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The Rays have their Manny

By BrentAbernathyFan

From the St. Pete Times baseball column

Iwamura doesn't just wear No. 1, he is obsessed with it, starting his preseason workouts in Japan on 1/11 at 11:11:11. "I like No. 1 and wanted to start at all ones," he told the 30 or so reporters watching. And he said he may use a glove made in part out of alligator skin.

So basically between the whole '1' superstition, his weekly hair dying, smoking a pack a day, perhaps wearing alligator skinned gloves, and being described as a 'frat boy', all of this out of a 5'9, 180 or so Japanese import. I sent that tidbit to one of my Braves friends, his reply, "No offense, but he sounds like a nut."

And so why is it that I'm seemingly thrilled by these revelations? Because no matter what this guy does in the field, there's no doubt that he's going to at least be a star off the field. I'm hesitant to say he's the Rays' Manny since, well, we haven't found out if he likes lollipops and coloring books just yet, but this can definitely lead to some very promising jokes.

So this post is for you Ak1, on Sunday January 21st, the 1st month of the year, at 1:40 p.m., get it? Get it? 1?  He likes 1? Oh sorry, I was beginning to forget what site I was on.

So basically do you think Aki becoming a 'Manny' figure is good for the Rays (and their bloggers) or bad for the Rays since it causes off field distractions?

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