Say It Ain't So.

The thought of Manny leaving the Red Sox really bums me out. I hadn't realized how attached I was to the loon until tonight. The idea of him leaving is ridiculously upsetting. For all his quirks and crappy defense, he is a truly fabulous hitter. I wanted Manny to surpass Ted Williams in Fenway Park. That he might end up playing in a football stadium for a team named after fish is belittling to his cult-hero status. Manny Ramirez deserves better than that. (I know that the Marlins are up there with the Phillies and the Mets this year and that they've won the World Series more recently than either of those teams but come on now, baseball teams aren't supposed to be named after fish.)

Part of me wants to believe that it's not really happening. Theo Epstein seems to work under the radar. You hear nothing and then-boom-it's done; Nomar is gone, Daisuke is in. All of the noise makes me want to believe that it's some kind of ploy. The Pittsburgh press is all over Bay going to the Rays. And yet, I can't convince myself that he'll still be here the day after tomorrow.

And all because of the odious Scott Boras. Flashback to spring training: Happy, go-lucky Manny shows up on time, declares that he's going to get six more years, and have his number retired at Fenway. Jovial Manny has a fabu time in Japan, is on an absolute tear when they get back-getting hits, stealing bases, throwing out runners, says that he intends to win a Gold Glove this season, and when Ortiz is struggling tells everyone: It'll be okay. I'll hit for him. Then he switches agents and it all falls apart. Somewhere along the line his feelings get hurt and Boras is there, poking at the sore spot like a bruise-preventing it from healing. It builds. Manny acts out. And the Manny-haters in the media (and there are a lot of them: practically anyone at the Globe, Peter Gammons, Jerry Remy, Bob Ryan) pile on. The situation goes from bad to worse and as a result, the Red Sox are probably going to let one of the best hitters in the game go for a song. All so that Scott Boras can get his greedy little fingers on some extra cash.