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TOKYO - Nobody knows quite where the new Manny Ramirez took root.

Alex Cora, for one, believes the transformation began when Ramirez
said to a shocked throng of media after the Red Sox found themselves
in a 3-1 hole to Cleveland in the American League Championship Series
last fall, "It's not the end of the world."

"I don't know if there was a turning point," Cora said after the Red
Sox' 6-5, season-opening win over the Oakland A's at the Tokyo Dome
yesterday. "But in the playoffs, I think he felt he needed to say
something and become the leader he could be."

There are other theories. Some believe the two-month offseason stay at
Athletes Performance Institute cemented Ramirez' new way of thinking.
Others suggest it was pushed along by the slugger's new super agent,
Scott Boras. There even is the notion that the combination of Mantra
yoga with Uncle Rico and books helping Manny reaffirm the notion that
"anything is possible," has led him down this previously uncharted
territory.

But however the new Manny started being the new Manny, it seems to be
working out.

Yesterday, in a land that seems to love Ramirez as much as he adores
its culinary offerings ("I've been eating sushi every day," he said),
Manny officially put his freshly delivered package on display for the
first time. First came the two-run double to tie the game in the
sixth, and then the almost-home run in the 10th inning that allowed
for the Sox' season-opening celebration.

That was followed by an impromptu press conference on top of home
plate, the signing of a cardboard check that is to pay him 1,000,000
yen (or $10,000), while also supplying him with a Ricoh color copier
for being named the game's MVP. Nobody has looked as good lugging
around an oversized, cardboard check since Happy Gilmore.

"That's going to be some gas money," Ramirez said. "I love it."

There was no longer any second-guessing regarding the merits of
speaking. The new Manny has his messages. Pick one: "Anything is
possible," or maybe, "The sky is the limit." It just so happened that
yesterday's form of communication helped hand the Red Sox win No. 1.

"He's a guy that's always looking to improve," Cora said. "He's always
asking questions and looking to get better. And I know it's not
baseball-related, but it's about trying to get better as a person, as
well. It sounds stupid, but he's finding that inner peace, and it's
translating on the field. He keeps reading those books and saying
those quotes, and then you're like, `Wow, this guy might be right.' "

Ramirez isn't sweating the past or future because of his confidence in
the present. Take, for instance, the moment clubhouse and equipment
manager Joe Cochran sat down next to the slugger a few hours before
yesterday's game and informed him he wouldn't be able to use his
red-barreled, Diablo brand bat per order of Major League Baseball.

No problem. He just grabbed some "Japanese wood," in the form of a
couple of SSX models.

"Maybe if I used my American bat it would go," Ramirez said of his
10th-inning double. "I thought I hit it good. I couldn't use my bat
because it wasn't legal, the red part. Thank God I got some Japanese
wood."

When the potentially stressful situation arose in the 10th, with Julio
Lugo [stats] at second base and David Ortiz, who had just been
intentionally walked, standing at first with two outs, Ramirez simply
flipped it into an opportunity against Oakland closer Huston Street.

"Before I told Alex (Cora), `I want to face this guy,' " Ramirez said.
"It came true and I did." And when asked why he would want to stare
down one of the game's preeminent closers, the Sox slugger responded,
"Because he's nasty. I like those challenges."

Teammates see a change in Manny, starting with the stab at becoming
Deepak Chopra-lite, to what is being presented in his usually dormant
month of April.

He has a plan, and yesterday the first part of it came together.
There's the six more years of playing with the Red Sox, the 500 home
runs, which is scheduled to be closely followed by 600 bombs. It is a
path paved by hits and haikus.

"I'm good to go. I'm hungry to get my 600," he said in front of his
locker, breaking off into that big smile and a small giggle that has
been a fixture of late.

Who knew? Anything truly is possible.

"He's like, `The sky's the limit; it's not the end of the world; or
I'm a bad man.' It's all good," Cora said. "If you go to work, you
feel good about yourself, you're happy, and good things happen. He has
the potential to have a monster season."

Source: Rob Bradford / www.bostonherald.com