Current free agent Manny Ramirez will look good in New York Yankees pinstripes. Ramirez is pictured here during a Boston Red Sox-Yankee game on April 22, 2007. (Photo courtesy of Just A Big Geek, flickr.)
I find it insulting how self-appointed baseball purists hide behind their staid placards like “tradition” or “purity” or “arrogance.” Go ride off on your moral high horse! And that includes fellow New York Yankee fans that hide behind that thin veneer as well.
“…I remember when the Yankees were all about Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle…”
When we read about our past idols, their faults and failures are conveniently swept under the rug by history’s broomstick. Don’t look to men who are paid millions to hit a hard, white leather ball with a piece of wood for moral rectitude. Quite frankly I find it gutless and hypocritical.
I can’t help but think of Roberto Clemente and the controversy he stirred up during his playing days because he was such the opposite of the somber Protestant ethos that all players at the time exhibited.
Ahem.
Why the Yankees Need Ramirez
That established, Manny Ramirez is a good fit for New York. I’m looking for fire and firepower. So what if I don’t like his matted dreadlocks. He doesn’t care. He overstayed his time with the Boston Red Sox. Kind of when you don’t quite know how to break-up with your girlfriend when you’ve grown overly comfortable and bored.
Anyway, he isn’t fazed by the heat of the bright lights that has made so many other players wilt. Ramirez is the type of player that shines brightest on the big stage, and their is no bigger stage than Broadway.
He is intimately invested in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. He’s from Washington Heights, NY. He’s playing in front of his (and this last remark will bring grist for the mill.)
Ultimately, his absence from the Red Sox lineup cost Boston a trip to the World Series. A championship actually because what’s more uninspiring than the Phillies? The Red Sox would’ve swept them.
On the flip side, he single-handily carried an anemic offense to the National League Championship Series in the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He’s got two or three solid years in front of him.
Quite simply, Ramirez has the mental acuity to play outfield in Yankees Stadium.
Mark Teixeira is nice, but he just doesn’t do it for me. He doesn’t exhibit the toughness to bat in the four spot in the Yankee lineup. He’s as excitable as wet cardboard. He can obviously hit, but, his bat will only work with the Atlanta Braves or Anaheim Angels.
On pure hitting prowess, just imagine Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez as your three and four hitters? Makes me salivate.
Ramirez Will Bring Passion to Yankees
What’s been missing on the Yankees is not a will to win, but intensity, ferocity. They had that in their pitchers during the championship seasons (Orlando Hernandez, the young Andy Pettitte, David Wells, and Roger Clemens.)
What we’ve got now are “quiet leaders” in Derek Jeter, the older Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina and Yankees players that haven’t earned that right—Alex Rodriguez.
Yes, I believe Ramirez can bring some fight to the team. Yes, I say that with a straight face. No, seriously.
The Yankees aren’t built for the long run—we’re built for now. If the price is right (apologies to Bob Barker) there’s no reason Ramirez shouldn’t be in pinstripes.
Now when I write about adding Ramirez to the Yankees, it’s neatly side-stepping the inconvenience of having several outfielders already in the apex of their careers.
I don’t pretend to know how to sort that out, but Manny Ramirez in a Yankee uniform is a great short-term move.
