How will you choose to remember Manny?

On Friday, Manuel Aristides (Onelcida) Ramirez returns to Fenway Park for the first time since July 31, 2008.

How do you feel about this?

Red Sox fans are an emotional group with long memories. 2008 was not all that long ago. Nomar Garciaparra received a standing ovation when he came back to Fenway as a member of the Oakland A's, but that was five years removed and a precipitous decline in production later. Also, for the most part, Garciaparra did not do as much to anger the Sox fan base before he was shipped out of town as Ramirez would do four years later. Also, Nomar's trade brought valuable pieces to a team that eventually won the World Series for the first time in 86 years.

What about lineup protection?

It didn't take long for David Ortiz to ask for a "power" bat to protect him in the lineup after Manny Ramirez was traded. This was oddly timed last year as the team was returning Jason Bay to the lineup and was expecting big things from him. Now with Bay gone Ortiz has stuck to his mantra asking who is supposed to "protect" him now. This is a mental thing for David, but protection is a very misunderstood idea. The first thing I would hope is that Ortiz would take it upon himself to become the protection. To stop expecting it of others and say "I can hit 35 homers have a .400 OBP and carry this team". Outside of that we need to understand what is known about protection. Early studies looked at different numbers and found lineup protection to be largely a myth. Some were small size studies. Others said any effect they found was so small to be considered a myth. So we should just ignore Ortiz's statement and move on? Not yet.

All-Aughts Team of the Decade LF: Manny Ramirez

When Boston fans look back on the 2000s years from now, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez will only have grown in stature. For the rest of all our natural lives, any dominating three-four duo in the lineup will be compared to Papi/ManRam to determine 'the best ever.' (Fire Brand archives: Breaking down the Manny and Papi duo, 2/9/07; 3-4, 8/5/06.) Today, we recognize Manny Ramirez (and all his faults) as the All-Aughts left-fielder of the decade. All told, Manny hit for an obscene .312/.411/.588 line, cranking 274 home runs and 868 RBI for the Sawx.

Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on 2003 Doping List (via NYTimes)

Should be interesting to watch this play out. Still gathering my thoughts.

Lady Luck is a fickle mistress — just ask the Sox and Yankees

This decade has been the most monumental in the franchise's history. Not only did new ownership arrive, but Fenway Park was revitalized, a Nation was born (in the media, that is), a new generation of stars (Nomar, Manny, Pedro, Big Papi, Papelbon, Pedroia) put their stamp on their team... oh, and there were those two World Championships as well.

All this was done thanks to the incredible work that Theo Epstein and the rest of the baseball operations put in to give us the players that we root for every day. They are, to be certain, the reasons why we have our first two rings since 1918.

But let's not count out Lady Luck. Lady Luck is a fickle mistress; you never know when she'll turn on you.

Papelbon says Manny was ‘cancer’

The popular Red Sox (and sports?) story today is going to be Jonathan Papelbon coming out with both barrels aflame at one Manuel Aristides Ramirez. Read on to hear Papelbon's quotes and my reaction...

He is not Manny…

Look, I understand why having no Manny could cause concern. Manny, after all, has accomplished things on a baseball field that I have never seen before, especially from the right side of the plate. The 2007 postseason is a great example of just how incredible of a hitter Manny Ramirez was. His "domination" of good pitching nonetheless, was near remarkable, in baseball terms. Pitchers such as Fausto Carmona and CC Sabathia seemed over-matched, and ace pitchers are not usually over-matched like that. It was almost as if Manny was the one with the ball in his hands.

So I understand the hesitance to say that Jason Bay is the second coming of Manny. Because it wouldn't be true. He just isn't that good.

However, don't misinterpret that, for Jason Bay is actually very good.

A-Rod out ’til May; Manny’s condo on market

Alex Rodriguez will have hip surgery and be out for 10 weeks, or until May. Who the heck will play the hot corner for them? Cody Ransom? Angel Berroa? Hah! Methinks they'll ink either Ray Durham or Mark Grudzielanek... or hey, could a Bobby Crosby trade be in the works?

Oh, and Manny's selling "the most magnificent apartment in the city." It's yours for $8.5 million. A bargain!

Examining the Red Sox’s defense via Defensive Runs

A couple years ago, The Fielding Bible took baseball by storm with John Dewan's Plus/Minus system to evaluate fielders. This year, he's back at it with The Fielding Bible--Volume II in which he takes all the metrics created in the original volume and distills them into Defensive Runs, a statistic that can show how good a player is at preventing runs.

Manny a Tornado?

The Can-Am Worcester Tornadoes have offered Manny Ramirez a contract for two years at $24,000. With Worcester as my birth city and a city I still frequent multiple times a week, it would be great if he signed.

The Tornadoes have had former Red Sox prospects play for the team such as Greg Montalbano and Ed Reilly, who pitched the first ever Tornadoes game and then retired immediately after the game. Former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman has been the manager since inception. Johnny Pesky and Roger Clemens were among those that attended Tornado games in 2008. I attended the first game for the Tornadoes; you can read about it here (sadly, the pictures no longer work).