For all of those Manny Ramirez apologists who have taken aim at the messengers, in print, on the air and online, who dared report that their hero has the ability to act as an infantile lout, check out the April issue of Esquire magazine.
Jonathan Papelbon, the real Straight Talk Express, takes dead aim at Ramirez [...]

And so like any good Hollywood drama, it all ends with everyone holding hands, smiling and strolling into the happily-ever-after sunset. To the surprise of no one, Manny Ramirez re-upped with the Los Angeles Dodgers, pretty much for the same money he turned down last week.
Since none of the other 29 teams in baseball wanted [...]

Despite all Manny-being-Manny goofiness to the contrary, I have long suspected that Ramirez is far more savvy than he wants the world to know. It seemed to me that he often played the clown knowing that it bought him a long leash in terms of public patience and private restraint.
Then came a two-year, $45 million [...]

Amazing as it seems to me, there remain New Englanders who still harbor delusions of Manny Ramirez making a dramatic return to Boston, where he can continue his domination of AL pitching and lead the Red Sox to another championship.
Earth to Mannymaniacs: Get over it.
For further persuasion, check out WEEI.com’s Alex Speier’s well-written argument that [...]

Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Rocco Baldelli - and, if you want to toss in a man with no known physical ailments but a large case of the blahs, Clay Buchholz - have all arrived in Fort Myers, ready to break their rear-view mirrors and begin their careers anew.
If any one or two of them succeed, [...]