Hard To Say I'm Sorry

Baseball Tonight Discusses

Maybe he was injured, maybe he just wasn't trying. In either case, telling the media that your manager doesn't know what you're going through because he hasn't played in the majors is downright stupid.

Hanley Ramirez, shortstop for the Florida Marlins is in some serious hot water after looking mediocre at best on the field during a game Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After missing a blooper over his head, Ramirez booted the ball past left fielder Chris Coghlan and proceeded to "jog" after it. To say that Ramirez put any effort into going after it would be giving him far too much credit. After the inning, manager Fredi Gonzalez pulled Ramirez from the game. It seemed like a mix of Ramirez being punished for his lackadaisical play and because of the foul ball he took off his shin an inning earlier, but in the locker room after, Ramirez was very apparently upset by the benching.

He ripped into his manager to the media saying that because Gonzalez had never played in the Majors, that he did not know what he was doing taking him out of the game. The words rubbed not only Gonzalez the wrong way, but other Marlins' players.

“Everybody is entitled to have a bad day, no matter who you are. Everybody has a bad day. But I don’t think a bad day comes from not hustling. That can’t be stood for. When you’re having a bad day, you can still hustle.”

Wes Helms, third baseman for the Fish had that to say of Ramirez after the incident.

Eventually, Ramirez came to his senses. Maybe he did that on his own, or maybe it was because his manager said he would not play until he gave a full apology to everyone involved.

"I regret that all this has gotten so ugly," Ramirez said to an ESPNDeportes.com reporter. "It wasn't my intention to create a distraction. I feel bad that things got to this point; the team and the fans don't deserve it."


Hanley Ramirez is one of the best young players in the game today, there's not doubt about that. But how stupid do you have to be to not only be lazy on the playing field, but then to trash talk your manager? If you're a professional athlete making millions of dollars, and you're going to bitch and moan about riding the pine for a few innings, then give me a freakin' uniform, and you're not gonna hear a peep out of me.