Julio Lugo #23 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by teammate Manny Ramirez #24 after Lugo scored in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 13, 2007 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.  (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

While Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon basically ripped Manny Ramirez apart with some comments last week, one member of the Red Sox has come to his defense.

That person would be the now injured shortstop Julio Lugo. He offered up this to the authors of Manny’s authorized biography “Becoming Manny”.

“When I went through tough times, he knew that I had trouble sleeping so he would call me early in the morning, when he knew I’d be awake, and he’d say ‘Look, don’t worry about it, man. You’re going to do good today.’ ”

“That meant a lot to me. There’s no one like Manny.”

Do we even care what Lugo thinks about Manny? I know there might be some people out there who do but I’ve never been a fan of Lugo since day one. He’s cost the Red Sox more games than I dare to remember.

I hate to see what happens when Lugo returns if he doesn’t get the starting shortstop job back. We could end up with another “Manny situation” on our hands.

Some Red Sox man up for Manny Ramirez [Inside Track]

Jonathan Papelbon’s Comments Creating A Buzz [SOX & Dawgs]

Becoming Manny: Inside the Life of Baseball’s Most Enigmatic Slugger [SOX & Dawgs]