He threw his body around the outfield with wild abandon-who can forget his head-on-head collision with Damian Jackson during the 2003 ALDS?-yet never played fewer than 145 games a season while in Boston.ĭamon was endearingly happy-go-lucky, perhaps more so than any Boston player other than Kevin Millar. Two nights later, he hit two home runs-including a grand slam-and drove in six in a 10-3 rout in Game 7.Īnd he gave it his all. That was merely a prelude to his postseason heroics.ĭuring Boston’s comeback against the Yankees in the ALCS, Damon scored the winning run in Game 5’s 14-inning marathon. In 2004, he hit 20 home runs and had 94 RBI- batting out of the leadoff spot. It was sad to see Caveman Jesus leave for the Bronx following the 2005 season, but his four years patrolling center field at Fenway were memorable ones.įirst, there was the production. The Manny Ramirez era in Boston had its ups and downs, but it was well worth the price of admission. Any of his many long, strange trips to a fly ball. Carrying a tiny American flag into the outfield the day he became a U.S. A wildly unnecessary diving cutoff catch. His in-game bathroom break in the Green Monster. While his departure was an acrimonious one, most Sox fans would smile if you asked them to name their favorite Manny moment. The daily circus of playing in Boston never disrupted his abilities as a hitting savant. The Fenway pressure cooker has been (and continues to be) the undoing of many promising and established stars. In a way, his cavalier attitude carried him to those video-game numbers. He made his eight-year, $160 million contract look like a bargain (not to mention a big free-agent deal better than any ever handed out by Theo Epstein). In seven full seasons with the Red Sox, Manny averaged. The “Manny being Manny” drama could be an unwanted headache, but it never interfered with Ramirez's ability to produce.
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