The Sports Snob (13th Edition)

Looks like the ending we all saw coming is finally official. The Los Angeles Dodgers are saying goodbye to Manny Ramirez .

It was far from a perfect marriage, though no matrimony really is, especially with Manny. Even at his best, the Boston Red Sox fans over at Fenway always had to cautiously cheer for him, aware that all the good (home runs, RBI’s and his imposing presence in the batting order) could easily be ruined by some terrible “Manny being Manny” moments.

He led Boston past the dreaded Babe Ruth curse, helped them temporarily topple baseball’s Evil Empire and provided all baseball fans with some great showcases in power. When he came to LA, we understood it was on the downside of his career and that his exit from Boston wasn’t pretty, but like an aging bachelor desperate for one last hoorah; we were willing to take the risk.

Now, after two and a half years of a rocky relationship full of the expected ups-and-downs, no World Series title and a lost season, the time came to finalize it all and give Manny the opposite of the classic “it’s not you, it’s me” speech.

Fans fill MannyWood in the left field section at Dodgers Stadium.

Sure we still haven’t won a championship since 1988, we’ll miss the playoffs yet again and he’ll basically be given away, but on the bright side for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, at least this divorce won’t be as complicated as his real one.

I admitted in last week’s Snob that my long love affair with the Dodgers has been about as painful as most terrible marriages, full of let-downs, a dying lust for one another and the creeping thoughts that it just might be better with another woman team.

But I wouldn’t put the majority of the blame on Manny. With him we made it to two straight National League Championship Series, got the classic dreadlock wigs and of course saw left field transform into Mannywood. He also provided us with one of the most awesome non-playoff moments in modern Dodgers history when he came into the game as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded (on Manny bobble head night no less) and smashed a grand slam right into Mannywood.

Footage of that grand slam flooded YouTube and gave us all one of those moments of pure elation that few things other than sports can provide. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it, it’s still likely to give you chills every time you press play.

His power and that knack for clutch hitting are the reason we all wanted him in LA, even with all his baggage and it’s the same reason why the Chicago White Sox are claiming him now. Although he’s had an injury-plagued season this year, he energized the team when they first dealt for him back in 2008 by hitting “.396 with 17 homers in 53 games to power the club to the NL West title.”

Fans wearing Manny Ramirez dreadlocks wigs in support of the slugger.

Although he leaves LA after only hitting 44 total home runs and driving in 156 runs in 223 games, it’s hard to be too angry or disappointed with him. Those numbers were affected by his 50-game steroids (allegedly!) suspension in 2009 and various injuries, and if you’ve bled Dodger blue for long enough, you probably hate to admit you expected it to end this way.

He’ll likely be a Hall of Famer thanks to his gaudy numbers; he’s currently in 14th and 17th place all time with 554 home runs and 1,828 RBI’s. He also trails only Lou Gehrig (23) in career grand slams with 21 bases-clearing bombs. He’s an all-time great hitter and I’m glad he rocked a Dodgers uniform, even if it was a short stint.

We all knew about the flaws when we got into this and still took the chance. He never brought the rings home to LA but he did provided some great, strange and exciting moments. With Manny being Manny, that’s all you could really ask for.

- Will.

The Sports Snob will be published once a week here on YouBeenBlinded.com. Will R. is a journalist/writer who covers sports, news and music for several websites. His music work can be found on www.WestCoastRydaz.com