Major League Baseball’s crucial winter meetings kicked off today in San Diego.
The first big splash of the big annual shindig came with the news that the World Series champion Washington Nationals have reached a seven-year, $245 million deal to retain star pitcher Stephen Strasburg.
According to a Texas baseball writer, that agreement makes it less likely that the Nationals will be able to afford their free agent third baseman, Anthony Rendon, who I’m hoping signs with my beloved Rangers. Stay tuned!
Speaking of baseball, I’ve been meaning to mention to a truly fascinating Boston Globe feature on Manny Ramirez. Ramirez, as you may recall, is the former Red Sox slugger who hit 555 home runs over an illustrious career marked by his temperamental personality and difficulty dealing with, um, people in general, including the press. By sheer stats alone, he should be in the Hall of Fame. But his connection to the game’s performance-enhancing drug scandal has kept him out of that shrine.
So, what’s compelling about the recent Globe interview with Ramirez?
Literally everything — starting with news that a contrite Ramirez has found God and is now preaching and attending seminary.
Let’s start at the top of Dan Shaughnessy’s column:
All these years later, Manny Ramirez wants you to know that he loves you and that he is sorry for mistakes he made while playing in Boston.
He is sorry he knocked down Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick over a ticket issue when the Sox were in Houston in 2008. He is sorry for the way he shot his way out of town and got himself traded to the Dodgers later that season. He is sorry he got popped for PEDs three times.
“It’s a mistake,’’ Manny said of his failed drug tests. “It’s like Barry [Bonds], Alex [Rodriguez], and everybody that was in that [Mitchell] Report. We made mistakes. I cannot go back and change it. I think it’s going to be good for young players to see what happened in that time. But when you’re good, you’re good. Those things don’t make you a better hitter.’’ …
Manny signed an eight-year, $160 million contract with the Red Sox before the 2001 season and made good on 7½ seasons of the deal. He was a latter-day Jimmie Foxx, good for about .312, 40 homers, and 120 RBIs every year. He was MVP of the World Series when the Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004. Paired with David Ortiz, he gave the Sox a Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig combo.
But he also was goofy. Fans loved it most of the time, but “Manny being Manny” sometimes triggered headaches for teammates, managers, and owners.
Go ahead and read the whole column for important context and background. But let’s skip ahead to the religion angle.
Give the Globe writer credit for hitting this vital part of the story head-on:
This is the first time Manny has acknowledged any of this stuff. Now 47, he says he has found God and is dedicating his life to preaching and helping others. He last played major league baseball in 2011, but kicked around with international teams and finished his baseball career as a hitting instructor with the 2016 Chicago Cubs.
Today he lives in Miami and has raised three boys — one college graduate and two teenagers. It is a comfortable life. Ramirez made more than $200 million in his 18 big league seasons.
Describing himself as a reformed Baptist, Ramirez said, “What I’m doing now, I preach. That’s what I do. Go into hospitals just to preach and teach people the Bible.
“I went back to school because I wanted to be in a seminary just to learn. I’ve been doing that for five years now. It hasn’t been easy. It’s something that’s great. It’s changed my mind-set. I’m like a rookie. I’m just on the bench. Sometimes they give me 10 minutes or 15 minutes. And that’s it.
“I’m growing. It takes time. It’s like playing baseball. If you want to be the best, you got to hit it every day. If you want to get to know God, you have to have a relationship with him.
“I remember when I retired, to be honest I didn’t know what to do with my time. And that’s hard. That’s something very hard. We are so young and we got so much power and so much fame.
“You think you can do whatever you want, but there are consequences. You get knocked down and you say, ‘What’s going on here?’ But then I started going to church.
“Everything that happened for me has been a blessing. You know why? Because I learn. With all the power and all the fame, if you don’t learn, you’re going to keep falling, worse and worse. And being in the wrong places at the wrong time. Thinking you can do whatever you want.
“But when God calls, you should humble yourself and you can see. Like, I hit all those home runs and it doesn’t mean anything. It’s something that I really can’t explain.’’
And later, the piece ends with more strong faith talk from Ramirez:
Manny is not embarrassed to express his regrets.
“I think, like, everybody makes mistake every day,’’ he said. “You fall and you get up again. Every time you fall, every time you make a wrong decision, you regret it because that brings consequences. To you, your team, your family, your kids.
“But for all the things that happened, it was for the good. God is making it for good for me to appreciate what I have. I appreciate my family and my kids. And that’s what matters.”
A 12-time All-Star and lifetime .312 hitter with 555 career homers, Ramirez hit a big league-record 29 postseason homers. But he has gotten no love from Hall of Fame voters because of his positive drug tests.
“I really want to be there,’’ he said. “I’m praying for that. Don’t get me wrong; if it’s God’s will, it’s going to happen. I think it’s going to happen with time. All I got to do is keep praying. When it happens, be thankful and move on.
“I’m going into another Hall of Fame. If you read the Bible, the Bible says that your name is going to be written in the Book of Life. So it’s going to be more impressive than this. Remember, when you die, you can’t take this with you.
I’m so impressed that the Globe allowed Ramirez to talk so freely — and in so much depth — about his faith.
For a sports column, I don’t know that you could ask for more. But the bigger story? The more in-depth analysis of Ramirez’s religious journey?
I’d really love to see a religion writer — a Godbeat pro — tackle that story because as nice a job as the Globe does, this column really just whets the appetite for a more detailed treatment?
I want to know more about the specifics of Ramirez’s faith. I want a journalist to tell me more about the church and seminary. I want to hear from his teachers. I want to hear from those who’ve heard him preach.
I want to know more about what it means — now that Ramirez has found God — when one refers to “Manny being Manny.”