Of Santana, Manny and His Moments

Posted by Mike Giardi June 1, 2008 at 8:34 pm

Our music-crazy weather guy, Joe Joyce, just alerted me to Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.” There are so many things wrong with this piece, that I almost didn’t make it through. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. But, I couldn’t help myself. I won’t bore you with all the details of my disgust, but I will say Van Halen’s “Eruption” is too low, Zeppelin’s “Stairway…” is too high and no way do the White Stripes - who I like - even belong in the Top 50. Oh, and one more thing. Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” can not be 39th. The guy can pick it like a Gold Glove firstbaseman. Jump him up at least 20 spots. There! I feel better.

On to sports…which I believe is what they pay me for. You just knew that once Manny got to 500, he’d loosen up. His quote following the momentous occasion was priceless Manny. “I’m very proud of myself.” Dude, you should be. 500 (now 501) is just a sick number, steroid-era or not.

Its hard to believe just 8 years ago we were debating whether the Sox should pursue Manny or Mike Mussina. I mean, that was a tough, tough call at the time. The Sox had always been short on pitching, and with Moose and Pedro at the head of the rotation, who knows what would have happened? Would the Sox have won the title in 2003 (remember what Mussina did in relief of Clemens ALCS Game 7? Yeah, too painful. Sorry)? Would the Sox have won in ‘04 and ‘07? Who knows. Maybe that’s a job for “Whatifsports.com”

For all the criticism about Mussina, he has won 111 games in these last 7-plus seasons (a sneaky 8-4 this year with a 4.26 ERA), and racked up 52 of those “W’s” in the first three years of that mega-deal. That’s awfully impressive. But what Manny has done, statistically, is freakish. 

265 homers. 838 RBI. He won a batting title in 2002 and missed by a fraction of a point in 2003 to Billy Mueller. He’s led MLB in on base percentage in three seasons with the club. His OPS is off the charts. Yes, we have been fortunate to watch not just the best righthanded hitter of his generation (just trumping ARod, for now), but one of the greatest of all time. And quite honestly, when he smiles that big, goofy smile…it reminds me that - despite all the money and the business of sport - this is just a kid playing a game we all played at one time or another, and loved.

Oh sure, its hard for detractors to overlook his mental lapses. They drove me nuts. And truthfully, if he pulled that garbage again, I’d get irritated again. I don’t like the explanation that its just part of his personality, part of the package, of “Manny being Manny (I hate that phrase).” But the episodes have become much more infrequent, a credit to Manny, to his teammates, and to manager Terry Francona. And I think its no surprise that the Sox have become a beast. Manny may not be the straw that stirs the drink - to draw on a cliche - but he’s a primary ingredient and, in the long run, the right choice made by former GM Dan Duquette (hey, we give credit when credit is due).