Hacks With Haggs has an interesting Q&A up that he did with Julio Lugo a short time ago, before Lugo landed himself on the DL. It's a great introspective look by Julio back at his early days of baseball - and even more interesting, it's got some great tidbits about Manny Ramirez.

Did you ever, as a kid, watch Manny play when he was with the Indians?

JL: I never went to Yankee Stadium, but I went to go watch him play at Double-A and he was with the Indians and he hit a home run to straightaway centerfield. The crowd starting going crazy. I remember that, and I still have the bats at my house.

One day when I was in the minor leagues I went to go watch Manny play in spring training, and I saw him before the game. I went 'Oh Manny...how are you' and he was like 'Oh...how are you.' We didn't really know each other well, but he told me he was going to give me some bats after the game. And I told all my friends. I was like 'Oh [expletive], Manny is gonna give me some bats.' And I was waiting outside after the game, and I thought that Manny forgot. I was like 'man...', but then Manny showed up a while later and he had the bats with him. I remember that and I still have the bats in my house. It felt so good, and to this day that was one of the best moments in my baseball career.

What's it been like to play with him...a guy you always looked up to?

JL: Everybody knows about Manny and how good a hitter he is. But nobody knows about how good a person Manny is. You've got to be there to understand. When I was struggling last year I didn't want to talk to anybody. But I would check my voice messages and he would leave me messages like 'Hey don't worry about it. You're going to be fine. Tomorrow is your day.' That kept me up all the time. That kept me up. It was amazing. Every time I made a play, I would turn around and he would be like pointing at me. He stole my heart, man. People don't see it on the outside, but he really cares about me. He cares about everyone.

Does that perception about him surprise you given how he is with you?

JL: It's surprising because he don't say much and he doesn't express his feelings that much. You've got to be real close to him for him to express his feelings. But I never hear Manny say anything negative. If something negative happens, he'll be like 'don't waste your energy on it.'