Mike Scioscia's tragic illness

Hey, But At Least He Shows Up Early…

Before I even begin this article, I demand that you put on this song, for full effect.

Why?  Because Juan Pierre is unhappy.  Hurt.  Melancholy.  Juan Pierre has got the blues.
You see, since the Manny Ramirez trade, Juan Pierre has been frustrated!  Why?  Because that mean Manny came and took Juan’s position in left field!  Bastard!  Even worse, after that trade, Joe Torre has put Juan back at his natural position, center field.
Take it away, Juan:

“I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but it’s been difficult. You go on the bench, and then you work your way back in the lineup and possibly going back to the bench.

Listen to the man, folks.  A man like him having to keep going back and forth in the revolving lineup shuffle… shameful.  For crying out loud, the man only started every single game from May 1st through June 29th, when he got injured.  52 consecutive games… what kind of shit is that?!  And since his return on July 25th, he has only started 8 out of the 9 games that the Dodgers have played.  Poor man, all this torture and roster shuffling he’s had to endure.

All I’ve ever done is be Juan Pierre when I wear this jersey. They’re sticking it to me this year for whatever reason.

How does this not touch you?  All he’s ever tried to do is be Juan Pierre.  Be thankful, Dodger fans, that he’s only tried to be Juan Pierre.  It would be a crime if he tried to be, say, Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock, Ichiro Suzuki or Jose Reyes.  No… he’s just busy being Juan Pierre.  It just touches me, because since I’ve been doing this blog, Vin has just tried to be Vin.  Perhaps we can call it… Vin Being Vin… yeah, that sounds good, I like that.
You know what?  I’m feeling a little verklempt.  Stop that song at the top, put it on pause (POP!).  We need to sing this song… all together!
Sing it, Sam!

Whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong
I’ve gotta be me, I’ve gotta be me, what else can I be… but what I am?!

“When you have a chance to get Manny Ramirez, you have to get him. But from a personal standpoint, it’s a touchy position for me.”

Well, I would imagine Juan would have to be in a touchy position in order to feel sticked by ManRam… ‘s arrival in L.A.
However, empathize, folks.  Forget the fact that we just acquired one of the greatest right handed hitters of all-time.  Forget about his impact to the team and whether he helps out.  We need to think about how Juan feels… The Pierre Man… The Juanster… how this personally affects him and his feelings.

“It’s the kind of situation that hopefully, they want me out there,” Pierre said.

Speak the truth, Juan!  It is completely unprofessional how the manager of the team hasn’t even given such a definitive answer.  For crying out loud, this undignified statement is all he has to go by…

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers manager Joe Torre on Friday laid out which two outfielders will get the shortest end of the Manny Ramirez acquisition: Andre Ethier and Andruw Jones. Torre said Ramirez will be the starting left fielder, Matt Kemp the starting right fielder and Juan Pierre will see most of the playing time in center field. [. . .]

“To me, Juan certainly deserves the right to play,” Torre said. “At this point in time, his experience, his consistency, the way he goes about his business. When [Rafael] Furcal went down, he’s meant so much to the club. He brings another dimension, his basestealing ability. He gives a professional at-bat on a regular basis. He’s done it [leading off] longer than Matt. He’s willing to take pitches.

Even worse:

Torre said he met with Pierre to explain the situation.

Fight the man, I say!

“You have to believe when Andruw (Jones) starts hitting, I’ll probably be back on the bench if he strings together two to three good games.

Can you believe that?  I’ll tell you, folks, this is even worse than the FOX era.  Now we have management who, dare I say, might bench poor Juan if the great Andruw Jones puts it back together and outperforms him?  Also, forget that Ethier fellow, too… sure, he’s on the bench, sure, maybe he’s outperformed Juan, sure, maybe Juan starts nearly virtually every game above Andre, but Juan could only wish to have it as good as him.  And, he’s right, it would be a damn shame for the Dodgers if Andruw Jones returned to his old self and we were stuck with maybe 2 productive future HOF’ers occupying our outfield.  Don’t do it, Joe.

Everyone knows I’m not selfish, but it’s a difficult spot they continue to put me in throughout the whole year.

Yeah, you tell them, Juan.  Ignore all those haters out there.  Hoping to play every inning of every game at the same position, regardless of anyone else’s production is hardly unselfish.  And, cheer up, this whole Manny Mania thing will soon pass.  Sure, maybe they acquired Manny Ramirez, maybe he’s even hit a few 400+ FT. HR’s, but that left field pavilion will always be Juanville.

“It’s just a difficult spot for me,” Pierre said. “All of us want to play. Obviously, they wanted to go the power route before, and I didn’t play too much in April. I’ve been taking it in stride, and hopefully may name is going to be written in there every day. I know it’s not, but I hope it’s going to be written every day.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty around here. The outfield situation is no secret. It’s been a tough, tough season.”

The true words of an altruist.  After starting in 60 of his last 61 games, and also keeping his starting job, you must understand the frustration of poor Juanie.  I’m just not sure you get it.  He must have to go through the possibility of maybe not always being able to start and play every inning of every game if someone begins to outperform him…  Even worse… he has to endure going back to his natural position… and even once had to do it within the same game!  How can anyone object to these words from such a true team player?  A man who helps walk Grandmother’s with cute little puppy dogs across the street?  How can anyone think that these words don’t put the team first?  In fact, I think he should file a grievance and get the MLBPA involved.  This is just sick and degrading for any baseball player.  This is a travesty.  A sham.  A mockery.  A travesha… oh, forget it.
But you wanna see selfish, folks?  This is the wicked, inexperienced, youngster who only puts his needs above others… like this will ever get attention in the press!
Andre Ethier after getting shifted to the bench with the Manny trade:

Ethier said he had heard the Dodgers refused to deal him but took the high road when asked about reduced playing time.
“We worked hard all of these first couple months to get to this situation where we could get a chance to get to where we want to go, and now we’ve kind of added another solution that could help solidify what we’re going for,” Ethier said. “With that, we’ve got to start focusing on that stuff and put all the individual stuff aside and just say, ‘This is what we’re going for, and we’ve got a legitimate shot to do it,’ and with this guy we can definitely say that we’re going to be a contender and can be a contender.”

Selfish bastard.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go counsel Jason Phillips and help him with his financial troubles… poor man only living “paycheck to paycheck”…

- Vin