(Ryan Zimmerman, seen here speaking at the Live Positively: Get the Ball Rolling kickoff event on Tuesday at the Capitol. Photo via Newscom by UPI/Kevin Dietsch.)
Remember about a month ago, when Nyjer Morgan lost his mind for a few weeks and was called out in front of the media by Jim Riggleman after inexplicably colliding with Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson? And remember when Jim Riggleman called a closed door team meeting following a Sunday afternoon loss to the Marlins but let his coaching staff do most of the talking -- and (gasp!) Riggles revealed to the media that this meeting took place and simultaneously ripped his team's effort?
Well, Ryan Zimmerman didn't like the way his manager handled those situations, apparently -- if we're reading this story by Bill Ladson of MLB.com correctly. In Ryan Zimmerman's World, a manager shouldn't call out his players in front of the media; and a manager shouldn't reveal when he holds a closed door team meeting and/or rip his team's effort in front of the media. Here's Zim, in his own words, via MLB.com:
"You don't necessarily have to call people out, yell at people in front of cameras or tell people you had a meeting or anything like that. I think when people do that, it's more for show than for effect anyway. A lot of things that are done -- that are most important -- are done behind closed doors, that nobody gets to know about, especially when you get to touchy subjects. I don't think it should be known. To say something to someone else and have everyone else hear about it, it's not very fair to that guy."
(Ryan Zimmerman, via Nationals.com, 9/30/2010)
Here's some of what Jim Riggleman said about Nyjer Morgan the morning after the Bryan Anderson Incident:
"I think it was just a culmination of Nyjer's anger that was brewing... I think he was just having a day like where he was upset about some things and did an unprofessional thing. He went after the catcher. So I certainly don't condone that, but we've all made mistakes. I think that's not Nyjer's style of play to do something like that. That's totally uncharacteristic. I think the culmination of the day, when I called him in, told him I was going to hit him eighth instead of leadoff, and I think it just was building up all day. I think he thought I was wearing that equipment there at home plate."
(Jim Riggleman, via Nationals Journal, 8/29/2010)
And here's some of what Jim Riggleman said about his team following that closed door team meeting a few weeks ago:
"I think the losing wears on you, but it's a 162-game schedule, it's a nine-inning ballgame. That's what you sign up for, that's what you give. You get 25 guys up until Sept. 1, and whatever we have -- 32 after that. Until we get everybody on the same page, it takes a great effort everyday to get out of where we are. ...You cannot be in the same class as the Padres, Giants, Yankees and Tampa Bay until you have everybody on board pulling the same way, putting personal statistics and all that nonsense behind them. Until everyone is pulled in the same direction and getting after it every day, it's not going to show up in the win column."
(Jim Riggleman, via Nationals.com, 9/12/2010)
Apparently Ryan Zimmerman doesn't think Jim Riggleman handled those situations the right way. We'll go out on a limb and say that Zim is probably not alone in this line of thinking -- and we're not even counting Nyjer Morgan in this camp. Just for fun, it seems as good a time as any to ask the same question(s) we asked a few weeks ago: Is it too soon to start the Jim Riggleman Axe Watch? Has he completely lost the clubhouse?
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