seriously to see that guy swat a baseball was insane. i saw a game in the front row in SD one year and he hit two monster shots. bigger than life is what he was.
The regular season Manny bombs I remember the most were in the span of about 5 days he hit two late innings opposite field bombs in situations I recall vaguely as very clutch against the Giants and Diamondbacks. Diamondbacks one I remember was a Bills start. but yeah, the guy was an absolute icon and I loved him and still do as a dodger fan.
Yup. I got the opportunity to sit in those box seats when Manny went deep to LF and then hit a HR right down the RF line against the Vagiants.
THAT was what Vinny described him as. The whole thing was bigger than life. I mean...the bobbleslam....who else does that?! Only reason I remember the name Homer Bailey that's for sure.
i was there on bobbleslam night! i was wrestling with the whole steroid thing and had decided i wouldn't boo or cheer him. that place freakin erupted.
Sure, I agree...all those homers and hits and the bobbleslam-I was screamin' for him just as loudly as everyone. I was crazy as the next guy for him. All the more reason when he was found out to be a cheatin' motherfucker and phony pile of shit made it worse than it normally would. Has absolutely nothing to do with the way the guy could hit and the thrills he provided and gave...has to do with the jaw dropping disappointment of a failed phony hero. Y'know..."say it ain't so Joe"...like that. For all that the guy had, the magic, the timing, the flair for the dramatic, I now know why so many Boston fans were embarrassed by the guy, even though he, in large part him anyway, gave them something they waited forever for...and he wasn't even a cheater with them...or at least, didn't get caught. Vinny had nothing to say when he got a 5o game suspension, though. He doesn't get paid for that, I guess.
I was just as excited as everybody else when he was going crazy for us, and he seemed to play better against better pitching. Truly a clutch player. But BZ said it perfectly, it was a "Say it aint so, Joe" moment when I found out he was cheating. How do we make Bonds a villian and excuse Manny for the same wrong? Luckily there aren't too many baseball fans here in San Antonio to give me shit about it, but it was still embarassing nonetheless. I'm not wishing him well, but I'm not exactly rooting for him to fail either. I really don't care enough at this point.
I was at the Diamondback series at DS where Manny had a 5 RBI game and Dre had 4 hits off Haren the night before as we cruised into the postseason. 08'-09' have been the greatest Dodger years of my life. I think the thing that made us all so crazy about Manny is that the Dodgers never really had a player like that. Ever. Ever since Brooklyn, the Dodgers have been all about pitching; and I still consider it that way. We never had a major star comparable to Pujols or other big names like that before. Just the feeling when he stepped in the box was unbelievable. Probably the greatest Dodger game I ever went to was Manny Bobblehead night. Everyone was chanting "Manny, Manny!" over and over again when JoTo finally decided to pinch hit him. One pitch off of the bench and he hits a grand slam into MannyWood. Couldn't of been scripted any better. I hope everything goes well for Manny, because for the first time in my life, he actually made the Dodgers an elite team.
it's too bad about his positive tests but he was definitely a great hitter despite that stuff his batting eye was something else. i loved the way he only swung at his pitches. vinny told a story about him not even knowing the count when he's at bat. if he didn't like the pitch, he just wouldn't swing. that doesnt have to do with steroids but he still took stuff and it sucks. hopefully he's clean and has success. we're going to see him in Oakland in June
i'll never forget what manny brought us in '08 it was fun it was exciting it was cool again to be a dodger fan for that, i am eternally grateful but i'm sorry i can't forgive him for cheating same goes with gagné
I loved gagne...made my brother go and buy the Tshirt with the little goatee hanging down, when he went to LA for business -for me and my kid. Had decals on my car. Just loved it when they played the music, and Vinny would say "Monsiuer Gagne"...I would scream on every pitch, Then I read the roid reports. Talk about the air out of the baloon. Manny for me, was a lesser version of that. Of course he was great. One of the greatest...but I'm just so tired of the hypocrasy...it's gotten so much, so often... everywhere, I just refuse to back up a phony. They take the best of you...your hopes and dreams, your enthusiasm, your pride in a larger thing (the Dodgers), and just shit on all of it. Especially when he had zero chance of not getting detected. He made a mockery of it all...the cheers, Mannywood, you , me, Vinny, and the game of baseball. Maybe I'm just old and grumpy...but in my world, that's fucking blasphemy, man. Blasphemy.
Spot on. It didn't last for a very long time... but damn he really energized the team and the fans. That was a lot of fun to watch.
Even though this thread has mixed reactions, I like it. I like it because it brings back memories of Manny... For me: I went to Manny's first game back after his 50-game-suspension. It was in San Diego and I wasn't sure how to react. Once his name was announced the stadium boomed with infectious cheer and I couldn't help but go nuts. The few Padre fans who attended the game, who once held up signs mocking Manny's suspension, soon faded away. I swear they were all gone by the 2nd inning and Mannymania was in full effect. He walked in his first AB, and didn't do anything after that if I recall, but every at bat was mayhem and a guilty-pleasure joy like no other. The reality is Manny came along when we needed him most (and I like to think he needed us too). A 20-year drought with nothing made us desperate for some joy - and that's 90% of what made Manny a legend. The steroid thing? I'm starting to put it in perspective. The Gagne news. The Bonds news. Those were when steroids was new and sinister. Was it bad? Absolutely. But the reality is it was rampant beyond anyone's imagination. I've come to terms that MLB is 99% responsible, and the players, while horrific, are slightly less to blame. Even Barroids gets a semi-pass in my mind (although I still hate him more than you can imagine for the color of his jersey). Manny (to my knowledge) was the first in MLB to get busted - sucky for us, but a big moment and step forward for MLB. A good thing. Still, I can't help but feel like we were due a moment to cheer. 20 years of steroids and what do we have to show for it? A stupid save record and a douche who wanted to make his mom proud. We didn't get to cheer while our players duked it out for the homerun title like Chicago, St Louis, and San Francisco. We didn't get to witness the most dominant regular season in history like Seattle. We didn't have the Bash-Brothers like Oakland. Nor did we have the automatic post-season births of New York and Atlanta. Never before seen sluggers that showed up in Cleveland, Baltimore, Texas, and Boston weren't ours to enjoy. Underdog World Series runs enjoyed by Anaheim, Arizona, and Florida weren't for us either. MVP awards weren't given to us like Colorado and San Diego. I say we were due a moment. Fuck the steroid era because it didn't just blow for MLB, but it blew for Dodger fans extra hard... and still, I can't help but wonder if the steroid era began in LF at Dodger stadium bacck in 1988... The whole damn thing is tainted, so I'll be damned if I'm going to second-guess my joy over the arbitrariness of "getting caught". Mannymania was a joy beyond anything. I hope steroids gets under control and out of our sport, I really do. I think it was/is terrible. But... in my best Guy Pearce impression, "Will I lie to myself to be happy? Yes I will." Manny, usted es una leyenda. Muchas gracias por los recuerdos. And FUCK Bill Welke!
yeah as partyboy pointed out it was impossible to have hated bonds and forgive gagne and manny. still there is no denying how much fun both of those tainted acts were.
Guy who cheated his way to being a multimillionaire who simply can't stand no longer being in the spotlight. This guy loved being the center-of-attention more so for his off-field antics, made his millions, got busted, then got exposed. Kind of sad how he still just can't let it go, he needs the spotlight. He will suck, he will blame a bogus injury, and he will fade into obscurity until the next time he takes it out on his wife again, and starts making the headlines for all the wrong reasons again. Kind of sad. Money and fame can't buy you happiness people. Or a brain it would seem. Worth a crack but going to be a total bust with a hint of circus. Manny being the real Manny.
