When Push Came To Shove, Manny Ramirez Flinched

Despite the bluster, and despite his inability to tell the Boston Red Sox just which of his knees was hurt, it would appear that Manny Ramirez’s former team might have been able to wait out his insolence and keep him on the roster for their playoff run.
When Manny was “just being Manny” over the summer, in a pretty obvious effort to prevent the Red Sox from exercising a team option on the slugger, Boston moved to have the slugger suspended for refusing to play, a rare move for any team and an action that would have damaged Ramirez’s reputation even more than he already has.
The letter was delivered on a Friday. Guess who was ready to go that Saturday?

The letter informed Ramirez that the suspension was to go into effect the next day, Saturday, July 26. It said Ramirez was being suspended without pay for being unwilling to play. Copies of the letter were also sent to Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association and Ramirez’s agent, Scott Boras.

Suspensions in baseball are not unusual for players who test positive for performance-enhancing drugs or who are involved in fights during a game. It is extremely rare for a player to be suspended, or threatened with such a suspension, for refusing to play.

Within two hours after Ramirez received the letter of suspension, the Red Sox received two calls, according to sources. The first call was from one of Ramirez’s teammates. He told a member of Boston’s front office that Ramirez would play in Saturday afternoon’s game against the Yankees. Within minutes, the second call came in from Ramirez himself, who confirmed that he would be available for Saturday’s game.

Boras, of course, goes on to defend his client by disputing the report and noting that Ramirez played in almost every game for the Red Sox in July, though he doesn’t address the whole “Ouch, my left knee! Wait, I mean the right!” fiasco.
When threatened, Manny backed down. Could the Red Sox have used such leverage to force Manny not only into service this year, but to exercise his option and keep him around a bit longer? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s clear that Ramirez wasn’t as confident in his machinations as Boras might have been.
Oh, what could have been, Boston fans. Had Manny stuck around a played like he did for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is there any doubt you’d be hoisting a World Series trophy right now?
Red Sox tried to formally suspend Ramirez before trade [ESPN]
Image [Bear Mythology]