Manny.

I realize that among most Red Sox fans the subject of Manny Ramirez is an issue where there is normally no gray area; you either love him unconditionally like one of your own children or he's viewed as a pariah who shucked and jived his way out of town with a litany of excuses that included faking injuries, jaking it when it came to games and pushing down (allegedly) and elderly member of the Red Sox staff.

Maybe it's because I'm the father of two free spirits that march to the beat of their own drum. Or maybe it's because I secretly admire the fact that a grown man making upwards of $20 million dollars a year acts like he's backing up Donald Duck at Walt Disney World. Or it could just be that I've had the pleasure to watch one of the best hitters EVER to step onto a Major League field and for a large chunk of that time? He played on my favorite team.

Honestly? I don't know the one true reason why I love me some Manny, although it's pretty easy to do when you remember the high five of the fan in Baltimore or rubbing Julian Tavarez's head like some demented house cat or the sheer giddiness of watching him yuk it up in the dugout while Curt Schilling looked like he was trying to pass a kidney stone.

What I do know? I spent 2 hours tonight watching the Dodgers play the White Sox in a meaningless Spring Training game and saw Manny go 2 for 2 with a double, a single, a walk, and one weird dance move off second base.

I'm convinced he could spend 3 years with the Dali Llama studying Yoga and come back and go 3 for 4 in his debut.

I guess I can overlook all the nonsense is due to the fact that I've been married to a saint of a woman for the last 17 + years whose overlooked a WHOLE LOT of nonsense herself. Plus I'm raising 2 future delinquents who may someday become famous on YouTube for shooting bottle rockets out each others butt.

Or it could just be that like MJ shooting a basketball or Tiger hitting a 25 foot putt or Manning threading the needle at 50 yards Manny is just a once in a lifetime phenom that I'm really glad I got the pleasure to witness with my own eyes.

'Course I could just be a raving idiot.