Manny Ramirez's career as a Tampa Bay Ray is off to a rough start. The future Hall-of-Famer is hitting 1-of-16 (.063) on the season after an 0-of-4, 3-strikeout performance in yesterday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Fans at Tropicana Field booed Ramirez yesterday, but as Joseph Smith writes, Ramirez is fine with that:
↵↵↵"It's not my first time I strike out three times," Ramirez said. "It's all good. I liked it."
↵↵When asked if he understood where the fans were coming from, Ramirez said, "That's everywhere. It's all right. I'm not mad at myself. I just got myself out."
It's easy to understand why Rays fans don't appreciate Manny's poor start, and it's just as easy to understand why Manny think he can turn his season around ("There's plenty of time," he told the media yesterday). Sixteen at-bats does not a season make.
↵↵CBJones of DRaysBay, SB Nation's Rays blog, had some fun with Manny's outsized reputation in his Rays/Angels recap, which helpfully notes Tampa Bay is on pace for an 0-162 season. "Manny Ramirez has already infected the Rays clubhouse with his bad attitude and .063 batting average!" jokes CBJones.