This blog is probably long overdue but the topic has come to my mind because of the mass amounts of air time this highlight has gotten over the All-Star Break.

 The so-called "highlight" play was made on May 14th in Baltimore. The play was when Red Sock superstar Manny Ramirez made a catch on a line drive hit by former teammate Kevin Millar during the 4^th inning of a game at Camden Yards.

            I have many (Or should I say "Manny") problems with this play here.

1. It was not that good of a catch.

            If there is any other outfielder out in the field at that point, that is an easy catch. Manny made it look hard because he simply sucks as an outfielder. On any other team in the AL, he would play DH. But forget about his sucky fielding, the catch wasn't that spectacular either way. He stuck his glove up in the air while in a mid-trot. There have been way better plays than that.

2. The High-Five

            Talk about completely unnecessary. After he made the "highlight" catch, he jumps up on the wall to high-five a Boston fan sitting in the front row. Manny Ramirez is supposed to be a veteran and a role-model in the game of baseball. However, he jumps up on the wall to celebrate after he made a catch that wasn't that spectacular to begin with. He is supposed to be a professional, yet he showed up another team in a sport where that is highly unacceptable. Think about it, they got rid of that in football. Would you want your kid in a little league game to jump up on the wall to celebrate with a fan in the middle of an inning? Manny just made it a play that everyone wants to make.

3. The Double Play

            What made this play make the highlights was because of Manny doubling off the runner after the catch. However, is this really a play by Manny? All Manny did was throw the ball to his cut-off man who then threw it to first. It is not like Willie May's catch in the World Series where he made the play and fired all the way to second base. Also, the runner that was double is known around the MLB as a speedster; yea right, Aubrey Huff was the runner who was doubled off at first. That sure is an accomplishment. Don't all of us want to gun out Aubrey Huff?

4. The Score

            Making a play like this, you would think the score would be a blow-out in the favor of the Red Sox. But no, it wasn't even close to that. The score was 1-0 Sox in the bottom of the 4^th inning when this happened. The Red Sox ended up losing the game 6-3 because of a 5 RBI performance of Manny's counter part Jay Payton. The real game highlight should be Payton's homer instead of Manny's catch and disrespectful high-five. Payton's slam showed up on the box-score, Manny's did not.

5. Manny at the Plate

            Woo! Manny made an awesome play and was great at the plate. Wait, never mind. Manny was 1-4 from the plate that day with a single and 0 RBI. He did crap at the dish that day, what is he celebrating for?

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/411692/