Manny – Happy? – Returns

Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez arrived at training camp at 9:01 this morning, placing him either on time, a week late, or one minute behind schedule, depending upon your perspective. Whether he’s happy to be there remains to be seen, as does whether he will leave camp tomorrow to join the Dominican Republic’s entry in the World Baseball Classic. For now, though, Ramirez at least is present and accounted for, perhaps removing one nonsensical ‘controversy’ from the top tier of public consciousness and hopefully allowing us to concentrate on more pithy issues (irony alert!) like when David Wells will speak to the media, or who the backup catcher will be.

[Update: Ramirez spoke briefly with the media shortly after his arrival, and confirmed he would not be playing in the WBC. He also was quoted as saying, apparently referring to his upcoming season with the Red Sox, that "I'm going to go out and perform, whether I like it or not.'' So it would seem issues still linger on Planet Manny, and the silliness is destined to continue.]