Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist, on July 19, 2008 wrote:
When told of Lobel's accusation regarding Manny's passive pinch-hitting appearance, Francona asked, "Where'd he come up with that?"
"It's ridiculous and incendiary for anyone to suggest that Manny would purposefully make an out in any game," Henry wrote in an e-mail. "Ridiculous."
Lucchino wasn't buying, either.
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," he said. "This is Boston and this is the big leagues. A lot of things get created out of whole cloth, and we've got to appreciate that things like this happen from time to time."
Manny's strikeout against Rivera certainly looked bad, but it's impossible to get into the head of any ballplayer. Nobody said Bob "Beetle" Bailey was tanking when he took three down the middle against Rich Gossage in the 1978 playoff game.
In fairness to Manny, all three strikes he watched were nasty cutters on the black. No one looks good when they go down looking at three strikes, but it's risky to accuse an athlete of tanking.
Previously posted on FenwayWest.com 07/19/08
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