In defense of Manny

Uproar, furor, and Tim McCarver have pissed me off enough that I need to defend Manny. That's right, you self-righteous, pompous assholes, you now have a pissed offed Economist with a blog that is read by no more than 5 or 10 people a week on your ass. Stop saying it is a disgrace that Manny didn't play last night.

First, let's acknowledge that, through hard work and constant practice, Manny very well may be the best right-handed hitter in the last 20 years.

Second, stop questioning his freaking injury. Will Carroll did, because it is real. So, Tim McCarver, the hardest part for Manny is probably not "remembering which leg to limp on", but rather to continue playing through the shitload of pain that his knee is creating. His knee probably isn't in good enough shape to play 19 innings on, but he did it anyway. Just because he didn't do it in the playoffs doesn't make him any less of a warrior than Schilling. Just because he didn't jump into the stands on a routine fly ball and "accidently" polish a fan's knob before returning to the field of play doesn't make him any less of a trooper than Derek Jeter. He is playing through pain. He does that a lot. He only has gone on the DL once since arriving in Boston because he broke a finger. Since 2001, he has only taken off 52 games in the last six years when he wasn't on the DL, about 9 games per year, or about three games every two months. I can live with him getting that much rest, considering how dinged up most players get over the course of a season.

Third, I think this guy has it right. Manny kicks ass. The media sucks and doesn't bother to do research. Not major revelations, but still serve their purpose.

Oh, and McCarver, you are a giant douche.