Did Manny Ramirez Tank an At-Bat? Maybe!

Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox brass are doing their annual dance of anger. You know how it goes: Manny is not happy with something, and complained about it, and Red Sox owner John Henry responded (he was "personally offended) and everyone sighed because it's Manny Being Manny, and we're all contractually obligated to work that phrase in somewhere, and maybe Manny will get traded but probably not. Same as it ever was.

The charges roll on today -- WEEI radio man Bob Lobel is saying the Red Sox are upset at Manny for allegedly sacking an at-bat the other night against Mariano Rivera:

"The thing that most people are forgetting and haven't talked about is the strikeout in Yankee Stadium," Lobel said. "The bat on the shoulder for the three pitches from Mariano Rivera. That was a big [expletive] to the Red Sox after the fine. I'm just telling you ... there are things in the front office that are perceived ... I'm saying that there is a strong feeling that that [three-pitch strikeout] was the message to the Red Sox and it's a strong feeling that that's unacceptable ... there's a feeling that he didn't give it his all, let's put it that way ... I'm just saying the front office has not forgotten that moment. It's akin to Nomar sitting on the bench [in a game in which Derek Jeter dove into the stands at Yankee Stadium in 2004]. It's the same thing. It's an at bat that resonated very strongly in the front office."

I didn't see the at-bat in question, but if the fine posters at BBTF are to be believed (and they are), it wasn't exactly obvious that Manny was intentionally throwing the at-bat. He received three ripping cutters from Rivera, all three of which slid just over the black and were called for strikes.

It's possible that he ignored all three on purpose. Or maybe he was genuinely fooled by perhaps the best closer of all time. Unfortunately, Manny's history of weirdness doesn't earn him the benefit of the doubt.