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Manny Ramirez Earns 'Stooge Of The Year' Title

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Dec 27, 2008 10:54 am US/Eastern

Manny Ramirez Earns 'Stooge Of The Year' Title

Reporting
Jon Keller
BOSTON (WBZ) ― There was a time when he was a hero here in Boston, but all the stunts that Manny Ramirez pulled left a lot of Red Sox fans angry, and bidding him farewell.

He left Boston for Los Angeles, but now the Dodgers don't want to keep him.

That's why "Manny being Manny" helped make him WBZ's Jon Keller's Stooge of the Year.

Boston Baseball history will always hold a special place for Manny Ramirez, who played a key role in delivering the Red Sox to the Promised Land in 2004 and 2007. At his best, Manny was – and is – a gifted slugger, one of the toughest outs ever, and he was beloved my most Red Sox fans.

But at his worst, Manny is a spoiled brat with a short attention span on an unbelievable ego trip who managed to alienate a public that worshiped him.

Just consider what Manny pulled this year. The ridiculous dugout fight with Kevin Youkilis, the decking of the team's 60+ traveling secretary, and finally, the midsummer meltdown when Manny faked injuries, phoned it in on the field and otherwise played the stooge – all out of frustration that the Sox wouldn't cave to his overblown contract demands.

 Read: Keller's Top Local Turkey's of 2008

Traded to L.A., Manny proved how badly he's been dogging it by going on a hitting and base-running tear, and he gave an interview claiming that it bothered him that Boston fans adored him so much. Gee, sorry Manny. I guess we were stooges for showing you all that love.

It looks like Manny's wanderlust may well wind up leading him down a dead end as the big-money teams shy away from giving a long-term, big-money deal to an aging unreliable head case.

That's the thing about stooges – they're not all that smart, but just smart enough to out-smart themselves.

What do you think about Keller's nomination of Manny Ramirez for Stooge of the Year? Take part in the discussion.

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