Manny Being Awesome

Manny Ramirez is many things, but a great fielder is not one of them. His misplays of balls off the Green Monster have become legendary in Boston, yet Manny's easy-going, carefree attitude and prolific hitting numbers make people forget about his atrocious play in the field (unlike with, say, Wily Mo Pena).
But back in 2004 Manny made a play so spectacular I had to rub my eyes and make sure Willie Mays hadn't taken his spot in left. After watching the play live, I rewound it about two dozen times, laughing all the while and talking to my buddy Horo about the amazingness of Manny. Yet, somehow, I had forgotten about it... Until yesterday, that is, when Deadspin pointed me towards a YouTube video of said play.
It's fantastic on so many levels. For starters - No... Watch it first, then we'll talk.

The "WTF?!" factor on this one is strong, to quite strong. Did Manny really think Johnny Damon was throwing to him? Did he figure Damon's arm was only good enough to get the ball to the middle of the outfield? Was he trying to get a grass stain on his uniform to look cool?
None of these thoughts went through his head, of course, because that presupposes that Manny actually has thoughts while playing in the field, hitting, crossing the street, filling out a form, or doing any ordinary every-day task. (You know that scene in Half-Baked where The Guy on the Couch asks "is it January?" and Dave Chappelle's character responds, "No man, it's August!"? Well, I'm guessing being around Manny Ramirez leads to many similar queries.)
So the fact that Manny cut off a ball being thrown from 30 feet away and then threw it 30 more feet to the wrong guy isn't what's so fantastic about the whole deal. No, the greatness of the play lies in the fact that Manny's dive to inexplicably cut-off Damon's throw is the greatest play Manny has ever made in the field!
The dive. The reflexes. The glove work. The pop-up throw. It's like Manny had a Will-Ferrell-in-Old-School moment where he just kind of zoned out and made a stellar play in the field. To criticize him for making the wrong play would be like ripping Columbus for hitting America when he was looking for the West Indies; sometimes mistakes can lead to brilliance.
I love you, Manny Ramirez. Deadspin, you're not so bad yourself.