Red Sox legend Manny Ramirez admits he’s a Yankees fan. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)Getty Images
Red Sox legend Manny Ramirez was one of the all-time great Yankees villians. But if given a choice, he’d have traded in his red and white jersey for midnight blue pinstripes.
At an in-person autograph signing event at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, NJ, Jake Kosack, creator of “The Bronx Zoo” YouTube channel caught up with Ramirez and asked him a question the baseball world has been wondering about.
The 2004 World Series MVP’s answer might surprise some fans, especially in Boston.
“I’m always a Yankees fan,” Ramirez replies. “I went to school in New York. That was one of my dreams to play with the Yankees. It couldn’t happen. But I got two World Series (rings).”
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Ramirez spent his formative years in Washington Heights, a small neighborhood in northern Manhattan around two miles away from Yankee Stadium.
Though he never got to wear pinstripes, he shined most when playing in the Bronx. Ramirez batted .321 with a 1.010 OPS at Yankee Stadium, including 29 home runs and 77 RBIs
In 2003, he kicked off an epic brawl against the Yankees when right-hander Roger Clemens threw up and in at him. This is the benches-clearing brawl that resulted in Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez throwing the Yankees bench coach to the ground.
A year later, Ramiez helped the Red Sox reverse “The Curse of the Bambino.” After trailing in the best-of-7 ALCS 3-0, Boston won four straight, eliminating the Yankees from the postseason. Ramirez went on to win World Series MVP against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Still, Ramirez reveres the Yankees and its fans.
“The Yankees fans are the best,” Ramirez said. “They demand a lot from you, like Boston fans, because they want to win and we win to win also.”