Up in Bronx, locals won't miss Manny Ramirez too much
Up in Bronx, locals won't miss Manny Ramirez too much
BY ROGER RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, August 1st 2008, 12:16 AM
Rogash/Getty Manny Ramirez's departure from Boston is a pleasurable sight for Yankees, fans.
The
Yankees aren't shedding any tears over
Manny Ramirez's departure from the
American League.
The notorious Yankee-killer won't be missed in these parts.
"He's given us a lot of trouble over the years as a team, so maybe a lot of people will like to see him gone,"
Andy Pettitte said.
"He's a great hitter, so I'm glad we don't have to face him anymore,"
Derek Jeter said.
Joe Girardi simply waved his hand and said "he can go to the other league. That's all right."
Most Yankees were surprised the
Red Sox would let their superstar go by trading Ramirez to the
Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday, but one Yankee in particular thinks anyone could've seen this coming.
"Nothing surprises me about Boston," said Johnny Damon, who left the Sox after the 2005 season when their contract offer to him was $12 million less than the Yankees'. "Not too many players leave there happy. It's been very well documented over the years, I think back to Mike Greenwell and (Roger) Clemens, Mo Vaughn and Nomar (Garciaparra). It goes on and on.
"When they're ready to get rid of a player, they do it."
Ramirez and
David Ortiz formed the linchpin of Boston's lineup for years and have caused the Yankees more than their share of headaches. Damon called them "the best 3-4 guys in the league since 2003." It's a good bet the Yankee pitching staff will be happy not to have to deal with that anymore.
"When you've got a good lineup and you get two guys of that ability, it makes them tough. It makes them who they've been,"
Mike Mussina said. "You're not going to find too many teams that can put two guys like that in the lineup back-to-back. ... When those guys are both in the lineup and healthy, that team has been successful.
"I mean, I know Manny beats us up bad and I know Manny's a great player," Mussina said. "It sure changes their lineup, but they've got a good lineup. ...
(Jason) Bay's a pretty good player too. I'm not sure there's a big drop-off there."
In 200 career games against the Yankees, Ramirez has batted .321 with 55 home runs and 163 RBI.

Even from a distance, the Yankees have paid attention to the growing acrimony between Ramirez and the Red Sox.
"They felt like they had to take care of a problem," Damon said. "It started getting to be too much. They've never been afraid to trade guys or let guys go when they felt it was a way to better their team."
"The way it was going the last couple days it seemed like he wanted to get traded," Mussina said. "The last couple days it seemed a lot more serious than it had in the past. ... And as it turned out they were serious about it."