Whether it was about his comments on his contract or on his outfield blunder on Friday night, Manny Ramirez talk continued to dominate the headlines, airwaves, blogosphere and general conversation in Red Sox Nation over the weekend.

Before Friday's game in Anaheim, NESN analyst and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley went off on Manny's recent public posturing about his contract situation.

"It's upsetting to me, and not as an ex-player and watching this from afar," Eckersley said on NESN's pregame show Friday night. "I've had guys that used to talk about their contracts all the time, Rickey Henderson, and it's just bothersome, even when I was there.

"And now I'm not there. I don't know the temperature of what's happening over there but I've watched what's been going down, and nobody at home ... and there's people scuffling, not making very much money and this guy's dropping a $20 million bomb like it's no big deal, I'm in the driver's seat, this, that ... that's bothersome to me, to watch this go on like that with Manny. I respect the guy.

"He's one of the greatest players ever, but this is tired, to me. The players put up with it because they have to. I don't have to. I can come on this show [NESN pregame] and tell you I don't like it.

"And I don't like the way Manny plays this game, not so much the way he plays it, but the way he's playing his act with his contract. I don't want to hear about it to be honest with you. He's making a lot of money. He's been making a lot of money a long, long time, eight years, all of a sudden he starts chirping about the last year, it's because all of a sudden it's money time again. That's about all I can say about that right now because I don't want to go too far."

Hours after Eck's comments, Manny went on to have an adventure in the field on a ball hit by the Angels' Maicer Izturis, which resulted in a rare left field triple, while Manny sat on the ball, smiled, and Sox GM Theo Epstein sat looking unamused at the play from behind home plate.

"Friday night it was Manny flopping on the outfield grass liked a beached seal, unable to locate the baseball until he discovered it was under his buttocks," the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy wrote today. "Maicer Izturis ended up with a 200-foot triple and Ramírez enjoyed a good laugh. Meanwhile, general manager Theo Epstein sat behind the backstop, arms folded, wearing his best Ralph Nadar face."

During last night's broadcast, ESPN analyst Peter Gammons chimed in on the recent Ramirez talk and added a new twist: that Manny agreed to some anger management training after his recent altercation with traveling secretary Jack McCormick. Gammons also dismissed the report that Manny may have intentionally sat on three pitches from Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera on July 6.

At the plate in Anaheim, Ramirez was one of the few Sox players providing any offense. The controversial slugger went 4-for-9 on the weekend series with a home run, two doubles, and two walks.

On Sunday, the Herald's Tony Massarotti wrote that Manny's numbers may not be as dominating as they once were:

"...coming out of this year's All-Star break, since the start of last season, Ramirez ranked 35th in the majors in RBI, trailing people like Jeff Francoeur, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Guillen and Raul Ibanez. In home runs and slugging, Ramirez ranked a respective 44th and 35th."

"Here's the scary part for Manny," Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal wrote on Saturday. "Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe were replaceable. Ramirez, who turns 37 next May, would be replaceable, too. The Sox could decline his option and trade for a right-handed hitting outfielder such as Holliday or the Pirates' Jason Bay. They even could sign first baseman Mark Teixeira as a free agent and move Kevin Youkilis to left field. Either way, Ramirez would find it difficult to get $20 million per season on the open market."

Red Socks Diaries checked in over the weekend with a "Manny Ramirez" press conference.

Lastly, LA-based Sox fan Pete Handelman roamed the grounds around Angel Stadium this weekend asking the burning question, who's better Manny or Vladi?

See more Manny being Manny moments here.