Game 160: Boston Red Sox 4, Baltimore Orioles 3
Game 161: Boston Red Sox 4, Baltimore Orioles 5
Game 162: Boston Red Sox 9, Baltimore Orioles 0
Thank God, it’s over. 86 wins, 76 losses and the season ends with a series win against Baltimore (again) on a rain-shortened day when a guy who started the year in Portland tossed five complete innings of no hit ball to get his first major league win. Oh and the first third-place placing in nine years. J.P. Ricciardi must be very proud of himself and his expanded payroll. Still, if you’re gonna give the hometown crowd something think about during the long off season, you might as well end with all cylinders firing: no errors, Hansack’s no-no, homers by Lowell, Lorreta and Hinske and a Kapler double. So, yeah, good stuff.
The big story of the weekend was the return of Manny to the lineup after a three-week absence. Ramirez came back to work like he hadn’t missed a day, going 2 for 3 with a homerun and a single and adding fuel to the “Manny wants to be traded – again” controversy. Here’s my crazy thought of the day on that one: did anyone care to notice that Manny made this year’s trade demand after the papers started calling him out for missing time for his tendonitis? I mean, look at the Herald article I just linked to – the writer hints in overtones a child could read through that she thinks Manny is faking his injury because he’s lazy and she’s not the only writer to do so. I don’t know who the Boston sports writers think they’re doing any favors for with their opinions – if they’re reacting to the end of a season of lost opportunity, or they honestly think anyone with half a brain really cares. Because, to be honest, if Manny Ramirez really is the clubhouse cancer writers like Shaughnessy and Massarotti claim he is, the front office will get rid of him. The rest of us should just enjoy the 1.058 OPS, the 35 HRs, the 102 RBI and the .321 AVG Manny put together this year – not to mention the protection he provides for Ortiz in the lineup – and shut it.
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