Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez is one of baseball's best players. He hits for power, average and has had seasons with more than 50 steals. But his recent comments toward his manager are wrong and portray him as a selfish jerk.
The reason for Ramirez's anger is that he was pulled from a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks after missing a catch in shallow left field, accidentally booting the ball 100 feet farther into the outfield and then proceeding to lightly jog after the ball as two runners scored and the batter ended up on third. Ramirez was replaced once the Marlins got out of the inning.
His manager, Fredi Gonzalez, told reporters that the shortstop's effort was unacceptable and he would have benched any player putting forth similar efforts. Instead of being a leader for his team and taking responsibility for his actions, Ramirez acted childish, blamed his lack of hustle on having a sore ankle and went on to verbally attack his manager.
"That's OK. He (Gonzalez) doesn't understand that (playing hurt)," Ramirez told MLB.com. "He never played in the big leagues."
Maybe Gonzalez never played in the majors, but you can't question his coaching ability. In three years with a team payroll of less than $40 million, Gonzalez led his team to 71, 84 and 87 wins. For Ramirez to call him out for never playing in the majors, and to even go as far as to say that he lost respect for Gonzalez his decision, is not the actions of a team leader. They are the actions of a man who is out for himself.
Conflicts will arise during the 162-game season, they're inevitable with all the egos floating around. But Ramirez's statements should have been reserved for Gonzalez's office, not the media.
The stud shortstop also through his teammates under the bus rather than apologize to them for his poor effort. He said his teammates haven't apologized for "dogging it" in making 36 errors, so why should he? Well, he should because the Marlins invested a lot of money in him and expect him to be a leader, not a player who thinks he can do whatever he wants and not answer to anyone.
Cameras will never catch Derek Jeter dogging it after he makes an error; they'll never even have a chance. I remember him going head first into the stands to catch a pop-foul against the Red Sox in the regular season a few years back. That's what leaders do. They show every one else how the game should be played, and then hold their teammates accountable when aren't working hard. But here is Ramirez, a player I have enjoyed watching for years, letting his talent go to his head.
If I'm the Marlins, I suspend him without pay for three games. Not for the lack of effort; he was already punished accordingly for that, but for the blatant disrespect he is showing his teammates, manager and organization.
Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
What is going on with Hanley Ramirez? What does he think he has to gain by coming to the media with these insane quotes? Two of them especially confused me.
ReplyDelete"I wasn't trying to give up, that was the hardest I could go after the ball."
If that's true you need to immediately advise the coaching staff that you are unable to perform and get someone in the game that is able to put forth more effort than a light jog. In Gonzalez's post game interview he said that Hanley had no excuse, so I was under the impression that Hanley was denying the fact that he was injured.
Even worse was this quote:
"We got 24 more guys out there. Hopefully they can do the same things I can do. They're wearing the Marlins uniform."
It's one thing to not have a great relationship with your coach. All you need is a working relationship - do what he says and play your best. But you need to have a good relationship with your teammates. You're going to battle with them everyday. They need to trust and respect you.
If Hanley wants to be an individual athlete he should take up golf or tennis. No one wants a selfish teammate.
I like this quote game, here are my 2 favorites.
ReplyDeleteWes Helms: "I can't overlook it," Helms said. "I know people say that's just the way he is, but you know what? That's not the way it is. That's not the way the game's supposed to be played.
Cameron Maybin: "I think if it happened to anybody else in here, I think other teammates would feel the same way about it," Maybin said. "As long as you are playing hard nobody can really say anything bad about you. We definitely support Fredi's decision and we thought it was the right decision."
My conclusion - Hanley is a slut baby.
Slut baby? I'm trying to figure out if that is a better or worse term for bastard. Either one is pretty harsh.
ReplyDelete