Manny Ramirez showed up four-days after he was originally supposed to. His arrival also came three-days before he had told the Boston Red Sox he was going to show up. My question is, did the man they call Man-Ram show up early or late?

If he were a normal star-player like Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates - the most random example I can think of - his arrival would be deemed late. The media would dig-deep to find out why Bay hadn’t showed up, and they’d make a huge deal about the fact that he missed a handful of trivial workouts.

Since we’re talking about Ramirez though, the same guy who asks to be traded a few times a year and the same dude that leaves the field during pitching changes to do whatever it is he does inside the green monster, his arrival should be viewed as early. He was given permission by the Sox to show up on March-first, and had confirmed with the team’s top-executives and his manager that he’d report to camp on that day. Theo Epstein, the team’s General Manager, was surprised to have seen his bulky left-fielder show up. If his arrival impressed his GM, than it should impress us - and in turn I would say that the answer to my question is that Ramirez is early.

Ramirez, at this point in his career, must be a nightmare to manage. He is to Boston’s front-office what Terrell Owens is to Dallas’. The only difference is that unlike Owens - who led the NFL in dropped-passes this season - Ramirez’s production still outways the problems he creates. The guy is a a lifetime .314 hitter who hit 35-homers and drove in 102-runs last season. He’s still a super-star, and over a decade into his career, he’s still one of baseball’s most feared sluggers.

He showed up to camp earlier than expected, allbeit actually a few days late, but at least he’s in camp. Remeber the first few days ‘TO’ spent at training camp with the Dallas Cowboys. He spent a few weeks riding bikes and wearing his “Tour De France” outfits before ever even stepping onto the field. If nothing else, Ramirez’s emergence at camp keeps him slightly above Owens on the distraction scale.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox though, that could all change this summer.