BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Bill Plaschke: Manny did the time, but what about the crime?

Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Bill Plaschke: Manny did the time, but what about the crime?

Here’s guessing he won’t be so beloved next month if he’s batting .220 or battling hamstring injuries.

It was hard to tell much from Friday’s four plate appearances and five innings in the field.

The entire night was reminiscent of the constant scene around the San Francisco Giants several years ago.

A player was bigger than the game. A drug issue elicited more responses than the score. The buzz was initially interesting and fun, but later bulky and onerous.

On a night when Manny Ramirez was supposed to return as a shamed drug cheat, he actually created a stir befitting the greatest home run hitter in baseball history.

All you Dodgers fans who secretly coveted Barry Bonds?

You got him.

sigh.

Tripon Posted: July 04, 2009 at 01:46 PM | 26 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: dodgers, rumors, steroids

Reader Comments and Retorts

Go to end of page

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

1. akrasian Posted: July 04, 2009 at 02:39 PM (#3242036)

Guillermo Mota came in the bottom of the sixth inning, stopped a Padres rally, and pitched 1.2 perfect innings.

Mota has served a 50 game suspension for steroids.

Not a word from the hypocrite Plaschke about Mota shaming the game.

2. Tripon Posted: July 04, 2009 at 02:44 PM (#3242038)

Mota got his ERA down to 3.93 after yesterday's game. It was at 9.00 even on May 17th when he gave up 4 runs on a grand slam.

How is this ####### possible?

3. Tricky Dick Posted: July 04, 2009 at 02:51 PM (#3242041)

A player was bigger than the game. A drug issue elicited more responses than the score.

And Bill Plaschke didn't contribute to this? I mean, really, these guys who write column after column about Manny's drug violation and then write columns lambasting the uproar that surrounds Manny when he plays...why isn't the contradiction apparent?

4. akrasian Posted: July 04, 2009 at 02:53 PM (#3242042)

How is this ####### possible?

Yeah, one run allowed in his last 18 appearances (totalling 21.2 innings pitched) will do that. Ten hits allowed, 3 walks, and 17 ks during that time. I'll take it.

5. Forsch 10 From Navarone (Dayn)

Posted: July 04, 2009 at 03:07 PM (#3242051)

Here’s guessing he won’t be so beloved next month if he’s batting .220 or battling hamstring injuries.

Breaking news: Fans tend to cheer players who are performing well, and they tend not to cheer players who are performing poorly. Thank God Plaschke is here to solve this enduring mystery.

6. Rough Carrigan

Posted: July 04, 2009 at 03:37 PM (#3242059)

And is Manny keeping his eye on the sparrow?

7. nycfan Posted: July 04, 2009 at 03:42 PM (#3242061)

How is it that a person who writes for a living doesn't understand the concept of paragraphs?

8. Bob T Posted: July 04, 2009 at 03:57 PM (#3242067)

Mota pitched against Eliezer Alfonzo!

Oh the humanity!

9. Justin 'The Cespedobear' T Posted: July 04, 2009 at 04:10 PM (#3242071)

And in the yard where Clay Hensley pitched to Barry Bonds!

Mr. Moorad, tear down this park!

10. Bitter Calculus Instructor Posted: July 04, 2009 at 04:21 PM (#3242075)

All you Dodgers fans who secretly coveted Barry Bonds?

Secretly coveted Bonds? There was nothing secret about it. Right after the suspension there were Dodger fans buying tickets to the July 3 game ready to go down south to San Diego to see Manny's return. People were publicly excited for the big date.

11. tfbg9 Posted: July 04, 2009 at 04:22 PM (#3242076)

sigh.

Don't 'sigh", but instead reply?:

bill.plaschke@latimes.com

12. Shock Posted: July 04, 2009 at 05:15 PM (#3242096)

You might do more by emailing the sports editor:

randy.harvey@latimes.com

13. Baseball-Birthdays.com Posted: July 04, 2009 at 05:21 PM (#3242101)

Bill Plaschke's middle name is Homer.

14. Bitter Calculus Instructor Posted: July 04, 2009 at 05:42 PM (#3242120)

[13] He should title an article "Manny's Odyssey"

15. Shock Posted: July 04, 2009 at 05:44 PM (#3242123)

Manny's odd, is he?

16. Matt Welch Posted: July 04, 2009 at 05:52 PM (#3242133)

You might do more by emailing the sports editor:

randy.harvey@latimes.com

Randy Harvey was just promoted. No, seriously.

17. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: July 04, 2009 at 06:22 PM (#3242169)

Go ahead and email the editor. He loves feedback that Plaschke's antics bring eyeballs to his site.

18. PreservedFish Posted: July 04, 2009 at 06:26 PM (#3242173)

Go ahead and email the editor. He loves feedback that Plaschke's antics bring eyeballs to his site.

To me, this ranks up there with the world's most annoying arguments.

19. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: July 04, 2009 at 06:31 PM (#3242176)

Ok. Click on the link, email the editor, and otherwise bring glory to Plaschke.

20. Bitter Calculus Instructor Posted: July 04, 2009 at 06:59 PM (#3242191)

Manny's odd, is he?

His jersey number is anyway. 99=2k+1 for some integer k (specifically, k=49).

21. Srul Itza Posted: July 04, 2009 at 08:20 PM (#3242233)

Here’s guessing he won’t be so beloved next month if he’s batting .220 or battling hamstring injuries.

Second game back, first inning: Boom.

22. nick swisher hygiene Posted: July 04, 2009 at 09:34 PM (#3242292)

The eyeballs argument is annoying, yeah, but does anybody doubt its validity?

I mean, sports is soft news. As long as a sportswriter doesn't libel anyone, the only criterion a paper would judge them by is readership. Five admiring, careful readers are nice; but two ######## and eight reasonable people who read and are outraged/bored are exactly twice as good.

23. PreservedFish Posted: July 04, 2009 at 10:06 PM (#3242311)

the only criterion a paper would judge them by is readership.

But this isn't true. It is, perhaps, the most important criterion, but it isn't absolute. Writers aren't monkeys trained only to stir up controversy. They are supposed to produce quality journalism, which engenders brand-loyalty and strengthens credibility. And they are supposed to get people talking positively about their work, not negatively. If all of the angry emails to Plaschke's editor also included the line, "I will never again read your paper," do you think he's going to be stoked that there is going to be a miniscule uptick in revenue from GoogleAds?

24. Non-Youkilidian Geometry Posted: July 05, 2009 at 03:28 AM (#3242381)

If all of the angry emails to Plaschke's editor also included the line, "I will never again read your paper," do you think he's going to be stoked that there is going to be a miniscule uptick in revenue from GoogleAds?

Quite possibly, because he will (a) assume that for every person who e-mailed, there is a much larger group of people who didn't bother to write but who will come back tomorrow to see what that jerk Plaschke is saying now, and (b) assume that most of the "I will never again read your paper" crowd are lying.

They are supposed to produce quality journalism, which engenders brand-loyalty and strengthens credibility. And they are supposed to get people talking positively about their work, not negatively.

This is probably true with respect to news coverage, but I think it is much less true in the case of columnists (particularly in the sports section). In general, I expect newspapers strongly prefer controversial columnists who get attention over columnists who get ignored.

25. DLew On Roids Posted: July 05, 2009 at 03:46 AM (#3242385)

Plaschke is getting tiresome. He needs to up the ante by moving into a tub and switching to a diet of onions.

26. Dr Stankus and the Semicolons Posted: July 06, 2009 at 06:13 PM (#3243423)

Plaschke is getting tiresome. He needs to up the ante by moving into a tub and switching to a diet of onions.

If anyone looks like they are already on this regimen, it is Plaschke.

Huh, Plaschke is an interesting name. It has a 'ch' right in between an 's' and a 'k'.

You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.

<< Back to main

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Bill Plaschke: Manny did the time, but what about the crime?

Reader Comments and Retorts

Support BBTF

Bookmarks

Hot Topics