Projo Sox Blog

By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer

FORT MYERS, Fla. _ After Manny Ramirez hit his 500th career home run last May in Baltimore he gave his bat to then-teammate Julio Lugo.

The Sox' shortstop quickly covered it with a white sanitary sock and left Camden Yards. Friday afternoon Lugo was asked what he did with the bat and said he gave it to a mutual friend of theirs in the Dominican.

While Ramirez remains a free agent, Lugo's in camp fighting for the starting job with Jed Lowrie. J-Lo recently said if he doesn't win the job then he might ask GM Theo Epstein to be traded. Lugo suffered a season-ending quad injury last July, but is completely healthy.

"We reminded him that he's coming into this camp with a clean slate," said Francona. "It's a year new. He looks like he's worked very hard. He's thick and he's stronger. I know we haven't played a game yet, but the ball does seem to be coming off his bat good, which is a good sign. That's good news."

 Tags  Julio Lugo Manny Ramirez Red Sox spring training

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