Make no mistake; Manny Ramirez knows his hardball history.

The dreadlocked slugger respects the important and impending baseball milestone that waits just three home runs away, but that doesn't mean the 35-year-old is ready to cash in his baseball chips once he arrives there.

Ramirez can already taste the 500 career home run mark that looms on the radar screen, and is raring to keep on pushing to 600 round-trippers - a hallowed place where only baseball immortals like Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa currently reside.

"Why not, man," said Ramirez, who was out of the starting lineup Sunday night with a strained hamstring. "If you love the game and you love to compete... why would you stop?"

Ramirez entered Sunday among the AL's top ten in home runs, slugging percentage, runs scored, RBIs and OPS, and appears poised to cash in on a $20 million 2009 team option following this season. The Sox cleanup man has already stated his desire to play another six seasons in Red Stockings -- a tenure that would surely see his numbers swell to first-ballot Hall of Fame levels.

Does Ramirez think much about the Cooperstown plaque that surely awaits when he finally hangs up the do-rag for the final time?

"It would be an honor for to me to be considered for (the Hall of Fame), but family always comes first for me because the game is still going to be going on long after I'm gone," said Ramirez. "All you got is your family. That's why I try to keep myself humble. Family is all that I've got when this is all over.

"I don't think much about (my numbers)," added Ramirez. "That's a good thing. I just like to compete and play the game. It's like in a game when a pitcher goes out there and strikes you out -- and then he shows off. I love it, man. It's like an inner drive where you want to go get that guy, and you want to show him. I'm not ever trying to embarrass anybody. I just like to make the game fun."

Making the game look easy and fun are things that Ramirez will never have to fret about on his journey to immortality.

TWINS 9, RED SOX 8: Tim Wakefield was knocked out of the game after only 2 2/3 innings pitched, the earliest he's been sent to the showers in a start since 1997. Wakefield surrendered six runs to earn his second loss of the season. Coco Crisp hit his second home run in as many days, but pinch-hitting Manny Ramirez grounded out in the top of the ninth inning to end the game with Crisp in scoring position.

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