Harping on Hanley

It’s still Spring Training. There’s still nothing real going on. But, as expected, that hasn’t stopped reporters from reporting on anything they can think of.

Like Hanley Ramirez.

It happens sometimes when the media has their stories written before getting to Florida. Hanley was going to be their focus. Just like people decided in 2007 that Dice-K was going to be the focus, and started reporting on the number of strikes he threw in batting practice.

Hanley’s transition to first base was going to be the story. The media had made his transition to left field the story almost all last year. So, the move to first base allowed them to practically use the exact same stories. He wasn’t trying to learn the position. He was lazy. He did want to try.

But, they hit a snag.

He was trying. He was asking to get more practice. He was staying late and arriving early. Their story was going up in flames. So, they did the next best thing. They wrote the opposite story. 

Hanley is working hard! Praise the lord, he was working hard! See, haters, he does care! Look at him take grounders!

Of course, as with any story, it only last so long before the other angle shows up. In this case, as the EEIdiots were harping on yesterday, it’s the “why is working hard a story?’ angle. Look at those “other” media members congratulating Hanley for working hard. What fools. Of course he should be working hard. That’s his job. He should be putting in effort all the time. He shouldn’t be praised for it.

So, how do you explain Dustin Pedroia?

Isn’t his entire storyline that he tries hard? Is there every a story about him that doesn’t mention his uniform getting dirty? Didn’t we hear over and over and over how he was taking ground ball from his knees with a broken foot? Nobody even bothered to ask what skill he was perfection by taking ground balls from his knees. It doesn’t come up all that often in a game, after all. Nobody even mentioned how he was actually hurting the team by not just letting the foot heal. Nope. By goodness, he was working hard. What an example he is to every person on the planet everywhere. He’s working hard!

Just like Hanley is. When Pedroia does it, it shows his leadership and why he’s a true asset to any team lucky enough to have his glow fall on them. When Hanley does it, we really need to stop mentioning it because every player should be doing it. 

I wish everyone would just make up their minds.