Two of the "Idiots" from the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox (I still love writing that) will be reunited next season, as the Tampa Bay Rays signed Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez to one-year contracts.
There were three players who probably epitomized the Idiot Culture of the 2004 Red Sox. Kevin Millar had The Walk that led to The Steal by Dave Roberts in Game 4 against the Yankees. Damon had the two home runs in Game 7 that buried New York. And Manny was the World Series MVP.
Now Damon and Manny are reunited with the Rays. Neither man is the player he was 7 years ago, but they certainly help to make a Rays team that was damaged by free agent defections better. I think both guys still can hit and Damon will provide some leadership to the young players that are going to have to come in and replace some of the Rays departed stars. And both are certainly more than battle tested in the AL East.
Manny must be taking the biggest pay cut in Major League history, going from $18.7 million with the Dodgers and White Sox last season (according to the USA Today baseball salaries site) to $2 million in 2011.
It should be quite a night when Johnny and Manny return to Fenway together on April 11!
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