Dad tip #103: Teach your kids that it's not cool to push 64-year-olds
I'm not sure how, exactly, but there's some kind of life-lesson to be extracted from the Manny Ramirez situation that's been slowly festering over the last eight years in Boston. While the Boston Red Sox have won two World Series with Manny, they (and the fans of Boston) have also had to deal with the "Manny being Manny" antics that included things like dogging it to first base, having to pee inside the Green Monster during a game, and generally being a goof ball.
All of these things were excusable because he was still very likable and he was putting up ridiculously good numbers. Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, the relatively harmless Manny-isms turned ugly VERY quickly as the offending actions suddenly included slapping a teammate in the dugout, pushing a 64-year-old Red Sox employee, and essentially hanging the team out to dry against hated rivals, the New York Yankees.
Ramirez, once a hero loved and embraced by the city of Boston, has now been run out of town. The perenial All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer was traded away in a three team deal. It doesn't even matter that much who we got back (Jason Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates). What does matter is that we got rid of someone who was poisoning our beloved Red Sox from within.
Addition by subtraction, if you will.
So, my thought here is that one day I'll use the story of Manny Ramirez as some kind of parable illustrating that just because you've done (relatively) good things in the past doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want in the present and future. Or maybe I'll coin a new phrase from the tale like, "Good will is a currency fast spent."
Or perhaps, "$20 million a year doesn't buy you common sense or a sense of decency."
Or maybe even more simply, "Don't be a dick and push 64-year-old people."
Anyway, bye bye, Manny ... we appreciate the good you did for the Sox but are sad that you never loved us (the city, the fans, and your teammates) as much as we loved you. I hope my son never grows up to idolize a professional athlete who ends up being a total douche like you.
Labels: Boston Red Sox