It seems like “Manny being Manny” is not going to be tolerated by the Boston Red Sox this season.

AP / CHARLES KRUPA

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Accountability.

That was the key word.

The Boston Red Sox are going to allow Manny Ramirez to report on March 1 as he requested, eight days after the rest of the team and two days after the Basic Agreement mandate, but they appeared to be saying yesterday that the enigmatic slugger is on notice, expected to act more responsibly than he has toward his team and his teammates at times in the past.

“The important thing from our perspective is when he does show up that he’s ready to go and be accountable to his teammates and accountable to the organization,” said general manager Theo Epstein yesterday, sitting next to manager Terry Francona in announcing that the Sox had excused Ramirez’s absence from the team until next Thursday because of his mother’s recent surgery on the east coast of Florida.

Accountable? Manny?

The guy who ducks into the Green Monster during a break in the action? The guy who clubs 30 homers, knocks in 100 runs and bats .325 every year? The guy who said he couldn’t play because of tendinitis in his knee after Sept. 9 last year as the season was going down in flames, privately infuriating teammates and team executives?

The guy who keeps asking to be traded despite a yearly salary of $20 million? The guy whose idiosyncrasies are excused with the “Manny Being Manny” catch phrase? The Manny who didn’t report until March 1 last year as well?

Manny? Accountable?

“I think you can kind of figure out what it means,” said Epstein to the media when pressed on his choice of words.

“It just means if you’re going to be in there as one of 25 guys, you have to show up every day and treat your teammates the way you’d want to be treated. You’re a professional athlete. You’re accountable for the salary you make, and showing up and performing,” said Epstein.

Neither Epstein nor Francona referenced last September, when Ramirez said his right knee was too sore to play, though he bounced around the clubhouse without any limp.

The fact is that even had Ramirez been able to play here and there, or at the very least been amenable to pinch-hitting, the Red Sox, plagued by a rash of serious injuries, still wouldn’t have been able to recover from the five-game sweep by the Yankees in mid-August and mount a late run at the American League East crown.

The season crashed and burned, plunging the Red Sox to their worst finish in nine years — 11 games behind the division-winning New York Yankees.

Was Ramirez feeling some discomfort? Undoubtedly. Enough to limit him to only three at-bats (including a homer) the last three weeks of the season? Not everyone on the Sox was convinced.

Even though Ramirez put up impressive 2006 numbers — 35 homers, 102 RBI and a .321 batting average — in some quarters of the clubhouse the September sickout was viewed not as Manny Being Manny, but Manny Quitting on his Teammates.

Epstein and Francona took great pains yesterday to say they weren’t necessarily singling out Ramirez in their statement, that they hold all of their players accountable to themselves, their teammates and the organization, a mantra Francona insisted already had been repeated to all 59 players in camp in one-on-one meetings.

But the inference was clear. There was even an "or else" seemingly implied, as in Ramirez had better consider his actions in a more global, teammate-driven sphere or else.

Of course, what would be the "or else" to a team that needs Ramirez’s potent bat in the lineup behind David Ortiz? Ramirez, who has two years left on his eight-year, $160-million contract, would seem to have the Red Sox over a barrel.

Ortiz, who showed up at camp on time, as did the rest of the Red Sox, could only sigh when asked about Ramirez.

“I think it’s hard to find a player like Manny,” said Ortiz of the offseason trade rumors regarding Ramirez.

“He’s one of the best hitters in the game. No doubt about it,” said Ortiz. “This is a team that needs his offense. We’re in a great situation. We’ve got some new players and we still have Manny around. (If Ramirez had been traded), I’m going to be walking a lot. I need him hitting behind me. You have to take your walks if they don’t give you your pitch, and that’s what I tried to do when my man wasn’t behind me (last September).”

And the fact his friend isn’t reporting to camp until March 1?

“He’ll be fine,” said Ortiz. “Some things you can’t control. His Mom had surgery. If my Mom were alive and had surgery, I’m not going to be here.

“Manny’s still the same,” added Ortiz, who is in his fifth season in Boston. “He’s still crazy. I’m still baby-sitting him. It’s the same thing. He’ll be here, happy and ready to go with his mind clear.”

He had better, the Sox seemed to be saying loudly and clearly yesterday without being specific.

“To fit in the clubhouse you have to treat everyone with respect,” said Epstein, who, along with Francona, talked to Ramirez and his agent Tuesday night. “It’s a two-way street with the organization. Accountability is expected.”

skrasner@projo.com