JOHNSON: MONDESI IN NO-WIN SITUATION : DODGERS 10, MONTREAL 5.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer The day after Raul Mondesi's blowup, Dodgers manager Davey Johnson Johnson is in charge. He also said that Mondesi needs to mature and that it's pointless to confront him because he will win all confrontations with players. Mondesi - who started in right field Thursday and went 1 for 5 - didn't talk to reporters after the team's 10-5 victory over the Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (French: Les Expos de Montréal) were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1969 until 2004. After the 2004 season, the franchise relocated to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. , which wrapped up a 10-game, three-city road trip. Instead, he issued a statement. Johnson, though, had plenty to say. ``I believe everything happens for a reason, so this probably had to come to a head where there was a couple of wills clashing together,'' Johnson said. ``I'm going to win. You either accept that, and accept the responsibility that goes with that, and if you don't, then it's a failure. We finally understand each other, so to speak. ``The easy way is to say, `No, you're outta here.' But that means I haven't gotten him to understand the way we have to be to win. I'm easygoing eas·y·go·ing also eas·y-go·ing adj. 1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm. b. Lax or negligent; careless. c. and protect my players, to a certain degree, and then I draw the line. If we're going to be anything, we have to be on the same page. Just because somebody badmouthed me doesn't mean I have to resort to a senseless bashing of him. Because I know him. He got some bad advice.'' Dodgers teammates attempted to keep Mondesi from going public with his profanity-laced comments but to no avail. On Wednesday Mondesi did not start for the second consecutive day as punishment for arriving late for the team's stretch on Tuesday. ``If you don't want me here, bring in somebody else and let me go someplace some·place adv. & n. Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else" Garrison Keillor. See Usage Note at everyplace. ,'' Mondesi said Wednesday. ``I told my agent, `Get me the (expletive) out of here as soon as possible.' I can't take this (expletive) any more. I can't deal with it any more.'' On Thursday, Mondesi `asked' for forgiveness in his statement. ``I want apologize to (general manager) Kevin Malone
Kevin Malone is a fictional character from the US television series, The Office. He is played by Brian Baumgartner. , Davey Johnson, my teammates, and most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , to Dodger fans for the comments I made (Wednesday),'' the statement said. ``In what has been a frustrating season, I let my emotions get the best of me. I am thankful the fans in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. have stood behind me throughout my career and I will continue to play hard for the Dodgers. I am truly sorry this has been a distraction for my teammates and the organization.'' It was the latest in a series of incidents involving the team's talented right fielder right fielder n. Baseball The player who defends right field. Noun 1. right fielder - the person who plays right field outfielder - (baseball) a person who plays in the outfield , who has incurred fines for numerous violations of team rules. Johnson has downplayed Mondesi's displeasure with being moved in the batting order Noun 1. batting order - (baseball) a list of batters in the order in which they will bat; "the managers presented their cards to the umpire at home plate" lineup, card and barely discussed Mondesi's visit to the bullpen instead of the bench during a half-inning in Arizona. Until Thursday. ``He's probably gotten away with some things in the past,'' Johnson said. ``It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to mature because he's a hell of a ballplayer. He knows how to play the game. A little more preparation, a little more preparedness, and then he can lead by example, but he wasn't going to do it the way it was going.'' Some said Mondesi is having to deal with his frustrations publicly for the first time because the Dodgers system coddles younger players. Mondesi entered this season with a career batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. of .295 but is hitting .247 after a prolonged slump. ``This spring training was my first with the Dodgers and it's like a luxury, having steak and lobster for the spread,'' Dodgers left fielder Gary Sheffield said. ``All guys should struggle early. I came in the same time as (Ken) Griffey (Jr.), and we both struggled. It prepared us for later on.'' Johnson expected Mondesi, a Gold Glover and All-Star, to serve as an example for Angel Pena and Adrian Beltre. Instead, Mondesi scoffed at rules and has been upset since being removed from the third spot in the batting order before the team even left spring training. ``I tried to get across to him things I wanted to do, leadership I wanted him to provide,'' Johnson said. ``Hopefully, this is a big learning experience for him, and maybe for this he'll be a better player. . . My job with the player is to kind of educate them on the reality of your role. If I can accomplish that in a blow-up, then I accomplished what I needed to accomplish. ``The gloves came off and all the coddling In cooking, to coddle food is to heat it in water kept just below the boiling point. The eggs added to a Caesar salad should ideally be coddled. However, coddled eggs are not fully cooked and still present a salmonella risk. you do is over, which probably makes everyone breathe easier.'' |
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