Manny Ramirez arrived in the major leagues with Cleveland in 1993. A regular since 1995, he joined the Red Sox as a free agent in 2001, signing a monstrous deal worth roughly $20 million per season. He’s put up Hall of Fame-caliber offensive stats throughout his career, and will likely connect for his 500th career home run later this season.
Along with the good, however, comes the not so good. Ramirez has had his share of memorable missteps in Boston, with the inevitable explanation from his teammates of, “That’s just Manny being Manny.” He remains an integral part of the Boston offense, despite the fact that a few years back they placed him on waivers, essentially offering him to anyone who’d pick up the freight. Obviously, no one did.
Which brings us to Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada.
I know, I know, it’s been a frequent topic the past couple of years, going back to when Tejada asked to be traded amid the fallout that resulted from Rafael Palmeiro’s positive test for steroids. He eventually pulled back on the trade request ? with an assist to Melvin Mora ? but there have been times when his play has been somewhat uneven.
I’m not even referring to isolated incidents. How many times last year did he fail to run out groundballs? Enough that it was discussed almost daily by the pro scouts who cover Orioles games ? that’s how often. He still has the instincts of a shortstop, but his range is more that of a third baseman these days. There’s nothing wrong with his eyesight or his hand-eye coordination ? he can still drive the ball, though his power stroke has diminished somewhat. He hits the ball to the right side far more often these days, and again, the pro scouts who watch the game for a living don’t believe it’s by design. Hard to argue with a .330-plus average, though.
The play that may have decided Tuesday afternoon’s loss to Oakland was Tejada’s error of omission rather than commission in the sixth inning. It goes down in history as a fielder’s choice. Brian Roberts chose to make the short throw to Tejada to force Mark Ellis at second on a slowly hit groundball by Jason Kendall, the fastest catcher in the AL. Tejada, unfortunately, chose to take his time getting to the bag. All hands were safe, and the eventual winning run scored as a result.
Hey, people make mistakes, and ballplayers are just people, right? In the same game, Mora vapor-locked in the first inning when he missed a routine grounder and then failed to cover third. Mistakes are magnified, however, when you’re supposed to be the team’s signature player, a role that Tejada assumed when he arrived here in 2004.
A caller to the radio show a few weeks back castigated me for bringing up Tejada?s occasional lack of hustle down the first base line by saying Miguel had “earned the right” to do that as a veteran superstar. No player ever earns the right to not play hard. If there’s an issue with the organization, address it privately, but don’t let it impact your play.
The last thing we need to hear is, “It’s just Miggy being Miggy.”
Contact Phil Wood at [email protected].
