Back in May, I wrote a post on Ladies... about how much I hate "Manny being Manny" and all the excuses that were being made for him and his steroid usage.
Though at the time I was talking about Manny's steroid usage, a few of the paragraphs are pretty damn relevant in light of the latest story that had Manny showering while his team was losing Game 4 in the bottom of the ninth:
I really feel like more people should be offended by his blase attitude and how it demeans the whole spirit of the game. I mean, I know that sounds all cliche and heartfelt, but really, we’re all so emotionally attached to the game and I find it weird that more people aren’t insulted by his cavalier attitude over a job that most people would literally give body parts to be able to have.
It’s sad that we as hardcore fans put all this time and effort and passion and emotion into this sports and this league and this is what we get in return. I’ve been on a complete baseball high as my team has continued to surpass my expectations and thinking through this in order to write a post has really made me sad about that state of a game that I cling to 162 games a year.
I feel pretty strongly about what I said then. I walk a fine line between journalism and fandom and I spend way more of my waking hours talking and writing about sports than someone who doesn't get paid to do so should. And everything about Manny Ramirez just irks me.
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As I went searching for that article so I could provide a link, I realized I referenced LA Times writer Bill Plaschke, which I'm about to do again.
Plaschke's newest column is about Manny leaving the dugout and hitting the showers when he was pulled from the game early.
From the column: "I come out of the game early, I take a shower," he said Tuesday, his feet propped up in front of his locker at Citizens Bank Park before an off-day workout.
So you never saw Broxton give up the ninth-inning, two-out, two-run double to Jimmy Rollins?
"No, I was in the shower," he repeated.
So you didn't see one pitch in what became the most important moment of the season? You didn't stick around the dugout to offer one word of encouragement? You couldn't leave Mannywood long enough to become part of, you know, the Dodgers?
"I caught the highlights," he said.
You caught the highlights?
The truck driver who has to work at 5 a.m. the next day, he catches the highlights. The mom who has to put her kids to bed during the ninth inning, she catches the highlights.
Manny Ramirez is supposed to be the highlights. October baseball is supposed to be about the team. Players routinely shower during the middle of regular-season games, but the playoffs are supposed to be different.
Of course, Plaschke asked Dodgers Manager Joe Torre about the situation and Torre said"...it's nothing different than he has done before."
When the manager's that blase and basically rewords the phrase "It's just Manny being Manny" how can you expect the team to act any differently.
And really, the whole thing is ridiculous and embarrassing enough for the team, but wouldn't you know it, Manny manages to to fall even further from grace.
Does he have any words of encouragement now?
"The Philadelphia Phillies are playing better, what can you do?" Ramirez said. "Jimmy Rollins is one of my favorite players. I love him. He's small, but he can play. I'm not surprised he was the one who got it done."
So not only do you not care enough about your team to stick around, but then, as Plaschke points out, you point out that the other team has out-played you and you're powerless to do anything about it.
Some kind of team leader, that Manny Ramirez.
