Major League Career
Manning made his major league debut with the Indians during the 1975 season. In 1977, Manning had surgery for a broken back suffered sliding into second base at the now-demolished Kingdome in Seattle.
Manning played a major role in Cleveland's trade of Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley. Eckersley was traded with Fred Kendall on March 30, 1978 to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Bo Díaz, and Ted Cox. In the book The Curse of Rocky Colavito, author Terry Pluto noted that the trade was necessitated by an awkward situation, namely that Eckersley's wife had left him for Manning.
Manning had stayed with the Eckersleys while recovering from back surgery the previous year, and in that time became romantically involved with Denise Eckersley, Dennis' wife.
Manning himself was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers during the 1983 season. As a member of the Brewers, he hit a 10th-inning single on August 26, 1987 to defeat the Indians 1-0. However, the home crowd booed because the hit brought Paul Molitor's 39-game hitting streak to an end while Molitor stood in the on-deck circle.
Manning had the support of a motley crew of fans who stationed themselves at the top of the left field bleachers at Cleveland Municipal Stadium and called themselves "Rick's Rejects".
Read more about this topic: Rick Manning
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