Manny and J-Pap for Class Day

One of us is a dyed-in-the-wool Red Sox fan, the other a Bronx bomber since birth; when it comes to Major League Baseball, we don’t agree on much. During the postseason, metaphorical fists fly as we gloat over our respective teams’ accomplishments and argue over who is the more valuable player: Mike Lowell or Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle or Teddy Ballgame. But there is one thing we can agree on; we both nominate Manny Ramirez and Jonathan Papelbon for 2008 Class Day Speakers.

We have long watched these two enigmatic Red Sox stars with the rapt attention one might pay to a car accident—as much as you want to avert your eyes from the fiery wreckage of yet another Ramirez base-running blunder or J-pap victory dance, you are physically unable to. But over the course of the Red Sox’s championship run, it dawned on us that while the media might lampoon—sometimes affectionately, sometimes not—Manny’s space-cadet qualities or Papelbon’s meat-headed antics and deranged stare-down glare, their words are both inspirational and chock-full of invaluable wisdom.

It would be a disservice to the senior class not to invite these two Sox stars to speak at Class Day. If the Class Committee forces us to listen to Tim Russert bloviate about Big Russ instead we’ll go nude under our graduation gowns in protest.

But for those who may be skeptical of Manny’s shrewd rhetorical skills or J-Pap’s cutting wit, we’ve compiled some of the best examples of their wisdom and insight, in their own words.

After all, Harvard students have a lot to learn from these admirable self-starters. For one thing, never underestimate your own brilliance. As Papelbon says: “I set my goals high. If you were going to tell me I would have had 10 saves and not given up a run, I would have believed it. That’s just the way I go about it. It’s not cocky, it’s just confidence.” Ramirez clearly agrees: “Manny being Manny, he’s great man…I’m back!”

Short on inspiration for the business startup that will make you rich? Papelbon’s advice will surely bring out your inner Mark Zuckerberg: “The voices in my head. It just kind of comes to you. That’s it.” And if inspiration is slow in coming, have some patience; as Manny says, “We don’t want to eat the cake before your birthday!”

And when success does eventually knock at your door, it’s important to stay grounded. Papelbon points out, “One thing that helped was some advice Curt Schilling gave me before the game: ‘Just breathe. Don’t forget to breathe.’”

Of course, even if you are grounded, it helps to dress for success. Just follow J-Paps example: “I just happened to have on nothing but some underwear and a kid’s t-shirt Red Sox uniform jersey, and, you know, that’s kind of what I decided to celebrate in, you know what I mean, what I can tell ya?”

And just as Harvard has realized that it must inculcate a spirit of internationalism in its students, Ramirez has become more cosmopolitan to reap the full benefits of the global economy: “I like to travel, man. I been to Europe—you know, Spain. Dominican, Aruba, Costa Rica. Just to learn about different cultures. You know where I want to go? I want to go to China. I want to go and see—it’s a city that I don’t know how to say the name. It’s the Prohibit City? I saw it on the History Channel. They do a lot of tours over there.”

America has no better role models than these motivated, articulate sportsmen. It’s high time Harvard stepped off its high horse and admitted that, among the best leaders and brightest minds of this country, these two modern-day heroes deserve recognition.



Stephen C. Bartenstein ’08, a Crimson editorial editor, is a government concentrator in Lowell House. Brian J. Rosenberg ’08, a Crimson editorial chair, is a biology concentrator in Lowell House.