Manny Was Manny (Pt.1) - Manny Ramirez doesn't like the New York Yankees

you know how the only real way to describe a color is by using the name of the color describing Manny Ramirez is kind of the same thing the only way to properly sum up Manny is to say Manny Manny Ramirez is one of the most unique people in the world on and off a baseball field there's no one quite like him he's both a one of a kind player and a one of a kind human being his baseball career is just so fascinating there are two kinds of people watching this baseball fans who think they know the full extent of Manny's career and people who are about to be properly exposed to him for the first time either way you're in for a ride this is the story of Manny Ramirez's baseball life buckle up there's never been a story quite like this one Manny Ramirez was born in the Dominican Republic on May 30th 1972 he later moved to New York City as a 13 year old with his family you would think Manny would adopt the Yankees living so close to Yankee Stadium in a time where the Yankees were winning and with fun exciting guys like Rickey Henderson and Don Mattingly on the team but no rumor has it he was a Blue Jays fan and came to games at Yankee Stadium whenever the Jays were in town this was said to be because of the Blue Jays best players being Dominican like him but we couldn't get ahold of Manny to confirm or deny this Manny went to George Washington High School in Manhattan and it's not an exaggeration to call him one of the best high school hitters ever once in high school he hit a home run just swinging with his left arm Manny is right-handed it takes a lot of guts to throw BP to a kid like that with no L screen his senior year he casually hit get this 650 with 14 home runs in 22 games it was like that one Jimmy Tatro skit about the grown men who ate every kid pitcher alive at 19 years old Manny was selected 13th overall in the 1991 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians his crushing of baseballs didn't stop there in his first level of the minor leagues he led the league in slugging percentage which is just a way of saying bases per at-bat total bases and had more runs batted in than games played and he had a home run in almost a third of his his ascent through the minors peaked in 1993 though where he became one of the top minor league players in the game Baseball America named him minor league Player of the Year for hammering upper level minor league pitchers with numbers like these no matter how you slice it he was good enough to earn a promotion to the big leagues in September of 93 at 21 years old he was so young then another guy who played for the 1993 Indians named Lance Parrish made his MLB debut when Manny was 5 years old Manny made his debut on September 2nd in Minnesota he went over for that day but don't worry he was about to have his coming-out party hey where was that at oh yeah just his backyard basically Manny's gonna come up to the plate for the first time in Yankee Stadium and he's about to do something you don't see very often at 14 home runs at 36 RBIs first major league base hit for Ramirez and he thinks it's a home run look at this Manny was unique and it showed on his very first big-league hit he would soon find out that no that wasn't a home run his teammates loved it as you can see here sound embarrassing well don't worry this was two at-bats later [Applause] you oh you thought that was the only home run he hit that night our fault for not showing you sooner [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] those would be his only two major league home runs in 1993 he wasn't great in his first month as a big leaguer but 1994 was a bit different Manny got off to a really hot start in 94 showing why he was one of baseball's best prospects and as Manny started to settle in to a big league lineup the team around him grew as well guys like Kenny Lofton Albert Bell Jim Thome and Carlos Pierre got to name a few were evolving into great players Manny put up strong numbers to getting 17 home runs and getting on base 35.7% of the time and if you go by Oh PS Plus which puts every hitter on an equal playing field to create one number to compare everyone where 100 is always average Manny was 25% better than the average big league hitter he'd end up finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting to Bob Hamlin who would go on to retire from baseball five years later after grounding out in a minor league game also in 1994 a pitcher named Chad oj made his debut for the indians wait just a minute to find out why that's important when the famous OJ Simpson police chase was going on the Indians were watching live Manny came into the room and asked what was happening and was told that oj was being chased on the suspicion of his wife's murder Manny's response was something along the lines of oh no not shed the Indians were pushing for a playoff spot in 94 until a player's strike led to the end of the season in August did their momentum carry over into 95 yeah the 1995 Indians were insane Manny was a big part of that in his first great season he was second on the team in homers RBI and on-base percentage while being 47% better than the average hitter and for what it's worth he finished 12th in the MVP voting he made his first all-star appearance and took part in the home run derby that year - you would think Manny got to make some new friends on the AL all-star team but Manny was one of six Indians on the team so maybe not top to bottom the 95 Indians were one of the best lineups ever and helped the team coast to the World Series they would face one of the best pitching teams ever in the mid 90s Braves he got shut down the Indians scored two or less in half the series and the Braves won in six games after the series Cleveland and Manny came to an agreement on a four-year contract extension Manny got paid which is good considering his manager told a news day reporter than in 1995 Manny had left a paycheck in his shoes during a road trip the managers response to this goof was that's just Manny being Manny's baseball fans of today may recognize that Newsday reporter from Twitter wait nope that's more like it Manny was back at it again in 96 with very similar production like very similar but for some reason was completely out of the picture an all-star game and awards voting the Indians had the best record in the American League again and faced the Orioles in the first round of the playoffs Manny hit 375 with two homers that series but the Indians just got out slugged and lost in four games while hitting four less power in 97 Manny more than made up for it in batting average hitting 328 with a 415 OBP he was again one of the best hitters in a dangerous Indians lineup you would think the team took a step back only winning 86 games in 97 but it was enough to get them into the playoffs and a date with the New York Yankees after a back-and-forth series that put the Indians backs against the wall it came down to a game five in Cleveland the Indians got a rally together in the bottom of the third and Omar Vizquel almost literally stole second base this put runners at second and third with two out guess who was at the plate oh hey Manny [Applause] and the Indians take a to nothing lead that double ended up being the difference in the game the Indians would fight another day they'd get a rematch with the Orioles in the ALCS for a chance to go back to the World Series that series was great most of the games were decided late sometimes even in extra innings but when it mattered most the Indians came up big and if that ALCS was great the World Series that came next was legendary game one Marlins win in Miami seven to four Manny hits a home run though Game two Manny goes over five but his teammates pick him up and beat the Marlins six to one Game three similar deal to Game two only colder Manny's kept in check but the games tied at seven going to the ninth the Marlins explode for seven runs in the top of the ninth they went 14 to 11 Game four it's to this day the coldest game in World Series history there is snow coming down from the sky in the middle of a World Series game you ever see that before didn't stop Manny though he hit another home run and the Indians won the game 10 to 3 game 5 Marlins take the lead in the 6th and add to it in the 8th and 9th innings but the Indians are rallying Manny comes up to the plate with multiple guys on base and strikes out the Indians lose a few minutes later 8 to 7 coming up just short of a win Game six it's finally warm again the Indians take advantage of it Manny only has one official at-bat in the game but he makes sure to drive in a run Indians win four to one winner-take-all tomorrow night Game seven the Marlins get a hit in the first inning that's their only hit for six innings lucky for them the Indians aren't crushing the ball either it's two nothing Indians in the bottom of the seventh Bobby Bonilla changes that the damage is limited though two to one Indians bottom of the ninth Indians have the chance to win their first championship in almost 50 years but Marlins stay alive they tie the game and force extra innings LeBron calls out Indians pitcher josé Mesa for this almost 20 years later bottom of the 11th now the Marlins have the bases loaded with one out the Indians are able to survive long enough to get two out number two but Edgar Renteria would end the series on one swing [Music] [Applause] a team in their fifth season beat a team waiting almost 50 for another title baseball's wild that Marlins team would be a one-and-done group breaking up their roster immediately after the series Manny Ramirez is now Owen two in the World Series and it looks like his best chance to win a ring slipped away in 98 Manny was great again hitting over 40 homers for the first time in a season and driving in a hundred and forty five runs he finished sixth in the MVP voting from 95 to 98 Manny was remarkably consistent his o-p-s plus ranged only three points across four years he was basically guaranteed to give you very good average power and on-base numbers by the time he was 26 years old and at this stage of his career this was the first year you could confidently say he was the best player on his team other years it was a debate but in 98 he was definitely the biggest threat in the lineup the Indians would go back to the playoffs and beat the Red Sox in the ALDS to move on to face the Yankees again but in 1998 the Yankees were an absolute machine they won a hundred and fourteen games in the regular season and four more against the Indians in the ALCS Manny played well in the six-game series hitting two home runs but it wasn't enough Manny was sent home again and then 1999 happened Ayoo 1999 Manny Ramirez RBI check Manny Ramirez drove in a hundred and sixty five runs in 1999 that hadn't been done since before the Wizard of Oz came out there had literally never been video footage in color the last time anyone had a hundred and sixty five RBIs in a season no one else had done it since the average new car cost eight hundred and sixty dollars do you realize how insane that is but Manny did it he also led the American League in both slugging percentage and on-base percentage while absolutely destroying lefties and with men on base but with all this he still only finished third in the AL MVP voting behind Yvonne Rodriguez and Pedro Martinez let's talk more about Pedro for a second in 1999 Pedro Martinez was also having one of the best years ever he was so good that his teammates literally held him back and that still didn't stop him he carried the Red Sox into the playoffs on route to a first-round matchup with Manny and the Indians the Indians took the first two in the best-of-five series before things moved to Boston you would think the Patriots and browns played the next two games as the next two finished with very football scores like when have you ever seen a 23 to 7 game outside a football but the Sox stayed alive and forced a winner-take-all game five in Cleveland the Indians hammered the Red Sox for eight runs in the first three innings with Manny adding to the rout with an RBI double the thing is they weren't even winning by the bottom of the fourth that's when the Red Sox turned to the best pitcher on earth who hadn't pitched since Game one because of an injury Pedro went out and pitched six no-hit innings of relief absolutely dominating the Indians and sending them home yet again but once again Manny would be on the other side of someone else making history 2000 would be the last year on Manny's contract in Cleveland and after all of that from 1999 he got even better Manny hit 351 with 38 home runs 122 RBIs and was 86 percent better than the average hitter even though he missed 44 games with injury the Indians would miss the playoffs by one game it's the last game of the year and then what could very well be his last at-bat as an Indian man he's gonna come to the plate Manny do your thing man how does he always do it after this game Manny became a free agent and he obviously had many interested teams it looked like he was gonna stay in Cleveland until a usual suspect came calling the Yankees made their offer the three-time defending World Series champs looked like they were gonna swoop in and add one of the best bats not just at this time but in baseball history when the Yankees make another splash and live up to their Fairly OddParents like reputation breaking the bank for a guy who used to live right by Yankee Stadium as a teenager no they didn't when he did sign with a team that wasn't the Yankees one of the reasons he gave was I'm just tired of seeing the Yankees always win today so you like kicking butt do you the team that signed him wasn't the Indians either marking the end of his time with his longtime team you see you probably know Manny Ramirez best for his time with another particular team and on December 12th 2000 Manny would agree to join them [Music] [Music]

Channel: Stark Raving Sports

Views: 194,601

Keywords: Stark Raving Sports, Baseball, Sports, MLB, Manny Ramirez, Manny Ramirez Home Run, Manny Ramirez Indians, Manny Being Manny, 1995 World Series, 1997 World Series, Cleveland Indians, Indians Baseball, 1990s Baseball, 90s MLB, 90s Baseball

Id: JtLpE8Ezdm8

Length: 16min 9sec (969 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 13 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Satanshmaten]

How do you talk about Ramirez for over sixteen minutes without saying “Manram” even once?

[u/speed3ftw]

I always loved Manny! Just a unit at bat! Absolutely insane!

[u/LazySleepyCat]

Well, the video says it is a "rumour" but interesting nonetheless.

[u/Airp0w]

Does it say why?

[u/drifter100]

A lot of Latin Guys were fans of the Jays and Expos, because they were one of the first ones to seriously tap into that market. One of the reasons why the Jays got so good so fast. Both teams had dedicated scouts and academies there in the 80s. Obviously other teams caught on pretty quick. Pittsburgh too, mainly because of Clemente.