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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Jerry Manuel pitches in to help David Wright’s hitting

No, Jerry Manuel wasn’t glad he had to make a point about his authority as manager one batter into his first game at the helm.

Manuel met resistance from a helmet-tossing Jose Reyes on Tuesday night, when the shortstop’s left hamstring tightened and he didn’t want to leave the game. Reyes eventually headed for the showers, and shortly afterward apologized to Manuel for the well-intentioned insubordination.

“I told him next time he does that I’m going to get my blade out and cut him. I’m a gangster. You go gangster on me, I’m going to have to get you. You do that again, I’m going to cut you right on the field,” quipped Manuel, who reinserted Reyes at shortstop and the leadoff spot for last night’s series finale against the Angels.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: June 19, 2008 at 05:36 PM | 17 comment(s)
  Related News: GeneralNY Mets

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   1. Bobby Bonilla's Annuity (Matt)  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 07:32 PM (#2826396)
I told him next time he does that I’m going to get my blade out and cut him. I’m a gangster. You go gangster on me, I’m going to have to get you. You do that again, I’m going to cut you right on the field.

Um. OK?
   2. PH  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 07:37 PM (#2826403)
I told him next time he does that I’m going to get my blade out and cut him. I’m a gangster. You go gangster on me, I’m going to have to get you. You do that again, I’m going to cut you right on the field.

Um. OK?

It's a Gandhi saying.
   3. Neil Kinnock...Lord Palmerston! (Orinoco)  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 07:45 PM (#2826418)
Ozzie approves.
   4. Al Kaline Trio  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 08:23 PM (#2826513)
Then they spoke street Spanish and laughed it off over a couple of cervezas.
   5. billyshears  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 08:49 PM (#2826587)
The article also relays this interesting tidbit:

Manuel spent his second afternoon as interim manager working David Wright to near-exhaustion. Roughly 4-1/2 hours before Wednesday night's first pitch, Manuel rapidly fired balls to the plate during a session that lasted three times longer than a typical early workout by Wright's estimate.

It paid off, as Wright delivered the game-tying single in the ninth inning off Francisco Rodriguez, driving in Reyes with his third run of the game. That allowed Damion Easley to win it, 5-4, with a homer in the 10th.

The extra tutoring session's theme: becoming more selective at the plate.

After beginning the session by having Wright swing at every pitch regardless of location, Manuel had Wright identify the part of the plate where he preferred to hit a pitch. Manuel placed a ball on the plate at that location, then had Wright identify the height of the pitch he preferred. Manuel then returned to behind a protective pitcher's screen and forced Wright to increase his selectivity by having him swing at pitches only in the zone he identified.
   6. STEROIDS!!!!!  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 08:53 PM (#2826595)
I told him next time he does that I’m going to get my blade out and cut him. I’m a gangster. You go gangster on me, I’m going to have to get you. You do that again, I’m going to cut you right on the field.


[insert Lastings Milledge joke]
   7. Chris Dial  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 09:14 PM (#2826624)
The article also relays this interesting tidbit:
I missed Willie working with the guys like this.
   8. Шĥy  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 09:26 PM (#2826631)
I missed Willie working with the guys like this.

Shouldn't Manuel have been doing this before if he thought Wright needed it? He was a coach. This is something coaches should do not necessarily managers. I'm guessing he purposely planned this.

“I told him next time he does that I’m going to get my blade out and cut him. I’m a gangster. You go gangster on me, I’m going to have to get you. You do that again, I’m going to cut you right on the field,” quipped Manuel

How is this a quip? This is really disturbing regardless of context.
   9. Freeballin'  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 09:48 PM (#2826642)
Then they spoke street Spanish and laughed it off over a couple of cervezas.


Manuel's not hispanic. I know, crazy isn't it?
   10. Robert Machemer  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 10:33 PM (#2826660)
Shouldn't Manuel have been doing this before if he thought Wright needed it? He was a coach. This is something coaches should do not necessarily managers. I'm guessing he purposely planned this.
Maybe, maybe not. It could be that he thought of the above but didn't want to take initiative without consulting his boss (doing so might step on the toes of Randolph and the hitting coach), so he went to Randolph with his idea and Randolph decided not to follow up. This may not be what happened, but it's a reasonable alternative to your suggestion. Just because we didn't hear about Manuel's approaching Randolph or Johnson with his idea doesn't mean he didn't. (Also doesn't mean he did, of course).
   11. Robert Machemer  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 10:40 PM (#2826664)
How is this a quip? This is really disturbing regardless of context.
Eh, if you picture him doing it in his best "Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante" impression, one can imagine its being acceptable (depending on your views on Jaime Escalante's teaching techniques as presented in Stand and Deliver). People say a lot of awful things to other people under the context of "you know me well enough to know I'm not serious." As is pointed out in 12 Angry Men, not every "I'll kill you" has to be sincere and literally understood.
   12. Justin T  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 10:52 PM (#2826671)
Manuel's not hispanic. I know, crazy isn't it?

Don't get on ETCITNJM's case. Hell, Minaya probably doesn't even know or he would have given Manuel the axe.
   13. Chris Dial  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 10:56 PM (#2826674)
Uh, what Machemer said - in 10 and 11.
   14. Robert Machemer  Posted: June 19, 2008 at 11:10 PM (#2826685)
I love the DH.

(Said to convince anyone who needs convincing that I am not Chris Dial's sock puppet, nor he mine).
   15. Al Kaline Trio  Posted: June 20, 2008 at 01:12 AM (#2826721)
#9
Tambien no soy latino pero puedo hablar en espanol de los calles. Si quieres luchar voy a decir simone essay! Ahhh hahahahaha!!!
   16. living legend  Posted: June 20, 2008 at 11:16 AM (#2827018)
#15
You're going to wrestle an essay in the street?
   17. Robert Machemer  Posted: June 20, 2008 at 11:40 AM (#2827071)
#16
Thanks. I was proud to have figured out that the first sentence read, "Eating no soy, the Latino Peter Parker watches an ESPN of the Californias," but the second sentence was stumping me.
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