Manny's Grill: Sizzle, then fizzle

The gas grill offered for sale on eBay.com by Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez was taken down from the auction website because it said he could not be verified as its owner and the listing violated company policy.
The seller’s contact information given to the Web site when the item was listed was not that of Ramirez, eBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe told the Associated Press.
The bidding began with a $3,000 minimum bid Tuesday afternoon, but reached $99,999,999 within hours. It was taken down from the site Wednesday.
EBay's problem was trying to verify ownership. Sharpe said the company support team called the phone number in the contact info and spoke with someone other than Ramirez.
“If it’s not officially from (Ramirez) it would disappoint his many fans," Sharpe said.
She suggested that if Ramirez is verified as the owner, he might want to list it on eBay’s charity program that allows proceeds to go to the charity of the seller’s choice. Which wouldn't be a bad PR move since he's in the
next to last year of a $160 million, eight-year contract.
One thing that tipped eBay into checking out ownership was that Ramirez told a Boston Globe reporter that the grill belonged to a neighbor in Weston, Fla.