Manny Ramirez

Plus a week in the life of Amanda Rodrigues

I’ve heard a lot of crazy rumours in my time when it comes to Toronto’s sports teams. There was the one about Gretzky signing a deal to play for the Leafs in the mid-90s, and now it appears that a few “insiders” are predicting that the Blue Jays might actually pursue Manny Ramirez this off-season. Manny would greatly help a lackluster Blue Jays offence, but at a price tag of somewhere in the neighbourhood of $25 million per season, this rumour seems about as likely to become a reality as Wayne Rooney leaving Manchester United to play for Toronto FC.

Suicidal squeeze: The Los Angeles Angels are out of the playoffs because Mike Scioscia did exactly what we all expected him to do. Everyone—the broadcasters, the Fenway faithful, the casual fan—knew he was going to try the bunt squeeze last night. He does it all the time. That’s just his aggressive style, and when a manager leads his club to a runaway division title (the Angels finished 21 games ahead of second-place Oakland in the AL West), it’s hard to second-guess his decisions.

La première étoile: New York Jets. By acquiring Beautiful Brett Favre for a conditional draft pick the Jets have added a legitimate star pivot to their lineup who should revamp a dismal Jets offence that only produced four wins last year. Even if the team still sucks this upcoming season, management can at least cash in on Favre merchandise sales.

La première étoile: The entire nation of Spain! Viva Espana! Spain Spain Spain! Land of fine hams and lovely weather! Also, really good at soccer! Hurrah!

It’s hard to say which is more entertaining: watching Manny Ramirez smack a baseball over the fence, or watching him watch his home runs sail over the fence. One thing is certain, though. The man can hit. And hit and hit.