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Perusing the baseball media reaction to Manny Ramirez leaving the Dodgers via ejection and waiver claim, after three trips to the disabled list this season and being unofficially benched by manager Joe Torre.
It always ends ugly for Manny Ramirez. Noticed that? It can't ever be easy. It can't ever be classy. It can't ever be professional. It can't be the kind of sweet, nostalgic, affectionate exit that true superstars, true Hall of Famers, deserve.No, with Manny, apparently, it's always got to be none of the above....
We have Ramirez's Dodgers career ending Monday much the way his Red Sox career ended. With one more employer saying: "Please, just go away. Please." What a coincidence....By the end, the Dodgers literally felt betrayed by this man.
Jay Jaffe at Baseball Prospectus, a Dodgers fan and perceptive analyst:
Instead of coming out to defend his player, manager Joe Torre remained in the dugout as Ramirez departed, a final symbolic act that brought down the curtain on his time in Dodger blue in surreal fashion....The final indication that Ramirez was going-going-gone came via Torre, who started him just three times in the eight games since he returned from the DL, and only once since he hit the [waiver] wire. Claiming that the decision for the benching was his and not on orders from the front office, and that he was "trying to win games," Torre shoveled more manure in the space of four days than he had in 13 years at the helm of the Yankees.
Jaffe pulls together the stats showing Ramirez was special when he was playing, even this season. He hit .322/.433/.580 for the Dodgers, a little better than in his prime with Cleveland and Boston. Since Manny arrived to deliver the Dodgers' first two playoff series wins in a long time, L.A. was 121-84 with him in the lineup and just a 500-team at 71-71 with him on the bench, hurt or suspended for banned substance use.
Meanwhile: The lawyers in McCourt vs. McCourt made opening statements in court today. LAT, LA Weekly