Should Manny Ramirez Be With The Team?
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:14 PM PDT
in News
33 comments
We are a little over a third of the way through the Manny Ramirez suspension, and to date Manny has been away from the team except for a brief encounter in Miami.
Reports over the weekend from the Boston Globe -- gee, I wonder what angle to the story they will take -- surfaced that Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt is furious that Manny is not with the team. Nick Cafardo reported:
If Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had his way, he'd kick Manny Ramírez to the sidewalk, void his contract, and say, "See ya later." But McCourt doesn't have that luxury, so he has simply asked Ramírez to do some very basic things to make amends for his embarrassing 50-game suspension.
He did address the team, so that's one off the checklist.
But that's about all he's done.
All Ramírez has to do is show remorse, take batting practice, be a presence in the clubhouse, and continue to help out the young hitters. So what is he doing? He's staying away.
The Dodgers expected Ramírez to come to Los Angeles after he briefly addressed the team in Miami last week. But Ramírez didn't. It's another act of defiance - a slap in the face to McCourt, who has been more than generous to Ramírez.
Manny did show up at Dodger Stadium to work out yesterday, but of course the team already left on their road trip. Does it really matter if Manny Ramirez is with the team or not during his suspension?
I'm as big a fan of the movie Major League as anyone, so I value a unified team, but I just don't think it matters whether or not Manny is around if he's not playing. If Manny was around, he might be able to help by offering pointers to or mentoring the younger players, but he can do that just as easily by picking up a phone.
With Manny around, there may even be a distraction for the players since there would undoubtedly be more reporters around, continuously rehashing the same questions over and over again. I spent about nine hours at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, in and around the clubhouse, dugout, and press box, and Manny's name was mentioned maybe a handful of times, if that.
Everybody knew Manny Ramirez moved to the beat of his own drum before he re-signed here. As long as he's ready to hit on July 3, he can do whatever he wants in the interim.
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Ah
Love the picture with the drunk Philly fans… well, atleast I assume they are drunk. Aren’t most Philly fans drunk? Or am I getting them confused with Boston or New York fans? Anyways, maybe I am getting drunk confused with obnoxious, but I digress. I don’t see the need for Manny to be travelling with the team. Obviously, he’s sorry for what happened, and what good would it do for him to travel with the team. Is he even allowed in the dugout and in uniform? From what I hear Manny is an incredibly shy person, so why put the guy through the mental anguish of having the media follow him around in every MLB city the Dodgers play in. As long as he’s working out, I say let him stay home.
vr, Xeifrank
by Xeifrank on May 26, 2009 2:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
My favorite fan in the photo is on the right, the guy grabbing his own shirt for some reason.
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
His right arm is also kinda missing
It looks like he’s either taking his shirt off or putting it on.
by jaffa on May 26, 2009 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If my work stopped paying me, I wouldn’t show up.
by kinbote on May 26, 2009 2:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
touche
but i would if they still owed me over 35 million dollars.
I’m not exactly sure how i feel. I actually don’t think it matters too much. I think it’s best to let him do what he wants at this point; we can’t afford to have an angry manny.
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
by BoulderDodger on May 26, 2009 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You work didn't just decide to stop paying you
In this case you broke the rules and you were suspended for your actions. When I got suspended from high school, my parents didn’t let me go to the beach for a few days (beach/Miami see how good this analogy is.) Moreover, the school required I wrote an essay or something like that to ensure that I was, you know, actually punished.
I don’t really care about this, I do think this is yet another “non-issue.” But let’s not act like Manny is the one being wronged here. He should work out in LA- it would set a nice example (I also do not think he needs to travel with the team.) But I see no reason why he should be in Miami.
by mwhite06 on May 26, 2009 2:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
When I got suspended from high school…
You got a prescription for HCG in high school? :)
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
High school suspension confessions?
I think that’s more of an off-season topic :)
by mwhite06 on May 26, 2009 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The way I see it, the Dodgers didn’t suspend Manny; the league did. The Dodgers are simply following league regulations by not paying him. As much as McCourt may posture, I don’t see the Dodgers and Manny in an adversarial relationship right now. They’re both following orders and will go from there.
by kinbote on May 26, 2009 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
McCourt may want to cut him like he was NFL player and not pay his salary.
But McCourt should still be happy that Manny put his franchise back in the national spotlight and was the key reason why we won a playoff series in 20 years.
Their are things I would like for Manny to do like hold a PC one of these days or donate some money (even if he doesn’t mean it) to a respected charity that will get some fans back on his side or when he comes back just ball out like he was doing prior to the suspension or really crazy like last season.
by Bison27 on May 26, 2009 2:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Is Frank McCourt really pissed or is that just an opinion being offered by someone who has not talked to McCourt? Seemed to me he was just offering his own take and not Frank’s. While the Dodgers took a marketing shot because of the suspension, with them able to stay easily afloat while not having to pay Manny, maybe’s he’s not so unhappy.
As Kinbote said, he’s not being paid, why should he be with the team? Because he was a bad citizen? Maybe, I’d split the difference and hope he’s with the team by June 15th.
by meercatjohn on May 26, 2009 2:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
McCourt is going to be on with Mason & Ireland in the next half hour, maybe he can address that.
I tend to think it was Boston media pontification, but who knows?
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Old friend
Wilson Valdez was just purchased by the Mets
by silverwidow on May 26, 2009 2:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
[cue ominous music]
Duh, duh, duuuuuuuhhhhhh.
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That team’s falling apart. Reyes and Church to the DL, Beltran out three games, Delgado already gone. Ouch. At least they get to see super-prospect F-Mart.
by kinbote on May 26, 2009 2:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That’s great, they are going through our old lousy shortstops. They need to contact Oscar Robles’s agent.
by meercatjohn on May 26, 2009 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I just realized
perhaps I should have phrased the question differently, like:
“Does it matter that Manny Ramirez isn’t with the team?”
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:35 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree
I’m curious to see what the results would be for that one
I'm nobody's fool, least of all yours
by BoulderDodger on May 26, 2009 2:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Have fun
Thank god he is not with Boston anymore so have fun with him LA as you can see he really only cares about himself, so happy we have Jason Bay.
by jongarcia003 on May 26, 2009 2:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Would you be as happy without the two titles with Manny?
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
To bad you will only have Bay for this year but you will be paying Mr. Drew 14 Million.
by meercatjohn on May 26, 2009 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The problem is that you seem to have also lost David Ortiz, hope you find him soon.
by meercatjohn on May 26, 2009 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
boy aren't you ungrateful
manny totally change your franchise, red sox fans were so ungrateful, so was management.
by XXDC2XX on May 26, 2009 10:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Recap of McCourt's appearance on ESPN 710 "Mason & Ireland"
John Ireland asked him about the report from Boston linked above. Here’s what McCourt said (I’m paraphrasing since I took loose notes):
I’m not familiar with the report..
The key here from organizational point of view is that Manny make no excuses, what manny did was wrong, and that he have accountability, and responsibility
Steps for Manny
1) admit it
2) apologize
3) repair the damage to the people you hurt
4) don’t make the same mistake again
That’s what Manny’s doing now
Manny’s genuinely sorry
At some point in time, he’ll talk with the fans
Nobody’s more upset than Manny, everyone deserves a second chance
Manny’s back working out, i’m happy, looking forward to him coming back.
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
That should have all been in blockquote…oh well.
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 2:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
ah ha
so McCourt speaks w/o punctuation, you don’t type w/o it. Got it.
by Seanny Rotten on May 26, 2009 8:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Frank did not deny the report but he was not familiar with it
Is it possible he blew off steam somewhere, sure. But he’s going to confirm a report.
by bhsportsguy on May 26, 2009 2:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I think it is a complete bullshit article segment by Carfado.
It’s all speculation with nary a quote from McCourt or even from unnamed sources. The segment was poorly written also and needed many more qualifiers like “In my opinion…” or “I believe…” or “One might speculate that…”.
by David Young on May 26, 2009 7:07 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I would have voted
but you didn’t have a “it doesn’t matter” category. As long as he is with the team and producing when his suspension is over, that is all that matters to me.
by Paul Scott on May 26, 2009 9:02 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
I regret not wording the question “does it matter if Manny’s not here?” because that was my feeling as I wrote it.
by Eric Stephen on May 26, 2009 10:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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