When it counts, these guys are a no-show; that would be Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez. Two of the most recognized and celebrated baseball citzens of the DR, and pseudo-members of my beloved Red Sox Nation.
Whenever we seem to get down to the nitty gritty, these guys just don't show up - physically or otherwise.
Manny took the 3 game series off - against the primary division rival Yankees - because he didn't feel good. Well, apparently he didn't feel that bad, he was in a hotel bar socializing with some Yankees Saturday night after a loss, one he didn't even attend. Tough to figure, tough to swallow, simply brutal.
Add in Pedro's shortest - and worst - start of the year, a 4 inning sunny-Saturday-stinker, one in which he was posted a 3 run lead before he took the mound in the 2nd. Ayy dios.
Imagine that, $32.7 milliion a year worth of no-shows.
Manny's 3 game siesta === that's a sick leave worth $318,000. Let that sink in for a minute. That's roughly 556,927 Presidente's.
Oh, and of course the series happened to be with the most "hated" rival, the NY Yankees. I really like Manny Ramirez, but after seeing him tell Joe Morgan of ESPN on Thursday how he dreams of playing for the Yankees someday (oh great, here's $125 million thanks for the laughs Manny, good luck with the Yankees) I really wonder what the hell is wrong with these two.
Above and beyond the unnerving special treatment they both get; each left a day early before the All-Star break this year, as well as last year. Pedro took 3 or 4 more days to return to S.D. for the lighting of the Pan Am torch (this is acceptable, but just another indicator of his priorities).
Pedro called in sick last week too. He was to face their chief competition for a playoff spot - the Oakland A's - after they beat the Sox in Pedro's absence, the A's took the Wild Card lead.
Both players quit and left before game 162 last year as well. Pedro is babied like no other player in the history of baseball; pitch counts, 5, sometimes 6 days of rest, early exits, no minor league rehabs, good faith contracts, and he's on the DL so much you have to wonder what this guy is made of.
Neither of them talks to the press now because they (the press) are too harsh on them. Boston's press and the yokels they stir up are harsh and ruthless, that's agreed, so I don't blame them.
However, criticism is part of the job, and these two offer a lot to criticize. These guys have some really thin skin.
In spring training, Pedro complained that if he didn't get his option year (team owned option - that means they had to pay for the right) picked up, he'd refuse to play in Boston again.
Against all common sense and diligent management, the Red Sox gave him the $17.5 million for next year in good faith, again catering to his pleas for "respect".
Soon after getting the option picked up, he said it didn't change anything and that he'd still entertain other offers. What the hell does he know about respect?
Since then he's gone on to say that he "definitely won't play in Boston after '04." Wow, what a great teammate.
How can someone with so much, complain so much? Does he ever look around and see that everyone is under the same microscope in sports? What the hell makes him think he's so special?
As I write this, David Ortiz, giving a grayish 65% while running the bases fails to slide into home and is tagged out. It shouldn't have been a close play.
Red Sox Nation doesn't take that kind of crap sitting. He'll hear about it, I'm curious to hear his response, "I'm not talking to the press anymore".
I know this, it all looks very familiar.
Whenever we seem to get down to the nitty gritty, these guys just don't show up - physically or otherwise.
Manny took the 3 game series off - against the primary division rival Yankees - because he didn't feel good. Well, apparently he didn't feel that bad, he was in a hotel bar socializing with some Yankees Saturday night after a loss, one he didn't even attend. Tough to figure, tough to swallow, simply brutal.
Add in Pedro's shortest - and worst - start of the year, a 4 inning sunny-Saturday-stinker, one in which he was posted a 3 run lead before he took the mound in the 2nd. Ayy dios.
Imagine that, $32.7 milliion a year worth of no-shows.
Manny's 3 game siesta === that's a sick leave worth $318,000. Let that sink in for a minute. That's roughly 556,927 Presidente's.
Oh, and of course the series happened to be with the most "hated" rival, the NY Yankees. I really like Manny Ramirez, but after seeing him tell Joe Morgan of ESPN on Thursday how he dreams of playing for the Yankees someday (oh great, here's $125 million thanks for the laughs Manny, good luck with the Yankees) I really wonder what the hell is wrong with these two.
Above and beyond the unnerving special treatment they both get; each left a day early before the All-Star break this year, as well as last year. Pedro took 3 or 4 more days to return to S.D. for the lighting of the Pan Am torch (this is acceptable, but just another indicator of his priorities).
Pedro called in sick last week too. He was to face their chief competition for a playoff spot - the Oakland A's - after they beat the Sox in Pedro's absence, the A's took the Wild Card lead.
Both players quit and left before game 162 last year as well. Pedro is babied like no other player in the history of baseball; pitch counts, 5, sometimes 6 days of rest, early exits, no minor league rehabs, good faith contracts, and he's on the DL so much you have to wonder what this guy is made of.
Neither of them talks to the press now because they (the press) are too harsh on them. Boston's press and the yokels they stir up are harsh and ruthless, that's agreed, so I don't blame them.
However, criticism is part of the job, and these two offer a lot to criticize. These guys have some really thin skin.
In spring training, Pedro complained that if he didn't get his option year (team owned option - that means they had to pay for the right) picked up, he'd refuse to play in Boston again.
Against all common sense and diligent management, the Red Sox gave him the $17.5 million for next year in good faith, again catering to his pleas for "respect".
Soon after getting the option picked up, he said it didn't change anything and that he'd still entertain other offers. What the hell does he know about respect?
Since then he's gone on to say that he "definitely won't play in Boston after '04." Wow, what a great teammate.
How can someone with so much, complain so much? Does he ever look around and see that everyone is under the same microscope in sports? What the hell makes him think he's so special?
As I write this, David Ortiz, giving a grayish 65% while running the bases fails to slide into home and is tagged out. It shouldn't have been a close play.
Red Sox Nation doesn't take that kind of crap sitting. He'll hear about it, I'm curious to hear his response, "I'm not talking to the press anymore".
I know this, it all looks very familiar.
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