Manny's defense still leaves much to be desired

	Manny Ramirez's glovework doesn't keep him in the lineup. It's his fearsome bat. Jim Rogash/WireImage.com

This is in regards to your comment that Manny Ramirez is "an awful outfielder." Don't get me wrong, no one is going to say he's great in the field. But I looked over his fielding stats compared with other left fielders and his fielding percentage, putouts and error rate seem to place him about middle of the pack. It looks like he's average on defense, not awful. So what am I missing here? Is this just another writer going by reputation, and not looking at the numbers?
-- Michael Gazda, Manchester, N.H.

Well, I think you're looking at a guy who plays his home games in the smallest left field in baseball and can get away with (most times) playing Little League depth. (And playing the wall at Fenway is one of the most overrated "skills" in baseball.) Even then, I saw him allow a double to left (down the line) to clear the loaded bases at Fenway Park. That's nearly impossible given the proximity of the wall. If you want to charge me with overstating his deficiencies, OK, guilty. Let's agree on "below average" and leave it at that.

I'm curious as to whom the four other right-handed hitters are that you'd lump in with Ramirez to round out your all-time top five.
-- Greg Pils, Madison, Wisc.

If you want to go strictly by OPS, you've got Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby and then Ramirez is fourth. Not a bad group. I'd throw Joe DiMaggio in there. And if you want to toss in Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, no argument here. Remember, Ramirez is still a productive hitter with a few good years left to solidify his place in that company.

I was just reading an article on Barry Bonds where it mentioned he sent a bat and ball to the Hall of Fame from his 2,000th hit. This got me curious, so I looked up his career records. As of Wednesday morning, he has 2,896 hits. He may reach 3,000. All the steriod talk seems to link itself to his home runs, but if he reaches 3,000 hits, wouldn't it be that much harder to deny his being voted into the Hall of Fame?
-- Marty Israel, Woodbridge, N.J.

No. You might be making two wrong assumptions here. One is that steroid use improves only your power numbers, so 3,000 hits is somehow more legit than 756 home runs. Steroid use improves bat speed and helps greatly in muscle recovery and maintenance. I'm not going to separate hits from home runs in defining where is the unnatural edge. The other wrong assumption is assuming that using steroids at all is OK.

Am I the only one who noticed that John Smoltz is closing in on 3,000 strikeouts?
-- John Albritton, Acworth, Ga.

He needs 139, so I'm not sure if he's getting there this year. But check out Pedro Martinez; he needs only two. Smoltz already is 16th on the all-time list, ahead of Cy Young. Now, I know hitting (and pitching) is completely different these days as compared to the early 1900s, but Smoltz truly has put together a very impressive resume.