"It was his turn to hit, but Craig Albernaz raised the index finger of his right hand, asking for another moment or two. He was busy watching the guy in the next cage rip into baseballs with a flawless swing, pitch after pitch after pitch.

It was early morning during one of the first days of camp, no later than 7:30. Albernaz, a non-roster invitee catcher, was trying to get some cage time before the major-leaguers showed up.

One guy beat him to the indoor batting cage at Charlotte Sports Park — the guy with 555 home runs, 2,573 hits and a reputation of being a bit of a slacker.

Manny Ramirez.

"You get the feeling he had to work hard at his craft," Albernaz said, "but I never knew he worked this hard."

You hear that a lot from Ramirez's new teammates.

They know all about Manny being Manny. He sulked his way out of two cities. He disappeared inside Fenway Park's Green Monster during games on a number of occasions, to go to the bathroom, grab a drink, talk on a cell phone. He jumped and high-fived a fan sitting in the left field seats at Camden Yards after running down a long fly ball. He fought with a traveling secretary over tickets. He fought with the Dodgers over the length of his dreadlocks. The list goes on.

"I don't know what he was like before this year, but if this is the way he's always been, then the way everything we see on TV paints him is not right, because this guy is not a goofball," super utility player Ben Zobrist said. "He knows what he's doing out there. He's very calculated in what he's trying to do. He's just a good, hard worker."

Rays manager Joe Maddon gave Ramirez a Sunday off earlier this month. A complete, don't come to the park, sleep in day off. Ramirez was hacking away in the cage that day before 8 a.m.

"I think he's out to prove something," Zobrist said.

Rays players sport T-shirts with the phrase "Prove It" on the front. That came from Ramirez, who began saying those words early in camp.

"Those people who think he's at the end of his career, he's definitely out to prove them wrong," outfielder Sam Fuld said.

Fuld is not surprised to see a hard-working Ramirez."