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2007 Babe Ruth (.366), Ted Williams (.364), Barry Bonds (.356), Lou Gehrig (.345), Albert Pujols (.343), Frank Thomas (.342), Mickey Mantle (.341), Rogers Hornsby (.335), Mark McGwire (.335). Those are the top nine hitters in major league baseball history according to Equivalent Average. Number ten is Manny Ramirez (.334). For all the bitching about his indifference in the field and the legitimacy of the patellar tendonitis that limited him to 33 PA over the season`s final six weeks, he`s still as good a hitter as any team could possibly hope for, and his role of protecting David Ortiz in the lineup is part of what enables Big Papi`s heroics. Still, the annual `Trade Manny` melodrama began during his absence from the lineup, and continued unabated through the Winter Meetings. With `only` $40 million due him over the next two years and a ton of new money being tossed around, chances are better than ever that he finally leaves Beantown, but Sox fans tired of Manny Being Manny should be careful what they wish for. 2006 Yawn. The usual mid-season soap opera marred Ramirez`s typical Hall of Fame offensive season. Ramirez started slowly, but his problems were almost solely due to his uncharacteristic inability to hit left-handed pitchers. He was hitting just .163/.290/.314 in 86 at bats at the All-Star break against southpaws, before rebounding to hit .316/.433/.759 against them in the second half (for the season he was .236/.358/.527). He has been passed by David Ortiz in the hearts of Red Sox Nation, but Ramirez remains unsurpassed among AL hitters. 2005 Halfway through the guaranteed portion of Ramirez's contract, he's still putting up some of the best offensive numbers in the league, $160 million contract or not. His OBP dipped below .400 for the first time since 1998, but in a season where he whacked 43 home runs and 87 extra-base hits, that's really nitpicking. His defense is what it is, though with Fenway's limited real estate in left and Jesus in center, there's no better outfield spot in which to put a lousy defender. Expect more of the same in 2005. 2003 Manny missed five weeks with a broken left index finger, struggled in his rehab assignment, then hit 14–63 with averages of .222/.329/.302 in the three weeks following his return. Despite this handicap, he finished the season as one of the team’s top offensive performers. If he can stay healthy for an entire season, expect 45 HR and a bid for the league MVP. While he is frequently criticized by the Boston media for his baserunning mishaps, he’s a true student of hitting and works as hard as anybody on this art. 2002 After an MVP-level start to the season, Ramirez tailed off badly after May and never found his groove again. Nagging hamstring problems cropped up, and various reports indicated that he was upset by the discord and malaise in the clubhouse. A winning season would likely cure that very quickly, and there’s no reason to expect Manny not to return to his early-2001 form. The Sox will need him to do so if they expect to catch the Yanks. 2001 Manny Ramirez became the Indians’ slugging version of what Lenny Dykstra was to the Phillies in the early ’90s: without him, they’re a pretty crummy team. Now that he’s in Boston, do you want to bet he’ll have a bigger impact on the 2001 playoff picture than Alex Rodriguez? He may not fix the Red Sox’s problems against left-handed pitching by himself; even with one of the best lefty-killers around, the Tribe finished last season with an even worse record than did the Sox against southpaws. Replacing 120 games of Manny Ramirez with 120 games of Ellis Burks will cost the Indians a good 40 runs. 2000 Ramirez is the player who gets picked on as the front man for Mike Hargrove’s hands-off management style and the sloppiness it came to represent. That’s similar to the things that used to be said about Davey Johnson and Darryl Strawberry in the 1980s. It’s mostly another case of “tear down the star” for fun and headlines. Ramirez is one of the game’s best hitters in his prime, and he’s underrated in the field. The big question is whether new owner Larry Dolan will pay top dollar to keep him, because if there’s someone the Indians ought to be paying, it isn’t an Alomar or Jim Thome, it’s Ramirez. 1998 You already know he can hit. Just keep in mind he’s only 26, even though he’s had four seasons in the majors. Fully capable of an MVP season at the plate, with defense that is just bad enough to get more attention than it deserves. May never get the recognition his production warrants. 1997 For whatever reason, Ramirez gets belittled in the press for imagined weight problems, which one way or another haven’t affected his hitting. Like Canseco or Strawberry, he also gets put down on defense far more than his actual skill justifies. Ramirez has an excellent throwing arm and enough range to survive; he’s hardly a Sierra or Nieves in right field. One of Manny’s best accomplishments this past season was his major improvement against right-handers. 1996 In one of the biggest bargains of the off-season, Manny signed a 4-year contract, with a club option for a fifth, for "just" $10 million. A fabulous package, hitting for average and power while taking the walks. Absolutely destroys left-handed pitching (.358/.448/.612 over two seasons).
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