The Johns Do Not Like Manny Ramirez

First, a strike three call (on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded) courtesy of home plate umpire John Hershbeck...




Clearly outside, which let to Manny's protest and subsequent ejection from the game, which let to this rant from ESPN's John Kruk...

"The objection of Manny Ramirez, to me, makes absolutely no sense. Look, if the Los Angeles Dodgers are gonna win that division, and they're gonna go deep in the playoffs they need Manny Ramirez at his best. He had a chance to play ten games in the minor leagues instead he elected to just play five. He had to sit out Sunday's game against the San Diego Padres because he had a little bit of a leg issue. He needs to play more games. To get thrown out when he needs at bats, he needs to get his timing, and he needs to play the outfield to prove to Joe Torre that he's ready to play nine innings...and he gets thrown out in the fifth inning of the game against the New York Mets. It makes no sense. It just goes back to a lot of the stuff that happened in Boston last year. All he care about is himself, he doesn't care about the team, and whatever's best for Manny is best for Manny, and not what's best to help his team win."

Wow. Everyone's on the moral train. I'm pretty sure Manny cared about the terrible call which hurt HIS TEAM. As for going nine full innings, Torre frequently pulled Manny "pre-incident" in late innings for defensive replacements anyway. Plus, it's July dude. Get over it.