By Ken Rosenthal
For the truth about Manny Ramirez, ask his teammates.
The Red Sox hold Ramirez almost in awe, and not simply because of his hitting talent. They marvel at Ramirez's dedication, his understanding of pitchers, his approach at home plate — everything that goes into making him one of the best right-handed hitters of all time.
Ramirez is two home runs short of 500 as the Red Sox return to Fenway Park this weekend for a three-game interleague series against the Brewers (MLB on Fox, Saturday, 3:55 p.m.). For all the talk of "Manny being Manny," Ramirez is never more Manny than when he is standing with a bat in his hand, perfectly balanced, waiting to unleash another powerful swing.
Here is what Ramirez's teammates are saying as he continues his countdown to 500. The Sox players do not view Ramirez as a one-dimensional cartoon character. To them, he is the ultimate hitter.
Ramirez's approach
Mike Lowell: He has a definite set plan when he goes to the plate. A lot of people do, but it seems like he sticks to his plan no matter what the count is. You see him take what seem to be hitters' pitches right down the middle and it doesn't faze him. It just seems like that's not what he was looking for.
Dustin Pedroia: He'll never stray away from his approach. It doesn't matter who is pitching, if it's the nastiest guy in the world. He's going to go up there and look for his pitch. And if he doesn't get it, he's not going to swing. That takes discipline. I know for me, with two strikes, I'm looking to fight pitches off. Manny is still looking for his pitch. And if he gets it, he's going to drive it out of the ballpark.
J.D. Drew: It is hard to keep that focus as a hitter. Things are going to get thrown off here and there. He might have three really good games, then three sub-par games. But he doesn't deviate. He doesn't change anything. He keeps the same approach, and it always works out in the end. That's what it takes to be a good hitter at this level — to not deviate from your plan whether you're going good or whether you're going bad.
His calmness
Mike Timlin: He has such a relaxed attitude about what he does. Therefore, he's not putting a whole lot of pressure on himself to play. If you do that, it's easier to stay in the zone. You just relax and play the game. That's exactly what he does, day in and day out.
You see him out there in pressure situations laughing and cutting up. That's his way of dealing with pressure or relieving the pressure he has when he comes to the plate. He approaches the game in a kid-like manner, which is what you're supposed to do. (His approach) is consistent. It's unwavering. Every day, he comes in and he's happy. If he strikes out three times, he's not worried about it. He'll get 'em tomorrow. That's his theory.
Kevin Youkilis: He can strike out, it doesn't even matter to him. He just goes out and plays the game. He's at ease a lot more than other people. That's the most unbelievable thing he does.
His work ethic
Alex Cora: People don't understand that on the road, he's up at 9 in the morning to eat breakfast. He leads a group of us to work out. And then he's one of the first ones to the park.
He's always trying to improve. I don't know if that's possible, but in his mind, it is. He can hit three home runs in two days and he's still going to be searching for something that will give him the edge. He works at his craft. Most big-league players, we work. But I've played with a lot of good ones, in L.A. and now here. He's the most prepared athlete that I've played with.
Curt Schilling: When I came here, I remember the first thing that totally caught me off-guard was seeing him go through the hotel lobby at 10 o'clock in the morning with the strength coach to go lift. Then I learned that after that he came to the park and hit, went back out and still came here much earlier than everybody else.
Everyone always think the most talented players — the Cal Ripkens of the world — are just gifted. It's the exact opposite. They are gifted. But they work harder — in a lot of cases, twice as hard — as everybody else. That was the personality who came to mind for me with Manny — Cal. Cal took a hundred groundballs every day — every day. Manny hits and he's in the video room as much as I am, watching video.
David Ortiz: Manny, he's got a different program, the way he prepares to play the game. I followed him for a while, but then I gave up on it. I've got family!
His knowledge
Cora: I read something the other day that Jim Thome said, "He's as relaxed as you can be as a hitter." Because he knows. He knows your tendencies. He knows your stuff. He knows he's prepared. At the end of the day, it's him and the ball. That's the way it should be.
Schilling: The only other offensive player who was like that for me was Lenny (Dykstra). Lenny would tell you, to a pitch sometimes, what he was going to do, how an at-bat would go. Manny's like that. Manny will have situations where he'll tell you, "I'm going to take this guy deep on this pitch." And he does it. That's not luck. That's perseverance, determination, athletic ability, preparation — all those things.
His talent
Lowell: What amazes me about him, when he gets his pitch and decides to make his swing, he squares that ball up a lot more often than most guys. He has that rare ability to hit the ball hard to all parts of the field. The other day, that home run he hit off Livan (Hernandez), that was like a lefty hitting that ball. He's sick. He hits the ball out to right, out to center and out to left. Not many guys have that ability.
Youkilis: His swing path, the way he gets to the ball, the way he can stay inside a ball and hit it out to the opposite field the way he does is amazing. That's what makes him so much better than a lot of players. He can do the same thing with a pitch outside that he can do inside.
Ortiz: I've learned a lot from Manny. I don't think Manny has learned anything from me. He's so good, he can help someone else without saying anything. You just have to watch him.
His legend
Schilling: I went with Manny on the '97 (All-Star) trip to Japan. That's the first time I had ever seen him. We had an unbelievable team. I remember watching the first batting practice. Manny, in my mind, was taking half-assed swings, hitting ground balls to the right side. I was like, "What the hell is this?" I didn't know him.
He gets up in the first at-bat, and the first pitch he sees he hits a bomb, a home run down the right-field line. I'm thinking to myself, "OK, that's different."
Sean Casey: We were together with the Indians. It was, like, my fourth day in the big leagues. I had just come up. I had never really talked to him much before. But you always would hear Manny talking to guys, saying, "Hey man, how do you do it so easy?" I heard him say it a couple of times.
Later in the game, he had gone like 2-for-2, hit a couple of rockets, two doubles. He comes up to me, I'm on the bench. I'm not getting in the game. I'm just enjoying the game. He's like, "Case, how do you do it so easy?" That was one of the first things he said to me. I'm like, "Oh my God, Manny Ramirez, one of the best hitters, is asking me how I do it so easy."
The next thing you know, he was 2-for-2, 3-for-3, 4-for-4, 5-for-5. Now that is easy. Nobody does it that easy. After watching that game, I remember thinking, "That's one of the greatest hitters I've ever seen."
