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If you follow professional baseball at all, you've probably heard about "Manny being Manny." This, of course, refers to the Dodgers' superstar outfielder Manny Ramirez, and the little quirks that define him as a public figure. Having grown up an Indians fan (Manny's original team), I've followed him loosely for quite some time and have heard a lot of the stories. Never until last night had I seen it in person.

It really is indescribable -- indescribable, at least, for someone who calls himself a photographer and not a journalist. Also, there's the fact that I was half-asleep for last night's game, having worked a full 12-hour shift at the hospital beforehand. That being said ...

He reminds me -- and I know I'm not the first to use at least a similar description -- of a seven-year-old. But, like, the seven-year-old with ADHD who's really not even that into sports. He's just good at it, so he does it. The kind of kid that hits a homerun and forgets what he's doing as he's rounding second base. You just see it in his body language, in the faces he makes during the game. But occasionally, he'll do something that even a photographer can turn into a decent story...

I think it was in the top of the 7th inning when Manny was waiting on deck and a foul ball trickled and rolled to a stop at his feet. Now, a professional baseball player has two options of what to do at this point. He can (A) be an overpaid prick, ignore it, and nearly kill the ballboy with a practice swing as he approaches to retrieve the ball, or (B) flip the ball to the ballboy. Manny, however, found a third option -- though, major props for not choosing option A.

Manny reaches down, picks up the ball, proceeds to completely ignore the ballboy waiting at the top of the dugout steps, and tosses the ball in a direction that can only be described (sentence structure be damned) as "clueless." I just remember looking up and watching the arc of the ball as it traveled perilously into the Dodger dugout to a smattering of shouted warnings, "Ball!"

Third baseman Casey Blake (also a former Indian), obliviously stretching against the dugout roof, nearly has a few fingers broken as the ball smacks into the structure about three inches away from his vulnerable digits. A few sighs of relief and a little nervous laughter emerge from the nearby media and players, as Manny shrugs with a perplexed look on his face and continues taking practice swings.