You might recall that recently, Florida Marlins superstar Hanley Ramirez caused a bit of a ruckus when he practically crawled while chasing a ball in the outfield. Afterward, he stirred the pot even more by refusing to apologize and brushing off his manager’s criticisms by declaring, “He never played in the big leagues.”
Yikes. Normally, I would say the media drastically overreacted to this situation. For the most part, in this day and age, everything gets blown way out of proportion.
But this time, I don’t mind the media bashing Ramirez took. In fact, he should have gotten slammed even harder.
To be clear, Ramirez is not the first, nor will he be the last person in baseball to fail the
“hustling” part of the exam. Pretty much every player jogs out a groundball or admires a home run at the plate before they’re sure it’s gone. It’s become a symptom of baseball. What Ramirez did was just a more blatant and disrespectful form of what all players do from time to time. And that is where the real point of this column comes in.
Humans in general are lazier than ever at this point in history. Thus, I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that baseball players have, in turn, become more and more sluggish. But that doesn’t make it any more acceptable.
I, for one, am sick of watching players who get paid millions essentially walk to first base on a groundball. Let’s be real, it’s not like we’re asking much of these guys. Ninety percent of the time they spend at the ballpark, whether they’re on the diamond or in the dugout, the most physically demanding thing they do is adjust their cup or tie their shoes.
So when a ball is actually hit in play, whether they’re the runner or chasing after it on defense, how can these players not give their all? After all, we’re talking about professional athletes. You’d think they would actually want to run around after spending so much time kicking up dust.
Unfortunately, this is the reality of professional baseball these days. Hanley Ramirez will make $7 million this year, all of it guaranteed. Who’s to stop him from doing whatever he wants on the field, no matter how much it hurts the team? He was back in the lineup just two days after the incident and has hit .350 since his return. It looks like, so long as he continues to produce all-star numbers, Ramirez will be able to get away with just about anything with little punishment.
The Ramirez incident should serve as a tipping point of sorts, a moment in baseball’s long history when dogging it on the field finally comes to an end.
How, you might ask, could MLB commissioner Bud Selig possibly make this happen? Well, for starters he could get off his ass for once and actually be proactive in protecting the sanctity of a game he claims to love. We all remember how he reacted to steroids, or rather, how he pretended they didn’t exist until it was too late.
I say that baseball institute some ground rules. If it is ruled that you blatantly failed to show anything resembling hustle on a play in the field or on the base paths, you are immediately fined and suspended without pay for four games. Why four? Honestly, because I made it up off the top of my head. But it sounds about right.
The size of the fine and length of suspension are increased for repeat offenders. Think of it like flagrant fouls in basketball. The league reviews the tape and decides if extra punishment should be doled out accordingly.
I don’t see how this would be so hard to do. Of course, there’s no way Selig will
actually do this. He’s immune to good ideas.
But there’s a reason baseball’s attendance numbers drop every year. The game isn’t inherently exciting. The good majority of fans come to enjoy the sunshine and toss back a few, all while enjoying baseball at its highest level. And what Ramirez displayed last week was not baseball at its highest level. I’d rather watch Little Leaguers run around for three hours. At least they try.
So the ball is in your court, Selig. I hope you prove me wrong.
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