"We can only assume Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon will grow to be amused, if not bemused, by Manny Ramirez. Put it this way: He'll surely collect his personal stash of Manny moments in the next few months.

The old Manny stories have already made their way through Rays camp. And if the new ones are the funny kind, not the bad kind, Maddon will survive this.

To his credit, the former Red Sox slugger, who last month signed a one-year deal with the Rays for $2 million, showed up five days ahead of positional players and worked out at the Port Charlotte camp yesterday before addressing the media.

He told Tampa Bay reporters he was going to play with "a chip on my shoulder'' in 2011 as he tries to regain the greatness he exhibited as a hitter throughout his career."