Jimmy Rollins‘ lack of hustle has bothered Phillies fans, so Philly sports radio station 97.5 The Fanatic decided to address the matter. The station blasted the Phillies shortstop with a billboard message that says “Hey Jimmy, run! Don’t jog!!”
A particular incident during Wednesday’s game coupled with Rollins’ response to a fan set things off.
Rollins jogged down to first base during the top of the sixth inning of the Phillies-Marlins game on Wednesday with the team down 2-1. Rollins hit a slow ball to shortstop Jose Reyes, who backed up to field it, giving Rollins plenty of time to reach first. However, since Rollins wasn’t hustling, he wasn’t even in the picture when Reyes made the throw:
Fans and broadcasters got on him for his apparent lack of hustle and felt he cost the team a run.
“I don’t know if Jimmy realized [Jose Reyes] backed up on it,” said play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy. “He was barely running up the first base line which is a shame because by Reyes backing up on it the way he did, it could have been a closer play over at first base.”
Analyst Gary Matthews also got on Rollins.
“Let’s face it: he wasn’t running hard on that play,” Matthews said. “That effort should be automatic. You shouldn’t even have to question that with any of the players.”
One fan called out Rollins on Twitter, and the shortstop responded after the game:
@1_krazy_puck well u make sure u tell them what to do— Jimmy Rollins (@JimmyRollins11) August 15, 2012
The entire incident drove Phillies manager Charlie Manuel to speak with Rollins on Thursday.
“We have two rules: Hustle and be on time,” Manuel told the media. “We’ll see.”
Rollins was in the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Brewers, so maybe the talk worked. We’ll see what happens. I just know that there are some things you can control in baseball and many others that you can’t. You can hit a ball hard, but you can’t control if someone makes a diving catch to rob you. You can always control how hard you run. There’s no reason Rollins or others should be slacking unless they’re hurt, in which case they probably shouldn’t be in the lineup.
H/T The Outside Corner
Photo via 97.5 The Fanatic on Facebook
