Hanley Ramirez mad at HBP, fans' heads explode

True, as Marlins fans we don't see much in the way of media coverage. But when Hanley Ramirez got a bit prissy about being hit by a pitch, and it followed with Fredi Gonzalez went berserker rage on the media (and likely Hanley as well), well, the stories came a' flying, or as "a' flying" as Marlins stories get. Here's fellow Marlins blog FishStripes take on the issue.

Dude, I've got news for you, you didn't hit a home run in the series and in fact you weren't even the star of the offensive for the series. Also, you were not the only one to get plunked. In fact, you are not even leading the team in hit by pitches or in home runs.

Is the "I'm going to be scared to hit a home run because I know I'm going to get hit" in chapter two of the How to be a Prima Dona Handbook?

The other part of it is, by publicly saying you are very easy to intimidate to the point you will stop trying, I can guarantee you will get hit and it won't matter how many times the Marlins retaliate, the other team will make you a target.

In the future if Ramirez has a problem he should take it up with Fredi behind close doors. It is the professional way to handle things.

Now, there are some things I can go along with on that, and some things I can't. I agree that what Hanley said was stupid, very stupid. And I also agree that it should have been kept within closed doors, within the clubhouse.

But come on. So what if he wasn't the only person hit? So what if he isn't the team's leader in HBP or home runs? So what if he wasn't the best player in the series (and in terms of Win Probability Added, he wasn't half bad)? He was one of the people hit. He felt bad about the Fish not retaliating, and whether it was right or wrong (my personal opinion is that the Marlins were right), it doesn't mean it's not a legitimate concern in the baseball world.

Let's not confuse why Hanley's comment was dumb. It wasn't dumb because he doesn't lead the team in home runs. It was dumb because saying that kind of stuff to the public media is dumb. He had every right to feel the way he did, just not to say it into the microphone for the crowd to hear.

Now FishStripes was not so harsh, the whole finger-wagging "you weren't even..." section aside. In fact, they were pretty light-handed about the affair, and I liked the way they handled it for the most part. What I haven't liked are the message board responses calling for Hanley's head and wondering why he doesn't work hard or doesn't give his full effort. From what I've seen, he's given his max effort the majority of the time. I haven't seen him dog a grounder or lazy out an infield play. He has occasionally gone into a home run trot prematurely, but what major leaguer who hits home runs hasn't done that? He's given it his all and wants to be on this team.

Honestly, we need to get off his back. He's young, he still has some maturing to do emotionally and mentally before he can handle his job as a major leaguer more seriously. Until then, we Marlins fans should be happy to see him play on the field and kind of tune out the silly things he says.