Come on now. I am as tired of his antics, and as desperate for his offense, as every other Sox fan, but I think we need to remember that Francona himself benched Manny for the weekend; Manny did not ask for the days off.

Manny wasn't exactly screaming to play. He seemed very happy to take the time off. If he had said to Francona, "I want to play. I want to be in the lineup," he would have been there.

If Manny is producing, the fans will forgive him for anything short of kicking babies. And it's not a lock that he will decline like Sosa - Manny is a much better hitter than Sosa, which is evident if you look at their career BAs, OBPs, K/BB ratios . . . He never hit over 60 HR, but I think that when Manny retires, he'll be considered a much better hitter than Sammy.

If Manny wants to kick that Quiznos baby, that's fine with me. I hate "talking" babies.

I agree with Will about the unfairness of the Sosa comparison. Manny's career OPS+ is between Stan Musial and Hank Aaron. I can easily see Manny finishing out his conract with the Sox with a final season similar to Ted Williams' final season.

The age at which a player begins playing at a superstar level is one indication of how long that sort of production will continue. Manny falls much closer to A-Rod than Sammy in that respect. By the time Manny was 23, he was already producing at an elite level. Sosa had good seasons 25-27, but didn't have an outstanding year until the age of 29...

I agree with Jason....Manny's makeup is much more akin to an A-Rod, even a Hank Aaron type than a Sammy Sosa type. His numbers being down this year are all tied to a dropped batting average...the difference from his career average and this year's average account for nearly 100% of the drop-off in both his OBP and slugging percentages...his walk rate is close to his career average, as is his isolated slugging. He's fine, and despite his eccentricities, will continue to mash and strike fear in the hearts of Sox opponents for years to come.

post note: Well, hush my mouth. I just looked up Manny's best PECOTA comparables at Baseball Prospectus (looks at age, height, weight, most recent 3-year trends to predict future performance), and his top three matches are Albert Belle, Frank Robinson, and Sammy Sosa. Manny better hope his career's tail end's most like Frank, and he doesn't end up with a degenerative, arthritic hip!

I wouldn't put much faith in any system that says that Sosa & Ramirez are comparable hitters. :) Manny has higher rates of 2B/HH and BB/PA and has been much more consistent in his production.

I am somewhat worried about Manny's "low" batting average. He's currently hitting for his lowest full-year average since '94, and it's not just one bad month that's hurting him. April (.274), May (.234), and July (.263) were all uncharacteristically poor. Though, he also had a string of three "bad" months in 2001... And, you can't worry too much about a guy who's leading the league in HR...

Oops... I meant 2B/HR