Hanley Ramirez dogs it 5/20/2010

Here's some Baseball Notes 5/20/2010 which will fill in for the Weekdays Review Part I and Preview Part II:

Hanley Ramirez: The star short stop of the Florida Marlins (22-19) was benched by manager Fredi Gonzalez in Monday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks (17-24) for jogging after a ball he kicked in the outfield and not hustling. Afterward, Ramirez refused to apologize for the incident and said he was going all out but couldn't go faster because of an injury. Considering he didn't receive any treatment before or after the game, that seems far-fetched.

And after watching the replay, he sure didn't look like he was doing anything close to hustling on the play. He said he lost a lot of respect for Gonzalez and noted that his manager didn't even play in the major leagues. Of course it's ridiculous to insinuate that Gonzalez isn't capable of managing for that reason. People can know a lot about the game without having played in the majors and can still teach others a thing or two. Ramirez just made himself look ridiculous with that statement and I was glad to see Gonzalez kept him out of the line up on Tuesday.

Ramirez offered something of an apology Wednesday, but it seemed like the way he said it he was just sorry it had gotten so much attention, not sorry for what he did. Of course I, like radio host Jim Rome, don't think Ramirez really wrote the apology anyway. Ramirez, though probably one of the at least 10 to 15 most talented players in the game, appears to be egotistical and self-centered. With all that talent, my hope is that he starts playing the game the right way and with the right attitude.

For the Review: The Texas Rangers (23-18) took a pair from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (19-23) in an early season AL West showdown. I still think the Angels will play better, but it looks like the Rangers are going to stick around for a while. The Cincinnati Reds (23-17) took a pair from the Milwaukee Brewers (15-25) to remain in first place in the NL Central despite tonight's loss to the Atlanta Braves (20-20) who were aided by a game-winning hit from rookie prodigy Jason Heyward. The Boston Red Sox (21-20) split a pair with the New York Yankees (25-15) in a wild two game series in the Bronx.

For the Second Half of Weekday Games: The Tampa Bay Rays (29-11) took the opener from the New York Yankees in the Bronx tonight 10-6. It's a match up of AL East heavyweights and I'd recommend catching the finale tomorrow on MLB Network at 5 p.m. MT. The Rays are looking awfully good and showed it again tonight. The San Diego Padres (24-16) thankfully snapped the nine game winning streak of the Los Angeles Dodgers (22-18) tonight by winning 10-5 at Dodger Stadium. It's good to see the Dodgers cool off a bit, but it looks like they're going to be a presence in the division.The second game is tomorrow night at 8:10 p.m. MT on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Kansas City (16-25)-Cleveland (15-23) and Milwaukee (15-25)-Pittsburgh (18-22) are probably the two worst series.

San Francisco Giants (22-17) Update: The Giants finally beat the Padres last night in one in 12 innings last night to win for the first time in eight tries against San Diego this season. I agree with Bruce Bochy in that the win was big for the team's psyche. Since the Giants don't play the Padres for a while, it's good that they have at least one win against them for morale purposes. Matt Downs had 2 RBI in the 12th in helping build a three run lead that Brian Wilson was just able to hold on to. I liked Bochy's quote after the game that some day Wilson will be able to walk by his grave and say that he helped put Bochy there. Funny stuff. Wilson definitely has had the flair for the dramatic lately. The Giants got smoked 13-1 tonight in Phoenix by the Diamondbacks. I guess everyone gets blown out every once in a while. Freddy Sanchez made his season debut at second base and went 0-4. Here's hoping that his return from the disabled list will be followed shortly by success. Downs moves to the bench, but I like how much promise he had been showing. Tim Lincecum goes tomorrow against the Snakes, so that's always good. Game time is 7:40 p.m. MT and is available on Fox Sports Arizona and for those of you not in my area on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.