Maddon and Zimmer answer back
-
- March
- 9
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon and Joe Girardi seem to have agreed to disagree over what happened yesterday:
“I was a little bit surprised and I answered it the way I wanted to answer it,” Maddon said to Rays writers when told that Girardi was upset about the incident at home plate. “I just want to let it set right there. This does not deserve any legs. It was an issue that occurred yesterday in a game, it was a hard baseball play. The issue is based on whether you should do that in spring training or not. So it’s a philosophical difference.”
Maddon then made light of the situation when asked whether he and Girardi needed to talk about what happened.
“I like Joe. I’ve always liked Joe. If he would like to have a conversation, I’d like to talk about politics, I’m good with global warming; I’m good with a lot of different topics on a daily basis. I like iTunes, I download some stuff off iTunes, I like different restaurants; I like red wine. I have a lot of different areas I can go conversationally.’’
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay advisor Don Zimmer also had something to say.
“When I picked up the paper this morning I was dumfounded,” he said. “You block the plate. What happens if our man slides in with plate being blocked and breaks his leg? I am surprised that Girardi went after it the way he did. The plate was blocked and our guy bowled him over. What’s that got to do with spring training? That’s the way you play the game.”
A few enterprising New York reporters went over to ask a neutral party, Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire, what he thought.
Gardenhire said such a play is not the norm for spring training but he can understand how it happens.
“It’s instinctive,” he said. “But you’re sad to see somebody get hurt like that in spring training.”
Gardenhire said he doesn’t put on any contact plays in spring training or bring his infield in. He also warns his third base coach not to take any unnecessary risks that could result in collisions.
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on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
I still side with Girardi on this one. A tough play, but there are ways to avoid the collision in Spring Training.
Pete – thanks for providing us with the neutral third party view. Gardenhire seems like a decent guy. I hate Joe Madden now.
“I like Joe. I’ve always liked Joe. If he would like to have a conversation, I’d like to talk about politics, I’m good with global warming; I’m good with a lot of different topics on a daily basis. I like iTunes, I download some stuff off iTunes, I like different restaurants; I like red wine. I have a lot of different areas I can go conversationally.”
A young kid tried to prove himself and broke another kid’s wriest in spring training. Fine, chalk it up to eagerness and lack of experience. Let’s move on. But Maddon is the manager, he should know better and show some class. This quote here from him tells me that he’s a bit of a prick.
Ok, Maddon. On Wednesday, if any Yankee gets to third, Joe T should pinch-run Chris Britton and tell him the catcher is hiding some cupcakes.
IF the roles were to be reversed, Maddon and Zimmer would be ticked off about the play.
no way, he blocked the plate which caused the collision. joe should tell them not to block the plate if he doesnt want collisions. zim is right.
In seriousness, I just hope that some promising young Yankee pitcher doesn’t decide that it’s his place to retaliate and wind up starting a brawl or getting suspended or something.
It’s really too bad that it happened. No knock on Cervelli but it is a good thing that it was not Posada.
It is good to see Girardi showing emotion and expressing his feelings. That is something I felt that Torre was lacking.
LOL at whozat’s cupcake comment:-)
For anyone with DirecTV, the game is on channel 641 (FSN North). Lousy camera angle though. You really have to strain to see how Phil is working his pitches.
Nice hit by Shelly, though, after that ‘cat-like’ jump on the liner to first.
Screw them.
“no way, he blocked the plate which caused the collision. joe should tell them not to block the plate if he doesnt want collisions. zim is right.”
There is merit in that argument. Honestly, who was supposed to blink? The catcher challenged the runner by blocking the plate. Was the runner charging from 3d supposed to concede the out because it was ST and the plate was blocked?
Nobody’s happy Cervelli got hurt, but maybe Girardi still has a few things to learn about the differences between being a manager and a player.
IMO, Zimmer just lost a little street cred with me. So be it.
Maddon’s response certainly will do little to lighten things. Fine. The Yankees needed something to inspire their play against Tampa who they have in recent times seemed to lack intensity and to play unfocused under Capt. Bigelow.
This situation is an opportunity for Girardi to earn points with the team…”all for one”. If Joe was on the other side, he would have wanted Johnson to do exactly what he did.
I can agree that it’s a hit and these things happen but my biggest problems are with Maddon and some of the people here. As an ex-catcher YES I got hit (still feeling some in my 30’s). Johnson was trying to make the team but looking at the play it’s something that shouldn’t have been done in ST. But there are instincts and these things happen.
Maddon comes off looking like an idiot for seeming uncaring and then his comments about talking politics and i-Pods with Joe G.
My other problem is with the people here saying “Cervelli shouldn’t have blocked the plate”. Uhh, excuse me…the reason people don’t block any other base is because home is the only one that you SCORE AT!!! When I was learning to catch my coaches pushed the concept of “My House”. What was basically told is you (the catcher) are going to be invaded/broken into…protect it as such. Yes the runner has possession of the base path but the catcher has possession of that base and ANY catcher who doesn’t protect it as “his house” WILL NOT make it to the majors.
Bottom line it was uncalled for in ST and Maddon looks like a a**. Just my opinion…but unlike some of the other people who posted that Cervelli was wrong…I at least played the position for six years.
Just standing up for my fellow backstops!
Bottom Line is Gardenhire does not have a dog in the hunt and he thought it was a horsedung play.
Of course, Maddon & Zim will defend their player, but no one should get hurt in ST on a contact play. Period. The ball came in way ahead of the runner and he knew he was OUT, to bowl over the catcher late in a ST game your team is already winning is uncalled for. It wasn’t a bang-bang play.
All that crap talk about i-pods is to deflect the truth that it was a bonehead move by an inexperienced minor leaguer and a dumb manager.
This is Girardi’s fault. He should have instructed all of his catchers to avoid blocking the plate during spring training (Posada could give them all pointers about this – he is very good at it). If the games are as meaningless as Girardi as blathers on about why doesn`t he manage them that way.
By coming on out on the offensive like that he is trying to deflect criticism for not preparing his catchers properly and showing what an unprepared idiot he is.
The play was on the visitor’s side of the field. The question remains as to why the Rays 3rd base coach or Maddon himself didn’t holler to Johnson to hook slide. They could have almost whispered it.
Maddon may have opened up a can or worms for his own team around the league as other teams watch what he has his team do on the basepaths.
Pete, can you ask Joe Maddon if you can watch his team practicing bowling over his catchers. If it’s just a “baseball play” as he calls it, then he must prepare his players for it with drills in spring training. To not prepare his players to do it properly would be rather unprofessional and we all know how professional the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are known to be.
Maybe they practice taking out the 2nd baseman and SS at the same time.
I’d like to see a play at the plate involving Shelley Duncan and Navarro. Or better yet, Duncan taking out Iwamura at 2nd, breaking up a double play.
Is there any doubt that Maddon brings his “C” squad and leaves all his regulars at “home”? What else would anybody expect of a guy who hides in his office so he doesn’t have to talk to the big bad NY media. No offense Pete.
whozat March 9th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Ok, Maddon. On Wednesday, if any Yankee gets to third, Joe T should pinch-run Chris Britton and tell him the catcher is hiding some cupcakes.
Was that a slip? Joe T?
Joe G.
At least even though Joe is very angry, it appears he made it clear to his players that he doesn’t want them doing anything stupid that might get them hurt. I don’t want someone going out there playing hero and getting themselves hurt. It won’t help anyone.
zimmer needs to shut the f up. he still is upset at the yanks for getting rid of his tired drunk and embarassing butt from years ago. his act played well for a while here but hes riding off of his act from 8 years ago. go spend some time with torre in LA…oh i forgot, you are so indispensable to him that he has left you high and dry as a caricature of y9ur former self in tampa bay.
What the hell is Zimmer talking about ? Until Pete Rose did it, you didn’t run over the catcher. To say that’s “the way the game is played” is simply not historically true. It’s fairly new for the game, it sure as hell doesn’t need to be done in spring training.
The best way to claim AL East tilte is to beat other teams out of the race. One catcher down, four more to go.