ROYTERS Sports – Fenway Park, Boston MA
Manny, Manny, Manny. That all you could hear yesterday at the Park. Is he getting traded? Why is he such a petulant little child? Manny just being Manny. After the game, Malach headed down to the BoSox Clubhouse, deftly avoiding the visitors clubhouse; The Yankees were in town. I got there just as it was opening for the press when I was almost immediately accosted by one Manny Ramirez.
“Hey Man, you that Malach” he said. “You funny, but Manny don’ like you las’ story, and brotha got to keep his secrets, man”, he yelled across the clubhouse.
“Sorry Manny, but I am just doing my job, what the people want and need to hear”, I answered.
Just then, Manny grabbed me by the neck, and tossed me into his locker. “Lets step inna my office” he says; he moves a bottle of cologne which causes the back of his locker to slide up, revealing a thin metal spiral staircase. “Down” he says, leading me by the back of the neck.
We headed down, the secret panel in his locker sliding shut, for what seemed like a very long time. We passed plumbing, wiring, and duct work of old Fenway Park.
“Are you taking me to Narnia?” I asked.
“Hey, Manny ain’t stupid man, you think he wouldn’t get your Alice in Wonderland thing man?”
I decided not to correct him. After about 5 minutes of heading straight down, we came to an old wooden door. Is was dark down here, but suddenly light sprang forth as Manny lit a torch in the wall right next to the door. He then reached under his uniform, and pulled out an old style skeleton key, and stuck it in the doors keyhole. He turned it with a loud click, and still holding the scruff of my neck commanded me to open the door.
The door opened to a large stone room, richly appointed with silks, pillows, and tapestries. The tapestries lined the room, and each had an image of Manny on them, raising his hands, pointing, and typical Manny being Manny stuff. In the Middle of the room was a huge, ornately decorated throne, in front of the throne a Cleveland Indians director’s chair. He motioned me to sit in the director’s chair, and donning a viking helmet (where did he get that?) he mounted the throne and sat looking down at me.
He clapped his hands, and for lack of a better term,scantily clad serving wenches entered the room with drink and food; the center piece being a huge roasted pig. They brought in a table and set it between us, and put the food on the table; they gave me a metal stein, and filled it with a pungent brown liquid, one of the ladies also put a fur lined cloak on Manny’s shoulders while another filled his drink. Manny took a big swig, looked at me and said “Ya gonna drink your mead, man?”
I took a sip as Manny dove into the food, eating like he hadn’t eaten is days. He handed me a slab of meat “You gonna eat, man? Gotta eat the swine man”
“Thank you, but Manny, why did you bring me down here?” My questioned seemed to annoy him.
“I gotta talk to you, man. Manny is gonna give you a exclusive interview, set the record straight man”, he said though mouth fulls of food and mead. “So, man, get out your tape recorder, and ask me a question.”
Here is the entirety of that “tape recording”.
Malach (M): Manny, you have always had this idiosyncratic behavior, your “Manny being Manny” moments if you will. This year it has been a little worse: backhanding Youkilis, pushing the 60-year-old Travelling Secretary to the ground. We have gotten used to the trade demands, the journeys into the wall, that type of stuff, but what about the violence?
Manny (MR):Hey man, I have always been like this (he pulls a large battle axe from under the table) but man, these guys are pissing me off. Jack (McCormack, Red Sox Travelling Secretary), I told him what to do, Manny said “jump” and he did no ask “how high”, man. You gotta put people like that in their place. And Youkilis? Who does he think he is man? I slapped him right in his bald Jew head. Maybe next time I will shoot him, or put him in an oven. . . . Wanna hear a joke?
M: Do I have a choice?
MR: What is the difference between a pizza and a Jew? A Pizza doesn’t scream when you put it in an oven! (Manny begins to laugh uncontrollably).
M: Ok . . So, Manny, you recently came out and said you won’t block a trade if the Red Sox want to trade you, so, you want to be traded?
MR: Yeah man, the Red Sox are no longer the good times guys. They are all professionals now. No more drug fueled Orgies like when Nomar and Pedro were here. They are all a bunch of Christians now too, they won’t even let me practice my blood reading anymore. Manny will play anywhere, but lets have some fun man. Manny can only take so much of “Hi, I am Mike Lowell, a cancer survivor” crap, man.
M: I got to ask you Manny, how do you see your place in the History of Baseball?
MR: Manny is the best. The best ever. Come tell me different, I will mess you up man. They pay me the big money cause I am the best.
M: The best of all time, bar none?
MR: Yea . . . no contest man.
M: So Manny, I have always wanted to ask you this. What happens between innings when you go hide in the Wall?
MR: Hey Man, Manny got to make the money. I make snuff films back there man. I got a whole secret room, and I send some of my guys into the stands, they kidnaps fans, y’know. The fans are tied up, blindfolded and led back there. They are put in this room, and stripped down to their undies, and then left there for a few innings man. You should hear them scream. Then about the 4th inning, Manny appears in this room, forces them into sex with him, and then usually strangles them or somethin’ like that. We film the whole thing. I make films and sell them underground . . . I need the money you know.
M: What? What happens to the bodies?
MR: Oh, I don’t worry about that, management takes care of that.
M: You telling me that Red Sox management covers up the murders and the snuff films?
MR: Oh yeah, and Tom Werner, yeah, he’s got all this TV experience, so he gets those films to the right distributors. You’know the guy who did The Cosby Show, right man. Big market for this stuff, y’know. I need to make money.
M: I can’t believe this . . .
MR: Hey, you want to see the room?
M: Uhh, I don’t think I am comfortable . .
MR: You have no choice
As Manny said that several loin clothed men came out of hidden pockets in the walls, each holding a crossbow trained at my head. “Take him up the the room.” At that command from Manny, I was grabbed by two of the men, and dragged out a side passage, followed by 5 other crossbow men to an elevator. It was a wide cargo elevator with a ton of buttons, and one of the men pressed a button that said “M”. The doors slid shut and the elevator launched off at a rapid pace.
It came to an abrupt stop a few seconds later, the doors slid open and I was what I assume under the bleachers. There was a 30′ hallway that led to a t-intersection, a door in that intersection had “The Wall” written on it’s face.
The armed entourage walked me toward the intersection and the door. My goose was cooked, I would be dead by the time I mounted any offense against these dude, but luck turned my way. As we were about the enter the intersection, and go through the door, A-Rod appeared in the hallway coming to the intersection to my left. Evidently this hallway also led to players rides.
“Malach?” This soft tone came from A-Rod as he saw me, and my armed entourage stopped. A-Rod dropped his bags and charged for me, trying to remove his pants as he ran. “MAAALAAACH!” came a animalistic scream from A-Rod. My armed entourage immediately dropped to battle position and began firing crossbow bolts at A-Rod, his pants now down around his ankles, A-Rod just swatted them away like they were baseballs in Bronson Arroyo’s glove and continued his charge (damn professional athletes), his pants now left behind in the hall.
I used this distraction to make my escape. I grabbed one of the guys holding my arm by the testicles and ripped them clean off, he hit the ground screaming in pain. I then whipped his amputated ball bag at the guy holding my left arm, hitting him on bridge of his nose, shattering it. I then kicked the guy in front of me, into A-Rod as he charged, tearing loose his loin cloth. A-Rod immediately seeing easy prey, began to have sex with this poor guy, as the rest of the men tried to beat him off their squealing comrade. I bolted the other way, toward the parking lot as the melee ensued.
“MAAAALAAAACH!” came a scream from A-Rod as he was buried under these other men, I did not look back, as the sounds coming from that hallway were frightening. I hit the parking lot running, and waiting out there was the Yankees chartered bus, several of the player were getting off to see what was going on, I noticed one has a cattle prod. I bolted left avoiding the bus, and saw Mike Timlin talking to a bat boy, leaning out the door of his HumVee with the big W.sticker on it’s side. I grabbed him, and tossed him out of the car, and took off, out onto Landsdowne Street, carjacking his vehicle and speeding away. I took one glance out of the rear view mirror to see A-Rod bust out of the hallway, fully nude again, dragging several team mates with him, screaming like the second coming of Nyarlthotep.
I made it to I – 93, when Timlin’s Gas Guzzler ran out of gas. I hopped off the Highway and took the T as far as Lakeville, and had one of Dr. Murk’s servants pick me up and bring me home. What a day, another close encounter, but that is what you people expect from Malach. I give you the ropey discharge you need.
I am Malach, and ROYTERS I want a raise.