Last days of Manny?
Manny Ramirez could be getting perilously close to that day when he takes his bats and goes home, unwanted by any team in the major leagues.
The Oakland Athletics have scored the fewest runs in the American League. They’re batting .218. They just emerged from a ninegame losing streak in which they got shut out four times.
And they don’t believe Ramirez can help their offense.
Ramirez is batting .268 for the A’s triple-A affiliate, with one extra-base hit in 41 at-bats. Since his last home run — on Sept. 17, 2010 — he is hitting .202 over 84 atbats for the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays and Sacramento River Cats. His slugging percentage: .226. He better get hot, fast. The A’s are not at all committed to calling him up. He isn’t going to sell tickets in Oakland. Young sluggers Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick are developing just fine without him, the A’s aren’t going to win this year, and it’s almost too late for Ramirez to hit and behave well enough for the A’s to try flipping him for a prospect.
The “Manny being Manny” moments live on at mannyramirez.com, which greets visitors with a montage in which the Dodger Stadium video board shows Ramirez hitting a walk-off home run — for the Boston Red Sox.
The website also invites kids to play a game called “Manny Ramirez vs. the Aliens.” No kidding.