The Trolley Dodger

It’s been a while since I subscribed to the paper version of the LA Times, but there are occasions that I miss it, particularly on Sunday mornings when there’s nothing like relaxing with a big newspaper.

That said, if I were planning on resubscribing, I would scrap those plans after the recent irresponsible character assassination of Dodger Marcus Thames by TJ Simers. If I had a subscription, I’d consider canceling it.

No responsible journalist acts that way. No responsible person acts that way. That the LA Times continues to allow this behavior under its banner means they either don’t care or are more concerned with pageviews than doing the right thing.

This is hardly the first time Simers has acted irresponsibly (probably not even the first time this week), but enough’s enough.

Simers and Bill Plaschke’s (whose “writing” exploits have often been chronicled on this blog) continued presence in a sports page that used to host the best in the business is just wrong. Akin to Vin Scully being replaced by Howard Stern. I don’t know Marcus Thames from Adam, but even if there were some “there” there, some story to tell, Simers’ approach should be grounds for being banned from the clubhouse.

See also “T.J. Simers’ Unnecessarily Cruel Hatchet Job on Marcus Thames” from The Big Lead.

1. Pick a topic that will cause controversy. Say, Manny Ramirez’s drug suspension.
2. Come up with a gimmick to bring in the links and hits. Say, “…I’m giving my World Series tickets this year to the person who writes my favorite 50-word sermon to Ramirez.”
3. Get Bill Plaschke to ghost-write your column for you.
4. Edit Bill’s first draft to increase the moral indignation and delete some of the carriage returns.
5. Publish column and watch the hits roll in.

I would expect more out of Steve Lopez. Unfortunately, he decided to take the easy way out. Loafing his way across the outfield, as it were.

Maybe it’s the vicodin talking, but this whole scheme strikes me as insincere. If you felt that bad about buying those tickets (and somehow calculating you were supporting Manny by doing so), how about donating those tainted tickets to be auctioned off for charity? You could even make it a steroid-awareness organization if you felt like making a real statement.

Think about how much of a bigger splash you could have made by doing things that way. You’d get all kinds of press online and in the real world. Plus you’d be making a difference about a cause that you apparently care a lot about. And getting even more of those precious hits and links.

Something to mull over in the next columnist meeting.

Hey, Plaschke — remember when you were saying that Manny didn’t deign to acknowledge his fans on his first game back in Dodger Stadium? You wrote a big article about it, “Manny Ramirez shows little gratitude to his fans”, on July 17th.

Let me refresh your memory:

The citizens showed up early in hopes that the mayor would come out early to greet them.

He didn’t.

The citizens began cheering as he ran out for the start of the game in hopes that the mayor would acknowledge them.

He wouldn’t.

The citizens chanted his name as he finished his first warm-up tosses in hopes that the mayor would at least throw them the ball.

He threw it in the left-field stands instead.

After blowing off honesty, accountability and one-third of the season, Manny Ramirez did something more egregious in his return to Dodger Stadium on Thursday.

He blew off Mannywood.

In the first inning of his first appearance in a left-field corner adorned with the “Mannywood 99″ banner and filled with hundreds of loving fans who paid a premium for their proximity, Ramirez acted as if none of it existed.

Talk about splitting hairs. Of course, you don’t have a bias about this story, do you, Bill?

No, of course you don’t.

Trying to spin his first appearance back in left field like he blew off his fans (the “official” Mannywood or not) is just wrong.

Stick with the mascots, Bill. I think you found your calling in Lake Elsinore.

Update: I missed Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness catching this on Friday. I enjoyed their post title: “Bill Plaschke Lies to You and Hates Dodger Stadium”. :)

Considering how much consternation that Manny, Dodger fans, and Dodger Stadium are causing Bill Plaschke, he might be better off just skipping the games. For both his sanity and ours.

The stuff he writes when he does attend has so little to do with what’s going on down on the field that there’s really no point in him being there. (Unless it’s for the free press box Dodger Dogs.) If he insists on “covering” the team, he might well just stay home.

Thank goodness Bill Plaschke has been distracted by the Lakers playoffs this past week. Let’s hope the Lakers go all the way, if for no other reason than to keep him preoccupied and away from Dodger Stadium.

For those just tuning in, Plaschke submitted a diatribe 10 days ago, in which he lambasted Dodger fans for getting on with their lives without Manny Ramirez, calling them no better than San Francisco Giants followers. Them’s fightin’ words.

Today came an article by Randy Cohen in the NY Times, “Is Manny Ramirez Really All That Bad?”, in which the reverse of Plaschke’s “tar and feathering isn’t good enough for Manny” argument is opined:

If we admire athletes who work hard to improve their play, then why do we damn those who do just that with the use of banned substances?

Fellow commenter “Hollywood Joe” and I got into a conversation about that piece in this thread on Dodger Thoughts. My take is that Cohen skirts around what to me is the core issue — taking PEDs is against the rules of baseball. And moreover, it’s rude. :) I wrote,

Baseball is an all-too human activity masquerading (at least for some folks in the fourth estate) as a religion. The imperfect human story is always more entertaining than the flawless saint’s. If every game pitched were perfect or every hit a home run, then it ceases to be interesting. This is why I don’t play sports video games on rookie mode once I’m used to the controls.

This is also why gaining an advantage via an activity that is against the rules sullies the game, at least to me. It becomes a less entertaining game, even if the subject itself is more interesting. Cheat codes are maybe fun once or twice, to continue the metaphor, but making a habit of them while playing with friends is unsporting.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I enjoy baseball less because of the rampant PED usage. The sport is more than just the game, and the reasons to watch it are more complicated than just faceless automatons throwing, catching, and hitting mechanically.

It’s the human side that adds depth to watching sports. Otherwise, you might as well just flip a coin and be done with it. The stories are what keep me entertained over the course of a long season. Not a soap opera, but the drama of a marathon grind.

Will Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and the other “kids” continue their maturation into the ballplayers we think they can be?

Will the pitching staff keep it together with Hiroki Kuroda out, or will they fold under the pressure?

Does Jonathan Broxton have what it takes to be a closer?

Will Manny Ramirez be himself when he returns in July?

Can the team go all the way this year and erase 21 years of futility?

I continued in my comments,

To use an ESPN favorite, Derek Jeter’s “classiness” is much less of a big deal without A-Rod’s soap opera on the team as a counterpoint. :)

Doesn’t mean I condone A-Rod’s behavior — I don’t get why, with his innate talents, he felt the need to get even more of an advantage. And that question makes him way more fascinating of a character than the manufactured facade he worked so hard to maintain.

And none of this requires burning him, Manny, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, or Bonds at the stake. People like Plaschke who are seemingly more interested in making sure they get back on “Around the Horn” are worse for baseball than Manny or A-Rod.

As a postscript, I feel as if I should reiterate what I said in my 5/9 post: I like Bill Plaschke. When he’s on, he can be a great sportswriter who shines a light on that human drama like few others in his field.

Let’s hope the Lakers keep him busy for a while.