Good lord. I honestly though that the Yankees were out of the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes, but apparently I was wrong. The Yankees just signed the slugger with a eight-year deal worth $180 million. Not only have the Yanks signed three players in the offseason totaling $423,500,000, but they now have four of the MLB's highest paid players on their roster.

And while everyone in and around Baseball is rolling their eyes, there is one man who thinks this is a great idea. Stephen A. Smith!

I'll gloss over the fact that S.A.S. said that the Yankees didn't, "walk away with a World Series Championship this millennium," (ummmm....they have a good while to attempt that), there's no way they can still be considering signing Manny. I guess Steven does have a point though. If you've already spent $423 Million, you mind as well make it a cool $500.

I really think this is a non-story, but for some reason, people are still talking about Tim McCarver's comments in regards to Manny. Yesterday the FOX analyst was making the rounds on ESPN and was on Outside the Lines to talk about the postseason and to clarify his comments. McCarver stuck to his guns, and when given the chance to maybe replace the word despicable, he said that he's fine with the word and was fine when he first said it.

Manny also commented on the situation to media yesterday and here are both clips in case you missed them....

McCarver in the booth is one of the most maddening people I've ever listened to, but out of it....he just makes me laugh. Not only when he flashes that little grin at the end, but also when he almost calls Sports Center, "Sports Channel". I just can't stay mad at the guy.

McCarver Calls Manny's Behavior In Boston, "Despicable" (Awful Announcing)

You can say a lot of things about Tim McCarver, but the guy rarely pulls any punches. The Philly Inquirer talked with the FOX analyst about the NLCS, and he had some interesting things to say about Manny Ramirez. He even went so far as to say that his actions in Boston were "despicable"....

"It's extraordinary - the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said. "I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable - like not playing, refusing to play. Forgetting what knee to limp on. And now it's washed, it's gone."

Not gone in Boston, McCarver said, but he gives Ramirez his complete due for what he's done in L.A.

"A rejuvenated Manny, I think it would be fair to say," McCarver said, sitting in the Phillies dugout yesterday. "More than old Manny. Manny's doing things that even Manny doesn't do, [like] scoring on a double to right field from first base."

TBL called the comments a "swipe", and while I wouldn't go that far, it's still odd that McCarver went that far (especially as an ex-Phillie). He's obviously right about the Dodger, but again....not sure why he was THAT honest. Should be an interesting call come this Thursday.

Update: McCarver was also on the DP Show today talking about Manny as well....

McCarver calls Manny's behavior in Boston 'despicable' (The Dan Patrick Show)

McCarver outspoken about L.A.'s dread man (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Tim McCarver Takes a Swipe at Manny Ramirez (The Big Lead)

So a few people wrote in about a moment from last night's Dodgers-Cubs game and I wanted to explore it a little bit today. Manny Ramirez had just hit a solo shot to centerfield off of Carlos Zambrano, and when going through the highlights, Ron Darling noticed a little smile that Manny flashed right before the pitch. Forget for a second the awesomeness of smiling at a pitcher and then hitting a homerun, but rather listen to Darling's comments immediately following the grin....

"A little smile by Manny, like he knows what's coming. Sometimes guys just make a mockery of the game. Don't they Tony?"- Ron Darling

Now at the time, I thought that he was saying that in a positive way (that Manny was just too good), but a few people wrote in saying that they were furious and the use of the word was negative. The statement is so ambiguous, that I can definitely see their point. I've currently got an email into TBS, but I wanted to get your thoughts while we wait for a response. I still think it was positive but Darling definitely should have used a different word.

The last time we talked about an ESPN Ad Agency campaign, it was those weird eyeball balls that they mailed out. Well this time them gone even further out the box and into the laundromat....literally. From AdFreak via STIR has the details....

Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Thursday. ESPN agency Ground Zero quickly sprang into action, and by lunchtime Friday, “nearly every Laundromat in Los Angeles county had at least one ‘Lost Red Sock.’ ” Even the Encino Quickie Wash? The agency’s interns must have loved tooling around all day, dropping off socks, pocketing fabric softener.

Weird. The eyeball thing was at least promoting the fact that ESPN has Sports on 24-7, thus given you red eye, but this doesn't seem to make much sense. Maybe ESPN wants to get in good with the Dodgers for some reason, but it seems like a giant waste of money to me. There could be an advertisement for ESPN Radio on the back though now that I think about it. Clever but certainly very very questionable.

Red Sox Trade Manny: Laundromats Rejoice (Stuff That Is Relevant)
Manny: machine wash cold, tumble dry low (Ad Freak)

Obviously last night's Sports Center, when it wasn't airing a Mummy 3 preview, had a lot about Manny. All of it was very repetitive until the very end of the show when they decided to show a SC Commercial that Ramirez had taken part in. Here's the spot featuring Jay Harris, Steve Levy, and Manny himself....

Hilarious. Since he's in a Red Sox jersey they said it can be never shown again. I have no idea why they're not able to keep it but apparently last night and this morning are the only times you get to see it on ESPN. You can watch here though whenever you want though.

You ask and you shall receive. I missed this last night, but a ton of people said I had to find the video and post it. Well here it is....Baseball Tonight's Best Of Manny Being Manny.....

Simply hilarious.

I know we're not breaking any new ground here in the sanity of Manny department, and you may have already seen the Zapruder like footage Deadspin posted earlier, but this needs to be seen in slow motion to be appreciated.

Watch closely....

He caught it on the run, climbed the wall, high fived a fan, and then doubled up a runner. Insane. That's Bo Jackson running up the wall cool. Manny will never cease to amaze me.

Ahh typos.....they make my day. Can you find the one in this article from CNNSI? I bet you can't! (Click for larger version)


Good thing to know that the Massachusetts Gay Marriage Laws are working!

(Found via Fark)

posted by OMDQ

David Ortiz is one of the most dangerous hitters in postseason history. That guy behind him in the batting order, however, is a future Hall of Famer. I don't care if Manny Ramirez missed most of September, hadn't fully reestablished himself in Boston's lineup and doesn't have Papi's "clutch" reputation - it's awfully tough to pitch to him in that situation.

Not that I envy Mike Scioscia for having to make the call there. Ortiz, Manny, Lowell, with only two bases open - it reminds me of a story I read a long time ago about Lefty Gomez and Jimmie Foxx. Foxx, of course, was an absolute beast at the plate, a two-time 50-homerun hitter who might have reached 700 if he could have controlled his inner demons. Gomez was a pretty good lefty for the Yankees who pitched well in the postseason and kept things light in the clubhouse.

In one game, Gomez was facing Foxx, when the catcher (I think it was Bill Dickey) couldn't get the pitcher to agree on a sign. Finally, exasperated, he ran out to the mound to see what was up. He was greeted by Gomez, who suggested they deal with Foxx by not actually dealing with him.

"Who knows," said Gomez, "maybe he'll get a phone call or something."

That quote isn't exact, of course. And the pitcher might've been Dizzy Dean or Rube Waddell or one of baseball's many crazy people. But the idea still stands. Sometimes, when you're faced with an impossible situation, the best solution is to avoid it for as long as possible.

Also, speaking of the Yankees: you've no doubt heard by now that they were outlasted by Cleveland, 2-1 in eleven innings, to fall behind 2-0 in the League Division Series. Two things I would like to mention:

1) Please, Cleveland, don't let up and drop three straight. I'm assuming that the Red Sox are going to win their series (knock on wood) and am pretty sure that I can't handle another Sox-Yankees ALCS. On the other hand, the Indians are firing on all cylinders right now and scare the hell out of me, but they are still the lesser of two evils.

2) For a good time before Signal to Noise's Sunday Night Football live-blog on Sunday, head over to Why Don't We Get Drunk and Blog, where Lozo will (hopefully) finally be attempting to fulfill one of his late-summer dreams: live-blogging the game in which the Yankees are finally eliminated in 2007. He's still up in the air as to whether or not he'll actually go through with it, but check in around 6 pm just to be sure. If it happens, it has the potential to be amazing.

(One more thing about the Ramirez homerun: kudos to TBS and Jose Mota on the post-game, on-field interview with Manny. The crowd noise was so loud that the only thing I heard for the first thirty seconds was, "I want to thank God...". When a guy who is famous for not wanting to talk to the media makes a big play, gets lost in the moment, and grants you an interview, you might do well to make sure we can hear what he has to say.)

Photo: Yahoo! Sports/AP (Charles Krupa)