Tomorrow is the trade deadline and I don’t think there is any way that Manny Ramirez is traded.  His is a tough bat to replace in the lineup.  So while I think the Red Sox may see what’s available, they will let Manny play out the year.

I don’t necessarily think the book is closed on Manny’s career in Boston at the end of this season.  We are talking about a guy who has a chance to hit 600 homeruns; those are some big shoes to try and fill in left field.  I think the team will look at the market and look at Manny’s value and, at least, talk with his agent.  His mind changes often and the Red Sox will see if, by the end of the season, he wants to stay and what they can do to change his attitude.

There will be conversations with Manny in the off-season.

Much like having to rotate your tires on your car as regular maintenance, to ensure their ultimate longevity, what would you say is the most important thing you can do regarding your physical maintenance as an athlete, to put your self in a position to be productive and healthy over the coarse of a long career in baseball such as yours.
Jason D. - Maine

The best way to stay healthy and avoid injury is to know yourself and take care of yourself and listen to your body for warnings of wear and tear.

Back when I played, we didn’t see as many injuries as there are nowadays.  But back in the 1970’s and 80’s we didn’t have the same emphasis on weight and strength training that exists in Baseball today. My theory has been that players today don’t have baseball muscles; they have muscles that let them look good in a uniform.  The training that a lot of players endure is more for vanity rather than excelling at their sport.

The game of baseball is played with 38 oz bat (when I played it was, most are down to 34oz now) and the ball is 4-5 oz.  There is no need for a player to bench press 400 lbs in preparation for swinging a bat or throwing a baseball.  That type of intense strength training makes the players bodies too big and their muscles too tight as well as putting extra stress on joints, ligaments, and tendons.

If players are going to work out with weights, they need to have an element to their routine that will keep the muscles long.  Herschel Walker had ballet and now Manny Ramirez has yoga.  This all works to stretch out the muscles.  The players in Japan will stretch for an hour to an hour and a half.

When Papi Comes back, where do you put JD Drew in the lineup?
Ryan T., Shrewsbury, MA

JD Drew may bat in different spots in the lineup, switching between the third, fifth, and sixth spot in the order depending on the pitching match up.  My thought is that if he is swinging good, keep him at the three spot in the lineup.  With Drew hitting third, you can take some of the pressure off of Ortiz by hitting him lower in the order.

The Red Sox lost the first game of this series which was a frustrating game.  Justin Masterson had some trouble hitting his spots.  Masterson is a sinkerballer and the Reds are a team with a lot of left-handed bats in their line-up.  Coming from a right-handed pitcher, that sinker is going to break right into the hitting zone of a lot of those left-handed Cincinnati hitters.  Aaron Harang also pitched well for the Reds and is a better pitcher than his record indicates.

In the second game of the series, the Red Sox did well against a great pitcher in Edinson Volquez.  The Red Sox were able to capitalize on mistakes and manufacture some runs and prove that they can be a competitive team without Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.

The Jonathan Papelbon pitch that Edwin Encarnacion hit for the game tying homerun was a case of missed location as Pap threw him a split fingered fastball that didn’t move.  Luckily the sox were able to get those runs back.  The Coco Crisp homerun was another case of missed location: he tends to struggle with an inside pitch and pull it foul, the pitch he hit for a homerun was out over the plate and Coco was able to get his arms extended and drive the ball.

The finale was a good win for the Red Sox offense without Manny and Papi, Josh Beckett showed that he may be rounding into MidSeason form, and JD Drew continues to crush the ball.

The offense has held up pretty good while David Ortiz is out of the lineup. The Red Sox were even able to score 9 runs yesterday without Manny Ramirez in the lineup. This upcoming series is another interleague match up in a National League ballpark which means that Big Papi may not have been in the lineup for at least one of the games anyway. The most important thing while Papi is out is protecting Manny in the lineup. You don’t need to substitute for Papi’s Home Runs, you need players to get base hits in place of Papi. Sean Casey is a pretty good LH hitter, Lowell can step it up and fill part of that void, Varitek is capable, Drew has been on a tear, and maybe Lugo can help the team with some offense.

The injury to Papi seems to be fairly basic in terms of recovery. From what I hear, no surgery is necessary; just wrap it up and maybe take a cortisone shot. In the meantime, let’s hope the team can put up some runs without him in the lineup.

In the game of baseball, just like anything in life, preparation is most important in achieving results. There will always be guys who think that they are faster, stronger, or younger than you. But as long as you are willing to work harder and prepare for any situation, success will follow.

As a coach, I loved working with a guy like Nomar Garciaparra. Nomar was very focused and absorbed information like a sponge. As a young player you could sense his eagerness to learn from the experiences of the veteran players and coaches. Nomar was one of the hardest working players I have ever worked with, and it made him very successful.

Wade Boggs was same way: he worked hard and was a student of the game. Wade was also a creature of habit and his routines allowed him to be successful. He would take groundballs at the same time day in and day out. This methodical approach was called superstitious, but it allowed Wade to get the right preparation on a regular basis to go out and compete at such a high level for such a long time.

Mo Vaughn was a guy who worked very hard to improve the weaker aspects of his game. When Mo first came up to the big leagues, he had a reputation for poor fielding. Mo worked on his fielding everyday and, while he never won a gold glove, he certainly wasn’t a liability at first base.

Different guys find success in different ways. Some guys are very rigid in their preparation like John Valentin who had the attitude that certain techniques had been successful in getting him to the major leagues and there was no sense in changing. Others find things that work for them for a time and change routines as necessary. Manny Ramirez who can adjust his routines and focus from day to day and pitch to pitch. The point is to always make sure you are prepared because it builds confidence in your abilities.

Manny said in an article in the Boston Herald today that he is the greatest left fielder ever to play Fenway.  Actually, you like to see this type of attitude in a player, because to be a successful professional athlete, you have to be confident in your abilities.  It’s this type of attitude that leads to the success that Manny has had in the game of baseball.

I don’t take this to be a personal insult on my play as a leftfielder; I like and respect Manny and we talk regularly at the ballpark.  I do disagree with him though.  Manny is a great hitter (one of the best of his era) but it is unfair to compare him to Me or Yaz or Williams because we all played in different eras.  As a fielder, someone needs to let Manny know that this is a new wall that he’s playing.  We used to have a different wall in left field when I played and it was much more difficult to play.

Earlier this season I listed what I consider to be the best outfielders to play Fenway Park.

Have any of the current Red Sox players asked you for advice or assistance? I would think that you would be a great asset to any of those guys, especially as the season gets further along. I imagine even Manny could use a few words now and then if he’s in a minor slump or dealing with an injury or maybe even a fan or two that may be a problem.
Stephen B.

After being around the game for so long, I tend to pick up on certain tendencies that all hitters fall into at times: where their head is, the plane of the bat, the timing of the swing, etc. I don’t approach the players but if they ask me how they look, I’ll give them my opinion. I talk to Manny and Papi a lot because they are two guys who love to talk about hitting.

What kind of numbers are you thinking Manny is going to put up?
Andrew S.
New York, NY

I got various questions asking me about Manny’s fielding, his age, and what to expect from him this year. Let me try to answer all of these issues at once.

Fielding
It may not look like he’s improved in the field. He takes strange routes to balls and doesn’t set his feet before he throws, but he’s come a long way and he’s worked hard to get there. This spring Manny took ground balls and fly balls in the outfield everyday. During the season it’s the same thing. He’s working everyday to make himself a better all around player.

This Season
I know a lot of people (including Peter Gammons) have picked Manny to win the MVP this year. Manny Ramirez has a great shot to win the MVP. He worked hard this offseason in Arizona, he got started earlier this season in Florida, he should be locked in for this season. All the tools are there, it’s about how hard Manny wants it. If he stays focused and is in the lineup everyday he will be very successful this year.

Age
Manny hasn’t lost anything due to age.