The Break Up

  The divorce. It was inevitable, after weeks of torture and pain for both parties. It was sad, gazing back through the photo album of memories the two sides created together – two World Series championships, numerous All-Star games, and countless humorous vignettes. It was disheartening. But it was time. And finally, citing irreconcilable differences, Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox officially separated July 31, 2008.

  It was your classic on-again, off-again relationship. There were moments were it looked all but over – the Joe Kerrigan era, trading deadline ’05, the last few weeks of the 2006 season. But just when one of them was about to pack their bags and leave a tearful note on the kitchen table, peace was miraculously found and tender hugs smoothed things over for a little while.

  Of course, there were times when everything was perfect. There was the day Manny ran to leftfield with a tiny American flag in his hand, drawing a standing ovation for having become an American citizen. There were the celebrations after winning the 2004 American League Championship and the’04 and ’07 World Series. And there was this spring, when Manny floated into spring training with a What-Me-Worry demeanor and spent the first few weeks of the season denting baseballs and outfield walls.

  But, equal parts harmony and friction, it was doomed from the start. Like Sonny and Cher, Nick and Jessica or Regis and Kathy Lee before them, Manny and the Red Sox weren’t meant to be.

  And now, with the divorce papers officially filed and the parties having moved to opposite coasts, it’s time to start picking up the pieces.

  First things first – it should come as no surprise to anyone with a Red Sox hat in their household that Manny Ramirez is hammering the ball in Los Angeles. We could all see this coming – Manny gets traded, Manny gets happy, Manny gets hot. But this trade had nothing to do with Ramirez’s ability to make solid contact.

  Instead it was about making solid contributions. And even if Manny was hitting .335 with 40 homers and 110 RBI, one could still question – with all the accompanying baggage and hoopla – whether his contributions were actually solid.

  The thing is, Manny made the decision easy. He babbled about just wanting to be happy like he always does, but this time he overplayed his hand. The fact of the matter is his skills had eroded to the point that he was no longer worth the trouble.

  Not even close.

  In fact, to find proof you don’t have to look beyond the man who came back in the trade. The simple fact that Jason Bay’s numbers were more than comparable to Manny’s – while languishing in Pittsburgh’s stagnant lineup   – is illustration enough that Ramirez was no longer worth both $20 million and the day-to-day headaches he created.

  That’s taking nothing away from what Ramirez has accomplished. He’s the best right-handed hitter the Red Sox have had in my generation, and there’s no question the Sox are still searching for the solution to The Curse if Ramirez wasn’t patrolling left field for the last eight seasons.

  But the Red Sox have long shown that emotion doesn’t come in to play when making difficult roster decisions. It’s the classic what-have-you-done-for-me-lately approach. In recent years alone such logic has claimed the Red Sox lives of fan favorites Trot Nixon, Johnny Damon, Pedro Martinez, Doug Mirabelli and Derek Lowe, any of whom would have been retained if sentiment and sentiment alone drove personnel decisions.

  Of course, Manny had burned most of the good sentiment he had, anyway. Especially in the clubhouse. Reports that veteran players sought management out and basically demanded Ramirez be shipped out of town is extremely telling. If the atmosphere in the clubhouse was that bad now, imagine what it would be like in late September when Manny loafed it on another ground ball.

  It was a move that had to be made, and that’s precisely why the Sox tossed in Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss. Consider their losses collateral damage. But the Red Sox were not walking away from the negotiating table without dumping Ramirez one way or another.

  In the interest of full disclosure, I have long been a Manny apologist. My dad gave up on him two years ago, recognizing his inability to connect with or give a damn about the fans, but I pleaded with him to forget all that stuff because the guy could hit. And there will still be those that will argue the Red Sox are a better team with Manny in the lineup than without him.

  But there’s much more to it, and consider me convinced – Manny had to go. What Bay lacks in presence, perhaps, he makes up for with solid defense, better speed and a general verve for the game that Manny will never have. He appears legitimately energized after being rescued from the baseball purgatory that is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And his effect in the clubhouse has already been worth more than $20 million.

  Perhaps the most basic and tangible effect of the trade in my house took place Friday night, when I was suddenly rapt again by a Red Sox game. I watched that game like I watched in 2004, living and dying on every pitch and feeling genuinely excited about things. The Celtics run left me with a sizeable hangover that made baseball an afterthought, especially given the Manny circus, and the trade officially broke that cloud.

  The parallels to 2004 are eerie. Back then, the disgruntled star was Nomar, and the spunky newcomer was Orlando Cabrera, also rescued after spending his entire career in hapless baseball places. This trade immediately conjured similar thoughts, and the injection of energy Cabrera brought to the clubhouse has been equaled by Bay.

  Whether or not the end result will be the same is anyone’s guess, but for now I plan on simply enjoying the ride. At the very least, the final two months of the season have taken on a new air of excitement and possibility. At the same time, I’m sure Manny will rip the cover off the ball the rest of the season, too, and I hope he and Los Angeles are very happy with each other.

  I just hope for their sake that the Dodgers make him sign a pre-nup.