An out they had to take
Ramírez's bat would have helped, but . . .
TAMPA - So we are left with one compelling question: If the Red Sox still had Manny Ramírez, would they be working out at Fenway Park today and getting ready to host Game 1 of the World Series tomorrow?
One could reasonably conclude the answer is yes.
But before we go any further, let me add that the Red Sox did the right thing.
It might not have been the best baseball decision, because they got rid of the best hitter in the game and paid his salary to boot.
But sometimes, as an organization, you cut your losses, do something for the greater good. When manager Terry Francona said after losing the American League pennant to Tampa Bay that these were the "funnest" two months he has ever had - and we can only assume that means it was more fun than winning the World Series in 2004 and 2007 - what does that tell you?
It tells you that he thoroughly enjoyed his players, win or lose. He enjoyed their effort and their hard work for the good of the team. He enjoyed that he wasn't dealing with a player who was more concerned about his contract than winning games. He enjoyed the calm that ensued after five seasons of dealing with "Manny being Manny." He enjoyed that after sticking up for Ramírez when he knew Ramírez's behavior was flat-out wrong, he no longer had to worry about the next time.
Conversely, nobody understands more than Francona what Joe Torre enjoyed from Aug. 1 on.
Ramírez was phenomenal as a Dodger: a .396 average with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 187 at-bats. He was the major force in turning a team that would have been hard-pressed to make the playoffs into the one that upset the Cubs before falling to the Phillies. Ramírez was stellar in the postseason - 13 for 25 with 4 homers and 10 RBIs - just as he was when he won the World Series MVP award in 2004.
Think there wasn't a time or two over the course of the four losses to Tampa Bay that Ramírez would have impacted the game with a big hit? Of course there was. Would he have helped David Ortiz? Of course he would have.
He was the one hitter in the game who instilled fear in the opposing pitcher. The National League finally smartened up and started to give him the Barry Bonds treatment: walk him so he won't beat you. And Ramírez, to his credit, took his few chances and made the most of them. Even in Philadelphia's clinching Game 5, Ramirez took the one mistake made against him and sent it 420 feet for a home run to right center.
"You saw it," said Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda. "You just couldn't get him out. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen a player who was that hot."
"I've been a Dodger fan since I was a kid," said former Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy, now a Fox analyst who also does Dodgers pregame and postgame shows. "One guy. I've never seen one guy do what he did. I understand all of the complaints that came from Boston. I believe them all. I just didn't see any of it here."
And why?
Because Ramírez loves two things: He loves money and he loves to hit (and yes, he loves to win, too).
Would he have eventually fallen in line - after going after Kevin Youkilis in the dugout, after knocking down traveling secretary Jack McCormick, after sitting out against the Yankees, after asking to go on the disabled list to rest his legs when he wound up running like an antelope for the Dodgers - and produced for the Red Sox in the same manner?
He probably would have, because he was playing for a contract.
Oh, there were two option years remaining on his deal, but if the Red Sox had kept him, they either would have not picked up the option at the end of the season or worked out a trade with Ramírez receiving an extension in exchange for approving a deal and agreeing to get rid of the options.
The Sox weren't completely blameless because they knew the sensitivity of the player involved. According to Ramírez's side of the story, when he asked team officials to speak to him about his future last offseason, they didn't, feeling he had a year remaining on his deal and two option years.
The situation, in the minds of the Sox brass, spoke for itself. When you've been paid $160 million and have a chance to earn another $40 million in options, you're not going to garner much sympathy on that one.
Furthermore, one American League executive said the mistake the Red Sox made was in not suspending Ramírez without pay for conduct detrimental to the team.
"They were afraid of a long, drawn-out thing and the union appealing it and fighting it," said the executive. "They just wanted to get rid of the problem as quickly as possible. I think taking his money would have sent quite a message.
"But they did what was in the best interests of their own situation. Did it cost them? Given what Manny did in the postseason, sure. Jason Bay is a nice player, but he's not Manny."
Nobody means to diminish Bay as a player because he does so many other things that Ramírez doesn't, and he has deep respect for the game. His offensive numbers were excellent. But he can be pitched to. There are many more holes in Bay's swing than Ramírez's.
Of course, what also hurt the Red Sox was the absence of Mike Lowell, the 2007 World Series MVP, who also might have been the difference between winning in seven and losing in seven.
In the end, the Red Sox took a calculated risk, as they did when they traded Boston icon Nomar Garciaparra in '04. Except, by then, Garciaparra was no longer among the elite hitters in the game. Ramírez still is.
While Youkilis, Bay, Dustin Pedroia, and J.D. Drew are never-quit, grind-it-out hitters, there was a glaring hole in the batting order, the one left by Ramírez, who could have turned very good outings by Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza into so-so ones with one or two good swings.
Sometimes it's better to lose while knowing you did the right thing.
Theo Epstein, Francona, and Sox ownership should hold their heads high on this one.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. 