Ramirez takes the money and runs to Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) _ The Red Sox gave Manny Ramirez $160 million to come to Boston. If all goes well, they hope he will get an even pricier gift before his eight-year contract is done. <br><br>The Red Sox are

Wednesday, December 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) _ The Red Sox gave Manny Ramirez $160 million to come to Boston. If all goes well, they hope he will get an even pricier gift before his eight-year contract is done.

The Red Sox are planning to replace Fenway Park, the Titanic-era ballpark that has been an albatross for the team and for its newest employee, too. Despite the impressive numbers Ramirez has posted across the American League, he hasn't fared nearly as well at the park he now calls home.

The former Indians outfielder is a lifetime .278 hitter with 16 RBIs in 37 games at Fenway, his lowest numbers in any AL park. He was 0-for-8 there in the 1999 AL playoffs and 1-for-18 in the series against Boston.

He also has five homers and a .444 slugging percentage at Fenway _ far lower than his .605 at Jacobs Field.

The Red Sox are hoping that Ramirez will fare better at Fenway once he gets accustomed to the place. He'll get a chance to look around on Wednesday, when he is expected to meet with reporters at the ballpark.

Ramirez spent three hours Tuesday at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester taking a physical. He was accompanied by Dr. Arthur Pappas, Red Sox doctor Bill Morgan and team trainer Jim Rowe.

Ramirez signed a few autographs when he arrived, but did not comment.

``Yesterday was a roller-coaster day as we evaluated offers from Boston and Cleveland,'' his agent, Jeff Moorad, said Tuesday. ``Manny had two great choices.''

Ramirez played his entire career with Cleveland. Like Boston, the Indians offered $160 million, but more of the money was deferred, so it was worth substantially less.

Moorad said about 20 people from the Indians' organization tried to convince Ramirez to stay, including manager Charlie Manuel and teammates Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Travis Fryman and Dave Burba.

But Ramirez was also recruited by Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez.

``I'm good friends with Pedro,'' Ramirez told Boston station WHDH-TV after arriving at the airport. ``Here in Boston we have a good chance to get the ring.''

Ramirez, 28, hit .351 last season with 38 homers and 122 RBIs in 439 at-bats. He missed 44 games with a hamstring injury, but still led the league in slugging percentage and was third in on-base average.

After returning from the DL, Ramirez, a .313 career hitter, batted .371 with 25 homers and 75 RBIs in his final 71 games. In the last three years, only Sammy Sosa (437) has driven in more runs than Ramirez's 432.

His signing by the Red Sox should only spice up the rivalry with the Indians. The teams have met in the postseason three times since 1995, with the Red Sox rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win the '99 division series in five games.

There is also bad blood between the clubs stemming from Martinez's dominance of the Indians. Last season, Martinez hit Indians second baseman Roberto Alomar with a pitch, touching off a bench-clearing scene that resulted in Martinez being suspended for five games.

Drafted by the Indians in 1991, Ramirez set a franchise record in 1999 with 165 RBIs _ the most in the majors since Jimmie Foxx in 1938.

He was wildly popular with Indians fans, who embraced his quirkiness off the field and forgave his occasional mental lapses on it because of his mind-boggling offensive numbers. He finished his career with Cleveland by homering in his final at-bat at Jacobs Field last season against Toronto.

Cleveland officials said they were shocked at the loss.

``It's been a broad range of emotions,'' Indians assistant general manager Mark Shapiro said. ``We basically took every amount of revenue and resource, and the (owners) said, 'Make your best effort without jeopardizing what we can do in the future for the entire team.'''

Shapiro said the Indians, who signed Ellis Burks early in the offseason in case they couldn't bring Ramirez back, would now focus on adding another bat to their lineup.

David Segui, acquired by Cleveland in a trade last season, could be re-signed. Shapiro also mentioned Jeffrey Hammonds and Reggie Sanders as players the Indians might go after.