Manny's Gone

[DodgerKing]

From a blog on today's LA Times:

In what turned out to be Manny Ramirez's last at-bat, Vin Scully, so matter-of-fact, made this of Manny's pop-up:

"[David] Eckstein goes out and calls it. That will be that. Manny goes 0 for 3."
And shortly after Fox Prime Ticket showed Dodgers Manager Joe Torre talking to Ramirez before Ramirez took off his batting helmet and walked out of the dugout, done for the night and replaced by Juan Pierre.
Which brought Scully to tell this little story of a song about an invisible man.
"There was the song, oh, gosh, a million years ago, Mr. Cellophane. The man was singing this woeful song. Nobody was aware of him, like he wasn't there. He was the invisible man. Juan Pierre said 'I am the invisible man.' Well, he is very visible right now."

That's when Pierre came into the game.

Mr. Cellophane wasn't quite a million years ago, though. It's from the Broadway musical Chicago, which debuted in 1975. Which only seems like a million years ago.
-- Diane Pucin

Vinny has a unique way of calling a game (I should say, telling a story of the moment).

 

[AntAltMike]

Well. if he could finish fourth in the NL MVP race playing just fifty-three games, how high might he finish playing in about 110 games?

 

[DodgerKing]

So much for the NY fans giving Manny a hard time. They reacted as if he was just another Dodger player that did not violate any rules.

Manny went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI and 2 Ks, before getting tossed for throwing his equipment. Both Ks were called strike threes on pitches that were not even in the neighborhood of the plate (these were pitches that were not even close to being called strikes). [thinks out-loud, "I wonder if the umps are making it more difficult for Manny because he hurt the game by cheating?"] Which of course led to Manny's ejection.

 

[salsadancer7]

So much for the NY fans giving Manny a hard time. They reacted as if he was just another Dodger player that did not violate any rules.

Manny went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI and 2 Ks, before getting tossed for throwing his equipment. Both Ks were called strike threes on pitches that were not even in the neighborhood of the plate (these were pitches that were not even close to being called strikes). [thinks out-loud, "I wonder if the umps are making it more difficult for Manny because he hurt the game by cheating?"] Which of course led to Manny's ejection.

I saw that yesterday and it was a joke. A 3rd strike that you could not hit with a cello, much less a bat. He didn't say anything, gave him a brief look and walked away. Threw over his shoulder, his elbo guard SOMEWHERE IN THE VICINITY of home plate....and the got tossed.

It pisses me off to no end how officials wanna be a part of the game. Once heard by a commentator that the BEST officiated game is the ones that you do not even know the umpires/refs are even there....they are invisible.

 

[DodgerKing]

I saw that yesterday and it was a joke. A 3rd strike that you could not hit with a cello, much less a bat. He didn't say anything, gave him a brief look and walked away. Threw over his shoulder, his elbo guard SOMEWHERE IN THE VICINITY of home plate....and the got tossed.

It pisses me off to no end how officials wanna be a part of the game. Once heard by a commentator that the BEST officiated game is the ones that you do not even know the umpires/refs are even there....they are invisible.

The ump wasn't even looking. He didn't even see him throw anything. He just looked down and saw his elbow guard laying near home and then tossed him out.

To be fair to the ump. He was calling a lot of those pitches, way off the plate, for strikes. The tossing of Manny, however, was an overreaction on his part.

Here is the video. Click on the bottom middle video tag once on the page.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5466971&c_id=la