Third base coaches and personal trainers do not have dissimilar roles in baseball. They serve and guide players.
Usually the third base coach holds the more perilous job. He makes instant decisions that often affect the outcome of games. When they make decisions that turn out to be right, people generally don’t notice. Their attention is focused on the runner who made the coach’s decision successful.
However, when the runner is out at the plate, fans – and others – blame the coach.
One more time it was Manny being Manny, but as bad as that cliché is, in this instance it’s true. Manny was being Manny, that is, he was being stupid, and now he is being retired.
We won’t have Manny to kick around anymore, and he spent the better part of his 17-year career making himself an easy target.
One of the best hitters in history, Ramirez was an even bigger enigma for nearly two decades, and he remained an enigma to the end.
The Boston Red Sox, as I write this, are in position to make history. Having incredibly lost their first six games of the season, they can become the first team in the division era of Major League Baseball to lose its first seven games and still reach the playoffs.
So can the Tampa Bay Rays because they, too, lost their first six games. The Red Sox, though, are more likely to attain that status because they supposedly have the better team.
