and he loved it in Boston.

But one problem is the media. Without it, we wouldn't know anything. But because of it, we have our opinions swayed while not all the information is unveiled. It's like the old saying, a little knowledge can be a very bad thing.

The media made its choice. It would go along with Shaughnessy's accusations and not think twice about the unrevealed details of the matter.

Randy Johnson hit a teammate to get off the Mariners. People have forgotten about that rather easily because it was hardly talked about. The media decided to put the spotlight on Manny.

It's not like Manny didn't bring this upon himself at all. But it was not completely his fault. Everyone cares to an extent about what people think of them, even someone with Manny's carefree attitude.

Manny simply did not feel comfortable in Boston anymore. It forced a seemingly one-sided trade in the Dodgers' favor.

The day before Shaughnessy's first Manny article, he wrote an article saying Dustin Pedroia would be as good as Pete Rose.

Perhaps it was Shaughnessy's time of the month. Perhaps he was just having a bad day. Maybe he wrote the Manny article because he hadn't put out an attacking column for a few weeks.

Either way, it should be known that we still don't know the whole story of Manny's last days in Boston.

Maybe he did bring it upon himself. But next time you read an article attacking someone in sports rather than glorifying them, look at the justification of the article.