Manny Ramirez apologizes to Red Sox traveling secretary for 2004 incident

It would seem that former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez is on step nine of the reformed bad-boy MLB players 12-step program, as 10 years after the fact, he has apologized to one of the many people he injured during his time at Fenway Park.

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During the 2004 season, Ramirez asked (at the last minute) team traveling secretary Jack McCormick for 16 tickets to a game. Upon being told by McCormick that it was too late to fulfill such a request, Ramirez promptly yelled at the then 68-year-old McCormick and shoved him to the ground.

Manny, being…well, an idiot.

Recently during a reunion of that history 2004 Red Sox team, Ramirez sought out McCormick to make his amends.

“I went and spoke to Jack,” Ramirez told ESPNBoston on Wednesday. “I apologized to Jack. I told him, ‘Jack, I want you to forgive me because it was my fault. I behaved bad here with everybody. I want you to forgive me.’ ”

Ramirez has apparently made a major change in his life, stemming from his 2011 arrest for allegedly hitting his wife.

“When I went to jail with that problem with my wife, they didn’t let me see my kids for two or three months, and one day I woke up and looked at myself in the mirror and I said I needed a change. I started going to Bible studies, I saw it was good. God helped me to change my life.”

This is a great example of a player who has undergone a personal transformation, and not tried to lay or displace blame elsewhere, but has rather owned up to his shortcomings and mistakes by taking personal responsibility.

If that’s now Manny being Manny, then more should do the same.