Yeah, Manny is a bit of a douche. I agree, a little disingenuous.
But, I still like him. Still want to see him win.
Dunno, it's kinda like...I feel like we've never had a player that other teams and other fans love to hate. We've mostly had a bunch of choir boys who aren't controversial. Jones, as much as I love him, is a hell of a guy and lovable. Nick was straight up boring, but we all loved his quiet professionalism. Brian Roberts, choir boy. Wieters, quiet professional. I'm struggling to think of anyone that we had over the past few years that got on the other teams nerves.
But I don't care what anyone says, it's fun to be the villain sometimes. Red Sox, perfect example...how much did we LOOOOOOATHE Ortiz? Pedroia? I can't stand either of those guys. But we all know that if we were Red Sox fans, we'd LOVE them. And we'd also love that other fans HATE them. I loved knowing that other teams and fans hated Manny.
Even though Manny is gone, I still view him as one of ours. Probably will for awhile. And I love that he's the villain.