Take THAT Jason!

The”Yay Jason” comment thread was getting worn out anyway . . .

Dodgers manager Joe Torre said he doesn’t think suspended outfielder Manny Ramirez should be an All-Star this year, even though fans have him fourth in voting at the position.

“No, I don’t, and if you ask Manny, he’d give you the same answer,” said Torre. “I understand a lot of it is a popularity contest and you want to give the manager the best players, but to me, the significance of the All-Star Game is to reward players who had a good first half.

“They don’t always do that. But I always feel it’s great to have young players [given] a chance to make the club. Look at [Evan] Longoria, and rightly so.

“Manny’s popularity is why he’s gotten votes. Realistically, he didn’t have, except for reputation, a right to be an All-Star. It probably isn’t the right thing for him this year, from the baseball aspect, I’ve got to think.”

(link via BTF)


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J.W.
14 years ago

Ahh Joe, we miss you PR skills here in NYC. Manny’s “popularity” is garnering him votes? How bout the desire to be contrary and that hides in most of our hearts? I know that’s why I’m voting for him.

J.W.
14 years ago

Let’s try that again shall we?

Ahh Joe, we miss your PR skills here in NYC. Manny’s “popularity” is garnering him votes? How bout the desire to be contrary and to mess with “the man” that hides in most of our hearts? I know that’s why I’m voting for Manny.

Much better. Dern typos.

Jason @ IIATMS
14 years ago

“From the baseball aspect”. Not “because he tested positive and was suspended for PEDs” folks. Then again, teams under Torre’s stewardship don’t exactly have a sparkling record, PED-wise, do they? So the PED suspension has no bearing on Torre’s opinion. NONE. So why should WE let it bother us, too? WHY? Not saying it’s right to conveniently ignore that little fact, but the eventual HOF manager Torre doesn’t care much about it either.

Jason @ IIATMS
14 years ago

Sorry, but Torre’s “case” has more holes than Swiss cheese. 

http://itsaboutthemoney.blogspot.com/2009/05/torre-manny-shouldnt-be-09-all-star.html

Michael
14 years ago

Torre’s a smart man, and he echoes what I’ve maintained: most average people don’t watch ESPN or listen to sports-talk radio and may not even know Manny’s suspended. They recognize his name when they see it on the ballot, and they remember that guy with the dreadlocks who hit that epic homer last time their team faced the Red Sox/Dodgers.

And here’s a theory: considering the signal-to-noise on steroids (i.e., no pundit short of maybe BP’s Will Carroll really knows what they’re talking about) it’s possible that the sports media is RESPONSIBLE for people “tuning out.”

Greg Simons
14 years ago

Hasn’t Will essentially taken the stance that we have no way to quantify what impact steroids have on baseball players?  I guess that can be considered “really know(ing) what they’re talking about,” but it doesn’t tell us anything.

Not saying I have any definitive evidence of the impact of steroids, but since they’re designed to make a person stronger and recover from injury and/or exertion, I have to think they provide some physical benefit to baseball players.

Nate
14 years ago

But what about Manny? Isn’t he missing out on a TON of coin for his suspension? Does he have a AS-clause in his contract (I suspect all Boras clients do)? Why is Torre taking food off Manny’s table? Can I put any more questions in this comment?