Tigers' Javier Báez Rubs Salt In Red Sox's Wounds With Manny Ramirez Reference

There's a story unfolding in Major League Baseball that nearly every fan can get behind supporting. Unfortunately, Boston Red Sox fans can't join in on the fun right now.

The Detroit Tigers' Javier Báez was one of the worst hitters in all of baseball from 2022 to 2024. He bottomed out last season, posting a .516 OPS and -1.1 bWAR in 80 games, and it looked as though the two-time All-Star's career was on life support.

However, Báez has turned back the clock to his Chicago Cubs heyday so far in 2025, posting an .870 OPS and 2.0 bWAR in 34 games. And he's done so while playing center field for the first time at age 32, a testament to his remarkable athleticism.

On Tuesday night, Báez had his moment in the sun, and it came against the unsuspecting Red Sox. First, he clubbed a three-run home run on a Garrett Whitlock hanging slider to put the Tigers up 6-4 in the sixth inning. Then, he took an identical pitch from Greg Weissert to the same spot in the left field bleachers for a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th.

As if that wasn't enough pain for Red Sox fans to bear, Báez said after the game that he was invoking a Boston legend with his celebration at home plate after taking Weissert deep.

"I was just trying to push it out," Báez said, per Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. "I was trying to do the Manny (Ramirez) but I wasn't sure it was going out or not. But I hit it pretty good."

Ramirez famously stood at home plate with his arms to the sky after a three-run walk-off home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the 2007 American League Division Series. It's one of the most recognizable images of the 21st century not only in Red Sox lore, but MLB history, period.

For Báez to invoke Ramirez while burying the Red Sox back at .500 is as cold-blooded as it gets. And it was an undeniably cool thing to do. It's the type of thing you'd love to celebrate with the rest of the baseball world if it wasn't the cause of your favorite team's misery.