Manny Overboard, but Ortiz isn’t worried
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A number of Red Sox starters were sitting in the Boston dugout at Angel Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, doing their best to ignore the Dodgers-Cubs game being shown on the giant scoreboards in left and right fields.
Except one player.
David Ortiz, who batted in front of Ramirez in a Boston lineup that terrorized the American League for 5 1/2 years, had his eyes glued to the screen during Ramirez’s fifth-inning at-bat.
‘He looks different in that uniform,’ Ortiz said in Spanish as his former partner in crime drew a walk ahead of James Loney’s grand slam.
By the time Ramirez batted again, the Red Sox were taking batting practice, so few players noticed their former teammate taking a batting practice swing of his own in Chicago. But the Angels fans did, greeting Ramirez’s home run with a cheer.
As for how the Red Sox lineup looks without Ramirez, Ortiz, the player most affected, said opponents still can’t pitch around him because Kevin Youkilis is having an MVP-type season hitting fourth.
‘Thank God Youkilis has been getting it done,’ Ortiz said. ‘But you have to earn that respect.’
-- Kevin Baxter