A Manny among men

Sporting News, The, June 21, 1999 by Michael Weinreb

Ramirez talks to Mandl, his old high school coach, every couple of weeks. At George Washington High School in Washington Heights, one of the best baseball programs in New York, the money is just not there. They wear old uniforms because

Ramirez promised to buy new ones and never did. They can't take batting practice because they can't afford to lose the baseballs.

They are raising money to build a new batting cage. All it would take from Ramirez is one check, but Mandl can't impose on Ramirez, can't bear to ask him for cash like that

"Still, he remembers what it was like," Mandl says, "hitting with ragballs."

But this is where Manny Ramirez's vision is clouded. It is something he cannot comprehend. That he's not the boy anymore, that he's the one they idolize in Washington Heights. That he has eclipsed his heroes.

That he's the heart of the most dangerous lineup in baseball.

RELATED ARTICLE: Getting his Hacks

In his pursuit of Hack Wilson's RBI record, Manny Ramirez gets support from a man whose opinion counts: the Rangers' Juan Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, who last year made a strong run at Wilson's hallowed mark of 190 RBIs set in 1930, says he believes Ramirez can do it.

"He has more of a chance than me last year," Gonzalez says. "Manny has the first three hitters in front of him (Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel and Roberto Alomar), fast guys who get a lot of stolen bases. You have pressure every day because everybody talks about the record. It's not easy. But I think he has a good chance."

Ramirez had 60 RBIs through the Indians' first 48 games--the exact pace of Gonzalez last year, when he had 101 at the Ali-Star break and a career-high 157 for the season. Ramirez had 70 through last Saturday, putting him on a pace to knock in 203.

--Larry Stone

RELATED ARTICLE: Driving home a point

Even if Manny Ramirez doesn't break Hack Wilson's single-season RBI record of 190, he has a shot at another noteworthy accomplishment: No player has knocked in more than 159 runs in a season in the past 50 years. In fact, of the 21 players who have 159 RBIs or more in a season since 1901, only two--Ted Williams and Vern Stephens--did it after 1938. And yet baseball's current offensive onslaught shows that of the lop 10 RBI seasons in the past 50 years, half have occurred in the three seasons leading up to 1999, and three happened in 1998:

Player                  RBIs   Year

Ted Williams            159    1949
Vern Stephens           159    1949
Sammy Sosa              158    1998
Juan Gonzalez           157    1998
Tommy Davis             153    1962
Albert Belle            152    1998
Andres Galarraga        150    1996
George Foster           149    1977
Johnny Bench            148    1970
Albert Belle            148    1996

Sources: 1999 Major League Fact Book and baseballstats.com

RELATED ARTICLE: The survey says ...

OK, we know what Juan Gonzalez thinks (see accompanying story), but we had to get a second opinion from another knowledgeable source on whether Manny Ramirez can break Hack Wilson's single-season RBI record. So we asked online users at sportingnews.com how many RBIs they thought Ramirez would finish with in 1999.