Put Manny Ramirez and Dane Cook in a room together, and you’ll get more than just the greatest idea for a reality show ever assembled. No, it’s not just “Cookin’ with Manny” that you’d get, but instead two viewpoints that couldn’t be more opposite from each other and couldn’t be more perfect for each other. Major League Baseball’s playoffs, about to start World Series play, can best be characterized from a combination of two quotations, one from Cook and one from Ramirez. Cook, in those ridiculously cheesy and omnipresent TBS commercials, has quite emphatically informed fans, “There’s only one postseason. There’s only one October.” And though the rest of this column could easily be spent pointing out the flaws in everything else the comedian has ever said, that’s one sentiment that’s tough to disagree with. It’s not exactly the most motivational or inspirational or insightful statement ever spoken, but the message is correct. Baseball has reached the time where teams must win or go home, and it’s the most exciting time of the season. Still, though, the counterpoint to Cook’s statement is a valid one too, and it came from perhaps the most unlikely of sources, Manny Ramirez. “There’s always next year,” the Red Sox slugger told reporters before playing Game 5 of the ALCS with Boston facing elimination. “It’s not like it’s the end of the world.” Though the reaction to Ramirez’s comments was initially harsh, especially from Red Sox fans hoping to see a little more sense of urgency in their star, fans and media members alike have begun to understand the truth in his comment after the dust settled. Obviously, Ramirez wants to win. His performance in that game, 2-4 and the game-winning RBI, made that pretty clear. What the outfielder understood, however, and tried to convey, is that there will always be a next season, meaning a loss does not mean the end of the world. This postseason, probably unlike any other in recent memory, proves that it’s not always Cook’s viewpoint nor Ramirez’s, but rather one of the two, depending on the situation, that best describes the driving force behind playoff baseball. This postseason’s biggest story lines are a mix of events and actions that follow either Cook’s or Ramirez’s statements. Playing in his 17th season at the age of 40, Kenny Lofton made his mark on the playoffs. Ramirez’s quote doesn’t make too much sense in describing the old-timer though, because there isn’t always going to be another season for the center fielder. It is hard to imagine Lofton playing in another postseason when he’s 41 years old. In this situation, there is only one postseason for Lofton; there is only one (last) October. Finishing the regular season on an incredible win streak before rolling past their first two playoff opponents, the Colorado Rockies are the team to beat in the World Series. With a corps of players who are young, cheap and talented, there’s no reason to think next season won’t be another good one for the Rockies. There isn’t only one postseason or October in the future for this team. Though losing would probably hurt the squad considering the amazing streak it’s been on, for the Rockies it’s just like Ramirez said, there’s always next year, and judging by the team’s roster, there’s always the year after that and the year after that too. Following the Yankees first-round playoff elimination at the hands of the Indians, manager Joe Torre was offered a contract he called “insulting” and promptly rejected. After 12 seasons and four World Series wins with the New York Yankees, the team decided Torre wasn’t the same skipper he’d been in the past because he hadn’t been getting the job done in the postseason. In this situation, it’s a perfect combination of Cook and Ramirez that can describe what happened. Because the Yankees were so concerned with winning now, they offered a contract to Torre that would require immediate success in order to be lucrative. It really was the end of the world for New York after seven seasons in a row without a World Series ring. They acted on Cook’s way of thinking only because they’d gone by Ramirez’s long enough. Maybe it’s wrong to analyze the playoffs using quotations from two people who won’t be forever remembered as the scholars of our generation. For my money, though, putting what the two of them said together makes a pretty strong definition about playoff baseball. And yes, you can quote me on that. Mike is a sophomore majoring in being undecided. If you think that someone other than Cook or Ramirez had something insightful to say about the post-season you should keep it to yourself;, the column’s already been written. If you can”t resist the urge, however, he can still be reached at [email protected].
Ramirez, Cook talk playoffs
October 21, 2007
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