BOSTON -- Manny Ramirez apologized Wednesday for his behaviour with the Boston Red Sox in his first public appearance since being hired as a minor league player-coach with the Chicago Cubs. wholesale nfl jerseys . His apology came before a pregame ceremony in which the team honoured its 2004 team that won Bostons first World Series championship since 1918. "I realize that I behaved bad in Boston," Ramirez said. "The fans were great. I also played great when I was here, but I realized I behaved bad. I apologize for that. Im a new man." He said he has been attending church for almost a year. During seven-plus seasons with Boston, Ramirez hit .312 with 274 homers and 868 RBIs before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. While with Boston, he often jogged to first base and after fly balls, had a physical altercation with travelling secretary Jack McCormick and exhibited quirky behaviour that led to the phrase, "Manny being Manny." Ramirez was the last of more than 30 members of the 2004 team introduced before Bostons game against the Atlanta Braves. He was the MVP of that World Series sweep over St. Louis. He threw the ceremonial first pitch, but Johnny Damon cut it off, rolled to the ground and relayed the ball to catcher Jason Varitek behind the plate. It mimicked a play in 2004 when Damon fielded a ball off the centre-field wall and threw toward third base. But Ramirez inexplicably dove and cut it off rather than let it go through, allowing Baltimores David Newhan to get an inside-the-park homer. Ramirez received a warm reception as he entered the field through a door on the left field scoreboard in the Green Monster. He occasionally would use the door to go into the cramped area behind the scoreboard during pitching changes. On Wednesday night, the crowd chanted "Manny, Manny," when he was introduced and walked toward the infield. Current designated hitter David Ortiz is the only Red Sox player remaining from the 2004 team. "Now that I see David and the rest of the guys, I wish I could have done better," Ramirez said. "I wish it turned out better than it did." Now he hopes to make a good impression on players in the Cubs farm system. "Im looking forward to that," Ramirez said. "I can go over there and meet those kids and teach them what to do in the field and what not to do off the field. Its going to be a blast. Were going to have fun out there." Other players from the 2004 team who received loud ovations where pitchers Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling and outfielder Kevin Millar. Schilling, who has skipped other Fenway Park events this season while being treated for cancer, was accompanied by his son Gehrig as they walked in together from left field. Keith Foulke, who was on the mound for the final out of the 2004 World Series, carried the championship trophy as he made his way to the infield. "You work your entire career and you always dream of being on top for at least once," Foulke said before Wednesdays game. "Were honoured to be a part of something that, unfortunately, had been set up by a lot of failure. Were proud to be a part of it, Ill tell you that." Ramirez appeared with a haircut in which the sides of his head were shaved, leaving hair only on top. "Its Manny," Foulke said, with a laugh. cheap nfl jerseys . Louis Cardinals had a major need at shortstop and signed a veteran free agent who, while having PED issues, has been a potent hitter throughout his career. jerseys from china . The 35-year-old former Strikeforce welterweight champion was let go on Monday following over three years with the company.You could call it an argument, a discussion - whatever. We have the same conversation with friends and colleagues every year come spring training. They say that the Blue Jays are ready to break out, and pursue the minimum 90 wins that are usually required to challenge for a wild card berth. Now the Jays did, after all, get to 85 wins last season, 86 two seasons ago, and even 87 in 2006. But where, exactly, are those 90 wins are going to come from? Thats when the real debate begins. So TSN.ca presents it to you - that even though the Jays have been relatively close, the team still has some difficult ground to make up to achieve the magic 90-win plateau. And that plateau is significant. The winner of the AL wild card over the last five seasons has required a minimum average of 89.6 wins to make the post-season. It should be noted, though, that each of those wild-card winning clubs actually averaged 94.8 wins at seasons end. In other words, they beat the minimum requirement by about five victories and most were in a tight playoff chase for their own division title. Using records from the past five seasons, well start in the infamous American League East, where people usually point first to show how difficult life for the Jays can be. But you might be surprised to find that its not the East that kills the Blue Jays most years. The Jays are not overmatched by the 72 games of tough competition that the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Orioles present each year. Toronto went 39-33 against the East last season, paced in large part by a 15-3 performance against Baltimore. Toronto, more often than not, breaks relatively even against New York and Boston, although they have had trouble head-to-head with the Rays in the last three years. Yet even before Tampa Bay became a perennial playoff contender, Toronto could not take advantage of a weaker Rays squad and rarely won more than 10 of the 18 games per year against them. Overall though, the Blue Jays are bang on average - 181-181 - against their own division over the past five years. Move to the statistically weaker Central Division and the Jays could not have done much better. At 106-81 over the past five years against the Central, Toronto is playing .567 ball. You cant ask for much more. Against the West, things level off. Toronto is 88-83 (.515) against the division. So theres room for improvement against a division that had only one of its four teams finish over .500 last season. So if the Jays are playing .500 or beetter against the entire league, something doesnt add up. nfl jerseys china. . Well, youve forgotten about interleague play - something that Toronto has had nothing but trouble with since the concept was introduced in 1997. Toronto is 115-132 (.466) all-time against the NL, a pace they have played slightly below in the last five years (41-49, .456). In interleague history, nine of the 14 American League squads have winning records (most by a wide margin), and the AL has won the season series over the NL every year since 2004. That means that Toronto is losing ground to most of the league every year during interleague play. The Blue Jays are well aware of their record, and of their predicament. Toronto management, going back to former general manager J.P. Ricciardi, has been critical of the interleague concept. Ricciardi wondered aloud in 2007 why the Jays were playing a home-and-home series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Losing the designated hitter in National League parks seems to hit the Blue Jays harder than other AL teams. Toronto was swept in Colorado last year, in Atlanta the year before, and in Milwaukee in 2008. Throw in a home sweep against Florida in 2009 and the Jays tend to lose interleague games in bunches. When youre finishing at 85 wins during a race to 90 and youre giving up three to the Marlins or Rockies, it matters. Its tough to make those up. An ironic note here. Toronto fans were upset when last Junes series against Roy Halladay and the Phillies was moved to Philadelphia, and demanded that the Phillies be brought back to Toronto in 2011. Indeed, that wish was granted. Now Toronto gets to face the best starting rotation and arguably the best team in the National League for the second year in a row. It could have been the Nationals. But we digress. Lets do the big-picture math for 2011. Using those same averages for the past five years, Toronto can expect 36 wins against the East, 19 against the Central, 20 against the West, and eight against the National League. Eighty-three in all, or seven short of the magic mark. Now those seven extra wins will likely have to come against the AL West and the National League. Four here, three there, and Toronto just might find itself in playoff position after all. And wouldnt you know it? Torontos first 12 games of the season are against Central and West division opponents. A fast start might just go a long way toward jumpstarting those long-dormant Blue Jays playoff dreams. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
