Manny being Basho
For the last few years, Manny Ramirez had been something of a recluse in Red Sox nation. He stopped doing commercials. He never spoke to the papers. He didn’t go on television. But late last season, Manny emerged from his hermetic seclusion like a prophet returned from the wilderness. Nowadays, as befitting his new meditating, The Secret-reading lifestyle, he’s got the dreadlocks of a Bob Marley and the ‘stache of a Kahlil Gibran. And this week he offered some wisdom in haiku/poetic form:
Focus
It’s not hard to play.
It’s easy. It depends on
What you focus on.
Home Run Ball (Right There)
I was looking
For a good pitch–
Something that I like.
It was right there.
Like a fastball–
It was something like eighty–
Or a change.
It was right there.
Even When You Do Not Come Back
Even when you do
Not come back, we love this job
We love to compete.
All the Way
We never give up,
Man.
We just play
Hard.
All the way.
162
David’s gonna hit.
That’s why this is a hundred
And sixty two-games.
Hitting for him
He’s fine. It’s only
Fourteen games. If he doesn’t
Hit, I’ll hit for him.
Good Things
There are things you aren’t
Gonna like, but you have to
Look at the good things.
What I’m Not
Don’t know, I’m not a
Pitching coach. You got to talk
To the pitching coach.
Contract Extension (To Work Out)
Why isn’t it going
To work out?
Of course it’s going
To work out.
Everybody knows it’s going
To work out.
A Player Like Me
I
changed everything.
Boston never had a player
Like me.
They had Mo Vaughn
In the ’90s
But after that,
Nothing
Like me.
I went there,
And my attitude
Changed everything.
Booed
I can’t control that.
I just like to come and play
The game and go home.
March 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Sarah, I’ve never seen anyone live blog a Spring Training game. I’d make fun of you, but I’m reading it intently. So… What does that say about us?
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March 10th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
It says: we are baseball-loving freaks! But that’s okay. UmpBump is a nurturing, welcoming place for people like us.
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March 10th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I’m one of the crazies enjoying this liveblogging. I am surreptitiously hitting F5 as much as possible.
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March 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Nice work, between you and Jessica, I can follow my Mets without having to see it through the Prism of Jerry Remdog , Joe Castiglione or any other member of pink hat nation.
Go Mets and keep up the good work
http://bostonmetsfan.blogspot.com/
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March 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Frank, I hate to break it to you, but I am a Red Sox fan. I wear a jungle camo hat, though.
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April 16th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Just. Hilarious.
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April 16th, 2008 at 11:28 am
David Ortiz has been writing poetry as well:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with Manny.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
knee problems, hitting slumps or just not seeing the ball well,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to Manny,
“You promised me Manny,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?”
Manny replied,
“The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you, Papi.”
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July 29th, 2008 at 11:14 am
[...] Manny’s previous works, see here, here, and here. Tagged: haiku, Manny being Manny, Manny Ramirez, [...]
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