Mike Schmidt pans Manny's exit act
8:28 PM Thu, Aug 21, 2008 | Permalink
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Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt, appearing tonight at McCoy Stadium, said that Manny Ramirez's behavior in his final days in Boston was "from a player's standpoint, one of the worst things I've ever witnessed in the history of the game." Schmidt was at McCoy Stadium to throw out one of the first pitches (also on hand to throw out a pitch was Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel) before tonight's PawSox-Chiefs game, to sign autographs and also to promote awareness of BPH, or enlarged prostate. Schmidt is the spokesman for a Sanofi Aventis campaign that hopes to get older men talking to their doctors when they experience BPH symptoms, such as frequent urination, as Schmidt did. Click here to find out more about the campaign. He met with reporters before taking the field, and among other things was asked which players he admired in the game today. Schmidt said he used to enjoy watching Ramirez, but not anymore. "I'm a student of hitting," Schmidt said, and Ramirez has been able to do things as a right-handed hitter that few others have ever been able to do. He said that until "the last three or four years," Ramirez was probably underrated for his hitting prowess. And he also said that Ramirez has something that Schmidt himself never had -- the ability to relax on the field. So much so that Schmidt used to use him as an example when instructing kids in hitting clinics. "I hit for 20 years," Schmidt said. "I don't think I ever looked in the dugout or the stands and smiled at someone. That's all he does!" But since Ramirez's Boston exit, which included an incident of Ramirez shoving the club's traveling secretary, publicly criticizing the front office and missing games due to a mysterious knee injury, Schmidt said, "my Manny Ramirez stock has gone way down. And it's unfortunate." Schmidt says the player who most readily comes to mind as someone he enjoys watching today is Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley. This year, Ramirez joined Schmidt in baseball's 500-home-run club. With 548 career home runs, Schmidt is 12th on baseball's all-time list, just two ahead of Alex Rodriguez. Click here to see a video of Schmidt at McCoy -- Manny comments not included. 
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That a way Mr Schmidt !!!! You were a class act on the field and off. Something Manny could learn from.
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Mike Schmidt was my favorite Phillie back in the 1980 world series that I got a chance to witness. He was a great player. We all feel the same way about Manny now, I'm sure.
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You gotta love Mike Schmidt
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I wish more professional players would voice their opinion about what Manny did so his stocks would really tumble
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Mike Schmidt was great,however Manny's stats will dwarf Mike by the time he is done. Manny can't be judged by a couple weeks or months of this season but of the whole package. We never will get the whole story of what went on in Boston.
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"Manny being Manny". We've been hearing it for years now. It has become the press' catch phrase for an egotistical, self centered baby who thinks that he's above the game. His miss-play of a line drive in one of his last games at Boston, and then flopping around in left field like some beached fish was a total embarrassment. Myself and many of the guys I grew up with played until we were in our 40's. We played for one simple reason; we loved the game. I would have been mortified if I made that play, never mind being payed 20 million a year to make it. He's a disgrace to baseball and to all the great players who went before him. I wonder what Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, or Roberto Clemente would have thought about Manny. Most likely the same as Mike Schmidt. Manny's a talented player but he has no respect for himself or the game. Good riddance, LA can have him.
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