As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”

It appears Red Sox Nation has had enough of Manny being Manny. For the past week, Boston sports talk-radio airwaves have been inundated with callers who appear to have had enough of the savant slugger, who recently pulled himself out of the Sox lineup twice. Manny stated it was due to a cranky knee, but MRIs came up negative on both knees.

It was one thing for Ramirez to pull himself out of the lineup against the lowly Seattle Mariners, but when he sat again in the first game of the most recent Yankees series at Fenway Park, all hell broke loose in New England. More important than fans and radio talk-show hosts, it also appears the Red Sox brass has had enough of Manny’s quirkiness. What appeared to be a no-brainer two weeks ago – that the Sox would pick up the team’s $20M 2009 option for Ramirez – now seems as likely as John McCain winning Massachusetts in November.

Manny quitting on loyal Sox fans and, more importantly, his teammates is deplorable. Letting teammates down is the mortal sin of an athlete. However, let’s not kid ourselves. Pro sports are all about winning. As a reminder, until 2004, Sox fans had not seen a World Championship since 1918. They’ve now witnessed two since 2004. Would they have done so without Ramirez? Probably not. Had they not won those two championships, would fans and Sox brass still want Manny to walk? My guess is no.

Manny Ramirez is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Does that forgive him for his recent actions? Not in real life, but this is not real life. It’s Major League Baseball. Lest we forget the indiscretions of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Juan Marichal, Mickey Mantle, Barry Bonds, et al.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are the best 3-4 hitters the game has seen since Ruth and Gehrig. So, be careful what you wish for Sox fans … and enjoy it while you can. Those days may be gone soon. And with it, championships.

Perfectly Frank…
On Saturday’s coverage of The Open Championship, ABC’s Mike Tirico said that Greg Norman was Tiger Woods before Tiger Woods. Actually Greg Norman was Phil Mickelson before Phil Mickelson. While the 53-year old Norma’s bid to win the The Open Championship saved this Tigerless major - and gave the golf world something to watch - there was little chance that Norman could win. Seven times prior, Norman had held the third round lead in a major, and six times he failed to close the deal. On Sunday in England, Norman not only held a two stroke lead after 54 holes, but he still held a one stoke lead with nine holes to play. What came next was predicable to long suffering Norman fans. Not only did Padraig Harrington overtake Norman, he defeated him by a whopping six strokes.

To be fair, Harrington was brilliant, but Norman was anything but. As Phil Mickelson continues to over-think the game of golf, Norman under-thought this final round by boldly playing for birdies on a golf course that offered up few, rather than playing for the pars that could have secured him this championship. Like Mickelson today, Norman, in his prime, was a physical talent whose poor game management made him an underachiever. On the other hand, Tiger, like Jack Nicklaus before him, is not only the most talented player of his time; he is the most intelligent. Greg Norman did not let one get away on Sunday, he gave yet another one away. With a better head he could have been a legend. Instead he has two majors to his name, the same as John Daly.

…Speaking of Greg Norman, the subplot of his recent marriage to Chris Evert was played as a Cinderella story. In fact, Norman spent almost $100 million to dump his wife of 25-plus years for Evert, and Evert paid second hubby more than $7 million to get lost. To make matters worse, Evert’s ex was Norman’s best friend. Everybody is free to their lives in anyway that suits them, but let’s not make this into a great love story.

…And for those who might say Tiger not being in the field diminishes Harrington’s win, remember, this was Harrington’s second consecutive Open victory, and last year’s came with Tiger in the field…How much longer will golf pundits continually proclaim that Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia are among the pre-tournament favorites? They have collectively won one major since 2005, that being Mickelson’s 2006 Master’s championship. Watching the tournament coverage gave viewers a greater appreciation of the TV crews in the US. The guys from the BBC worked hard under trying conditions, but too often the golfers weren’t the only ones who didn’t know where there shots were landing.

….On the ladies side, Michelle Wie was disqualified at the State Farm Classic for failing to sign her scorecard before leaving the scorers’ tent on Friday. She signed it outside the tent, which is a violation. Why do players today even need to sign the scorecard? An official scorer who accompanies each group documents every stroke they take. Players keeping score is a relic from a by gone era. It’s time to do away with that rule at the professional level…

Keeping Pace…
It was nice to see Joe Paterno inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this past weekend. What where they waiting for? Joe Pa’s only been around 43 years, posting 372 wins along the way… Speaking of Hall of Fame coaches, I’ve never been a big fan of Bill Parcells. I always thought he took too much credit for winning and not enough blame for losing. Trading 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor for a draft choice because he hurt your feelings by not showing up for voluntary spring workouts while performing on Dancing with the Stars is not the way I would try and rebuild a 1-15 Miami Dolphins team.

…If you weren’t among those who anteed up about $200 million worldwide to see Batman-Dark Night, you need to do so. It’s an outstanding execution of a terrific script. They do make ‘em like they used to… Nice turn too by old friend Nestor Carbonell as the mayor of Gotham City. Nestor and I spend four years together on the TV series Suddenly Susan, where he played Cuban photographer Luis… I also finally caught Will Smith’s Hancock, which was another winner. It’s been a good summer for superheroes with Batman, Hancock and Ironman doing Boffo BO Biz, as they say in Daily Variety.

And finally Steven Colbert is on the cover of the August 2008 issue of Esquire Magazine. If anyone thinks he’s funny, could you please respond to this blog and tell me what I’m missing? Because quite honestly, I just don’t get it.

I’m not a Yankees fan, so seeing Don Mattingly wearing Dodgers blue after the MLB All-Star Game won’t bother me. However, my two best friends live in a world of pinstripes, and I can’t speak for them. As a matter of fact, one named his son Mickey. However, with much disdain from Dad, Mickey is a Red Sox fan!

It was inevitable that Mattingly would be making his way back into uniform. He signed to be the LA Dodgers hitting coach in November 2007, but was temporarily replaced by Mike Easler in January, due to personal problems.

It’s one thing to see Torre in Dodgers blue - Joe has worn many uniforms. However, Mattingly is a life-long Yankee who has never worn anything but pinstripes. He was a 19th round draft-choice of New York in 1979, and he played 14-seasons in the Bronx. Don was AL MVP and MLB Player of the Year in 1985. He was a 6-time All-Star and won nine Gold Gloves. While not as admired as Mantle or DiMaggio, Mattingly was well-respected by his peers and Yankees fans. Even Red Sox fans had a hard time disliking this classy Yankee. So, while seeing Mattingly in Dodgers blue is really no big deal, I’m sure diehard Yankees fans will have a hard time dealing with it.

Hell, I grew up as a Boston sports fan - and had to deal with seeing Ted Williams in a Senators uniform and Bobby Orr wearing a Chicago Blackhawks sweater. Williams wasn’t too bad, as he joined the Senators as the manager. But, Orr, despite his problematic knees, went on the ice…albeit for only 26 games in two years with Chicago.

Who was the worst sight in a different uniform? How about Willie Mays wearing Mets colors?