Contrary to what he told Fredi Gonzalez Monday night, Hanley Ramirez now says he went after the ball he kicked as hard as he could:
Ramirez said Tuesday he “wasn’t trying to give up” on a ball he accidentally kicked about 100 feet toward the left-field corner in the third inning. He loafed after it, allowing two runners to score in a 5-1 loss to Arizona. Ramirez says that was the hardest he could go after the ball.
That’s what I see when I watch the video of the play. When Gonzalez asked him about it last night, it was like asking Pedro Martinez if he wanted to come out of game 7 in 2003. If Hanley says he’s hurt, Gonzalez takes him out of the game. If Hanley says he’s not hurt, Gonzalez takes him out for loafing.
Let me suggest that what Fredi should have done is remove Hanley Ramirez from the game, then tell the press he was clearly hurt. After the game, Fredi takes Hanely into his office to talk to him about the play, and if Hanley admits to not hustling, chew him out. Both sides have handled this situation poorly.
It sure looked like he was dogging it to me. He was running faster before the error than after it.
@Matt Davis: Right, but in making the error, he kicked the ball with his injured foot. To me it looks like he hurt the foot more.
Are you REALLY blaming Fredi? You and Hanley should hang out. Typical douche bags, blaming everyone but the person responsible.
From what I saw of the play, even if he had kicked the ball i doubt it would have hurt him from running harder than he did. That kick of the baseball was not hard enough to cause any serious injury, but even IF it did cause any type of flare up, i believe at a competitor you would want to run down the ball that you just kicked 30 feet away. After the play is over you go and tell the skip you’re hurt and take you out. I mean, look at all the pitchers who get line drives to the shin, players who bare hand line drives. They still give it the honest effort to make the play. I believe Hanley was just dogging it rather than giving it his all. Heck, 75% would had been better.
He hauled ass after that pop-fly, then after he missed it and kicked it away (and probably felt embarrassed for doing it), he jogged after it. IF the shin was flared up after kicking the ball, he would have STILL BEEN LIMPING when chasing that ball. A bum leg is going to hurt whether you’re sprinting or jogging, so don’t use the ‘he hurt his leg more on that play’ line. He jogged after that ball with perfect form. Fredi did what he had to do, and the fact the other players on the team are backing him up pretty much says it all.