Sez Me …
Manny Machado is both ends of baseball’s magnet. We either are drawn to Manny or repelled by Manny.
He either is a great captain and leader, or a fever blister on the lip of the game.
Manny is Manny. He needs nothing but his given name. Say “Manny,” and we know who you’re talking about, often followed by: “What did he do now?”
I can’t say Manny is a great player — close; could be, depending on the viewer — but he is a great talent. Among all the baseball stars I’ve seen, he is the mystery inside of a mystery. There’s no one like him.
I am a mystery freak. I’ve read and watched hundreds of who-done-its. Dickens suffered a stroke and never finished “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” I can’t help but believe “The Mystery of Manny Machado” also will end without a satisfying denouement.
We don’t understand Manny. I don’t know if, from game to game, Manny truly understands Manny.
Do we want to understand Manny? Better yet, does Manny want us to understand Manny?
Kids, with clearer minds, get him. He walked onto the field at his camp the other day to the cheers of “Manny! Manny!”
If kids love you, nothing else matters. They know. He’s Manny.
I’m hardly a shrink, but Manny seems comfortable inside of Manny’s epidermis. He is what he is, and if you don’t like and enjoy Manny, Manny seems OK with being Manny, the unpredictable Manny. The Manny who can thrill and disappoint.
Who is Manny? The exuberant Manny who blasts walk-off homers, or the Manny who jogs to first base blowing bubbles? Why does he do this? I believe he loves to play. I believe he can and has played hurt. Manny shows up.
There is a fire in Manny, at times a pilot light, at times raging, a storm that can without rain, or one with vicious thunder and bellowing lightning. Manny’s unpredictability has made him feared. And fear is good.
His work in the field can’t be questioned. He is a master. One of the greatest third basemen of my lifetime or any lifetime. And I’ve seen every one since Brooks Robinson. The Boyer brothers, Clete and Ken. Graig Nettles. Mike Schmidt, the greatest all-round. George Brett. Ken Caminiti. Nolan Arenado, who is magic.
Manny saves games with his glove. He makes hard look easy, which all the greats have done. When Manny sits, there is a crater.
It’s become obvious his offseason elbow surgery was the catalyst to his slow start in 2024. It had to be terribly frustrating for him. But he played through it, anyway, and has come around to being the threat Manny always has been.
Except the team can’t avoid the spellbinding spells of offensive ineptitude, such as the one that ineptly befell the Pads recently after they had been playing so well.
It seems as though when Manny can’t do much, the team can’t do much. And the absence of Fernando Tatis Jr. isn’t aiding and abetting.
I can’t help it. I like Manny, even if he frustrates me at times. He’s always a mystery. And I love a mystery.
I don’t know, as we sit at the captain’s table, we don’t want Manny served any other way. Mystery meat is OK, served hot or cold. ,,,
There will be 38 (for now) first-time all-stars in this week’s summer classic. What does that tell you? Aren’t many Hall of Famers out there. …
Paul Skenes will be the NL’s All-Star Game starter, but with a pitch count of 10. …
No MLB starter under 31 has 100 wins. Nerds. …
I can’t believe the extra-inning ghost runner remains a part of baseball. A horrid rule. …
Kyle Higashioka is the best Padres guitar player since Eric Show, who was good. …
Draft smaft. Saw this: Forty-eight percent of the NFL players involved in at least a snap in 2023 were either undrafted or taken in third round or later. …
Each NFL team will get $404 million from the league office earned from the 2023 season. That’s before a ticket or anything else team-related is sold. So Fredo Spanos finally becomes a millionaire. …
It appears Hall of Fame defensive lineman Richard Seymour will former Patriots teammate Tom Brady as a co-owner of the Raiders. Memo to Mark “Son of Al” Davis: It ain’t gonna rub off. …
The Patriot Way and the Raider Way. Not a sweet cocktail. …
Brady will not work exhibition games for Fox, the network holding his NFL broadcasting debut until the season opener. Kind of like when he played. …
To preserve his bad ankle, Dak Prescott no longer will be allowed to go deep-sea fishing. Training camp and figure skating, OK. …
Bill Belichick has been hired as an analyst on the CW’s “Inside The NFL.” Not before he had to ask what the CW is. But, I, for one, will be shocked if he isn’t very good. …
Ali to Frazier: “Don’t you know I’m God?” Joe: “God, you’re in the wrong place tonight.” …
Loud is the new moneymaker. They’re saying ESPN is getting ready to pay Stephen A. Smith at least $100 million over five years. Good for him, but it’s amazing considering his subpar 40-yard dash times. …
Paul George says his first offer from the Clippers was “disrespectful.” He had been playing for the Clippers. What did he expect? …
New York City now will use trash bins rather than dumping bags on the sidewalks. Garbage strikes never will look the same. …
After a less-than-shocking failure in the Copa, U.S. Men’s Soccer coach Gregg Berhalter has been fired. If he waits a year or so, he should get his job back. …
Speaking of soccer, I’ve reached the point where I’m sadly certain FIFA never will get rid of the offsides just for me. …
I covered Tony Gwynn during his four years at San Diego State. I covered the Clippers in 1981, the year they drafted him. No doubt in my mind that, if he had decided on the NBA — which would not have been his best choice, obviously — Michael Brooks (always alone down the court) would have led the league in scoring and Tony in assists. …
Bobby Knight said Brooks was the best college player he ever coached. A great engine. I enjoyed Michael. And Kobe Bryant’s dad, Jellybean. The Clippers had some good guys. They didn’t have enough good players. …
I wish I could be around when all the young morons, the uncaring, the cruel, the spineless, who mock the aged, become seniors themselves, so they can understand why they no longer can do the easy things. The treatment of the elderly in this country is a felony. …
James A. Garfield was a president who simultaneously could write Latin in one hand and Greek in the other. He campaigned in English and German. But he died too soon to, as a switch-hitter, learn how to hit the curve. …
Confirmed. Alec Baldwin hasn’t been guilty of anything since “Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat.”
