• Photo by Flickr user bbaunach
  • About the Hanley Situation

  • Seems like everyone has something to day about the Hanley Ramirez situation. Majority of views so far are critical of Hanley, probably because the video evidence doesn’t look good (appears as if he ran to the ball, kicked it, then jogged). Even Hanley essentially admitted it in his public rant:

    Did you give less than 100 percent effort?
    Ramirez: I don’t know. It looked like it. The example starts with me. If you don’t hustle, hopefully, he does it with everybody. That’s OK. He doesn’t understand that. He never played in the big leagues. That’s OK. That’s fine. That’s an example and it starts with me and let’s see how far it can go.

    Even some grown ups who have played the game – Al Leiter, Barry Larkin and Wes Helms – have criticized Hanley for his behavior. Dan Uggla expressed his frustrations last year.

    So where do we go from here? It’s going to take two things: diplomacy and maturity. Loria/Beinfest/Hill have to get involved and resolve this behind the scenes. Fredi cannot back off, he’s the Manager and cannot lose his team (managers are replaceable). In fact, he’s already presenting this as something Hanley has to resolve with his teammates, not the coaches. But none of this will work unless Hanley steps up and addresses the situation, even if it means that he has to swallow his pride. The sooner he gets there, the sooner we can get back to covering baseball and turning this season into something special.

    Note: Fredi could have done a better job keeping a lid on this situation. He’s already said too much to the Media and in many ways, it’s forcing Hanley to say the things he is as a way to protect his ego.

  • Opinion
  • All-Star Game Tonight

  • Don’t forget to watch our very own Hanley Ramirez lead-off tonight’s game. Let’s hope that Dan Uggla gets a chance to play too.

    Note: Photo above is of Hanley at bat, the last time he and the Marlins played at Yankee Stadium (2006)

  • Photos
  • Vote Early, Vote Often

  • is currently leading all National League shortstops in All-Star voting. With more than a month to go, Hanley has 268,386 votes — a ~12K vote lead over second place, and now 2-years older, Miguel Tejada of the Astros. Considering how few people show up at Joe Robbie Stadium, it looks like out-of-town fans and online voter are helping H2R make it to The Stadium. Dan Uggla is the only other Marlin in shouting distance, coming in 4th and ~412K votes behind Chase Utley.

    So do your part to help get our guys into the game by voting often (up to 25 times per email address). And even though they’re not on the radar screen, don’t forget to vote for the other Marlins including Jacque Jones who is listed as an outfielder on the American League Ballot.

  • News
  • Reconsidering the Marlins Defensive Alignment

  • Hanley RamirezA note in the Miami Herald suggests that the Marlins organization has considered moving Hanley Ramirez to centerfield but, for now, will keep him at shortstop. Hanley has probably committed a few too many errors this year. The team, though, cites Alex Gonzalez as an example of a previous young shortstop who had a few too many errors in his early years but ultimately ended up as a top-notch defensive presence.

    I have to admit that sitting through Marlins games recently, I thought quite a bit about where to position players and I suggest that down the road the Marlins consider playing Hanley at third base and moving Miguel Cabrera to first base. This will allow Alfredo Amezaga or Robert Andino to takeover shortstop and provide better defense.

    I vote that we save Hanley’s body for the long-term because he is clearly a special talent.

  • Opinion