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Manny Ramirez is one of the best hitters in baseball history. As a righty, it’s hard to be considered one of the top bats, but the celebrated outfielder (along with Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols, and a few others) finds himself in the conversation.
The 12-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion was a pivotal factor in helping the Red Sox break “The Curse of the Bambino” in 2004 to bring an 86-year title drought to an end, which also helped Boston transform into one of the most dominant sports cities in the 2000s.
Ramirez was beloved by so many in the New England area for his play, but what really captured the hearts of fans all around the world was his antics.
Some players are just so authentically themselves on and off the field that it’s hard not to fall in love with them, and Manny is the epitome of that type of personality to the point where he earned his own catchphrase for whenever he did something slightly off-beat or silly: he was simply “Manny Being Manny.”
Those words were first uttered by Cleveland manager Mike Hardgrove to describe the essence of the free-spirited slugger in 1995, and the term stuck with him for the rest of his career (and beyond).
The thing about Manny was he was going to perform on the field, but he was also going to do some weird stuff in the process—as evidenced by some wildly entertaining incidents that sum up his reputation.
Reliving the best “Manny Being Manny” stories that define Manny Ramirez
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There are countless videos online of Manny Ramirez doing what he does best, but this compilation seems to have it all covered; it’ll give you a sense of who he was and the joy he brought to himself, his teammates, and the fans, and I highly suggest watching the entire thing.
The best part was his sense of humor about his persona. Ramirez was both a superstar and (for lack of a better term) knucklehead—and he was totally OK with it.
He was never afraid to have some fun at his own expense and even agreed to star in one of the classic “This is SportsCenter” commercials to make fun of his antics while showing a refreshing amount of self-awareness.
The thing about Manny is that it was hard to really get mad at him for doing what he did because it mostly worked out for him in the end. He reminds me a lot of Larry David in the sense that we live in a set society where there are unwritten rules, and whenever you break those rules, people are going to look at you weird.
Manny running through second base in the first video I posted here is a prime example of that.
As a former baseball player who was benched because I didn’t slide into 2nd, I get why Manny was being Manny here. He was out by a mile, so what’s the point of sliding or even really trying to get back to first?
He messed up, and rather than try to correct it, he just accepted his fate and ran into the outfield. Again it seems bizarre on camera, but when you take a step back to think, it makes sense.
My favorite Manny Being Manny moment, however, transpired during a game at Fenway Park on July 18th, 2005 where he was playing left field only to suddenly disappear in the middle of an inning.
When he saw the pitching coach trot out to the mound for a visit, Ramirez basically said “Peace” and just disappeared into the Green Monster. Sure, there was a break in the action, but this was still in the middle of a real, actual game.
It’s still not entirely clear what Manny did back there. There was some speculation he was using a fan to cool down while chatting with the employees who operate the manual scoreboard, while other people have asserted he needed to go to the bathroom (you’d think he could have waited a few minutes, but when you gotta go, you gotta go).
Thankfully, he emerged just before play resumed and Tampa Bay was unable to take advantage of his momentary absence in the outlet, but that really sums up “Manny Being Manny” in a nutshell; the man lived in his own world and the rest of us were lucky enough to visit it every now and then.