Saturday, May 17, 2008
Manny Ramirez Plays
The first thing lost in professional sports is play. The whole point. You get fantastic performance, exciting contests, but it is often grim. It all becomes about numbers and personalities and salaries. Competition is all; winning the sole value. And the players don't help their case. The players are inadequate to the task of describing what they do, or even what happened, and so the fulfilling story is lost as well.
But in this video you've got it all. The story is complete as movement — it puts a smile on your face. Manny Ramirez has a carefree quality which wouldn't make you first think “professional athlete” when watching him walk to the outfield. Just because he isn't tightly wound doesn't tell you who he is though; the man has the spirit of the game and the skill.
This sequence of an exciting catch, an in-the-moment high-five, and a throw to the infield that results in a double play will be a classic. And it was all play. Manny the Great.