Perhaps the biggest “Manny Being Manny” moment of Manny Ramirez’s Boston Red Sox career took place exactly 12 years ago Thursday.
It was a play Red Sox fans surely remember but probably still cannot fully wrap their heads around.
The scene: Boston trailed the Baltimore Orioles by two runs in a game at Fenway Park. Pedro Martinez was on the mound, and David Newhan, an Orioles utility man in the midst of what would be the best season of his career, was at the plate.
With a man on third, Newhan roped a Martinez offering off the wall in straightaway center field, just out of the reach of a flailing Johnny Damon. The runner from third scored easily, and Newhan motored around second base as Damon corralled the ball at the warning track.
That’s when things got weird.
Damon scooped up the ball and fired it toward the infield — only to have it cut off by Ramirez, the left fielder. Manny then, from his knees, threw a second relay to second baseman Mark Bellhorn, and Bellhorn finally delivered the ball to the catcher.
But by that point, it was far too late. Bellhorn’s throw bounced at the mound, Newhan slid home for an inside-the-park home run, and the Orioles went on to win 10-5. It was one of just 23 homers he would hit during his eight years in the majors.
Why exactly Ramirez felt the need to lunge for Damon’s throw is a question that still puzzles fans of the eccentric yet immensely productive outfielder. But since the Red Sox went on to win their first championship in 86 years a mere three months later — with Manny winning World Series MVP honors, no less — they were more than willing to cut him a little slack.
