Manny's First Gaffe

So, it's three days in, and Manny is already being, well, Manny. Chris Burke hit a drive through the infield, and then it made it through Manny and all the way to the wall. Now, they're in Los Angeles which has grass. How exactly does this make it to the wall? I love Chris Burke. He went to my high school, and he's kind of a legend. But seriously, Chris couldn't be that strong. Before you think that I'm criticizing Manny's effort (which may deserve to be questioned), I'm not. I'm criticizing his defense. How many of us think that Bay would have made that play and kept him to a single?

Also, I have never heard so many back-handed insults aimed at one player who definitely didn't deserve them. Everyone keeps saying, "He's [Jason Bay] good, but he's not Manny." What the heck do you mean? Do you want to compare Bay and Ramirez's stats for the season because they're almost identical? Do you want to compare defense because it's not even close? Do you want to argue over who is most likely to quit on his team because it's definitely not Bay? The only ... only ... thing Manny has on Bay is playoff experience. For all those who want to say that Manny is the guy you fear and the guy to hit 40 HR and 120 RBI, he's not that guy anymore. It's like expecting Greg Maddux to win 20 games and have a 2.18 ERA in 268 IP again. He's not that pitcher anymore, just like Manny isn't the 40 HR guy anymore. Hell, it's possible that he won't hit 30 this season. At age 36, he's only going to get worse. At age 29, Bay should be very good for the next few years and slowly decrease in about 4 years. Which do you really want? How do you know Bay won't come through in the playoffs? He's handled the pressure well so far. At some point, you have to stop thinking of Manny as what he was and start thinking of what he is. He ISN'T what he used to be. Sorry, but it's true.