So, like I usually do on Wednesday's, I rushed to my mailbox after school today to get my copy of Sports Illustrated. An article titled "Inconvenient Truths" (by Chris Ballard) quickly caught my eye. The article, which you can read
here, was a satirical one that asked athletes, coaches, and other famous sports-related people to tell the truth and confess to something. It was pretty amusing and I found myself laughing a few times, but there was one line that didn't make me happy:
I want Manny Ramirez to tell Boston Red Sox beat writers, "They don't pay me to play defense, so why should I?"
Ouch. That one stung. We all know that, sometimes, Manny decides to just be, well, "Manny" out on the field, but I wouldn't take it that far. I figured that I'd hear this line more than a few times from Yankee's fans at school tomorrow...
And then, almost in retaliation of this attack, Manny makes an absolutely spectacular catch out in left field. As if the catch itself wasn't brilliant enough, Manny goes ahead and jumps up on the wall to give a fan a high-five! After all of that, he STILL makes the throw to first base for the double play.
Because it was just so amazing, I can't help but include the video:
I'm sure everyone has seen that almost a bazillion times already, but even that is not enough to capture how awesome it is. And look at the other players watching the replay...they're jumping up and down like the lunatics they truly are! Manny' reenactment of the play is hilarious.
I don't know if I've ever been this happy after a loss (especially after a game that we really could have won), but a play like that definitely deserves it. Now just imagine how I'll feel after he hits home run number five hundred...