Why So Sensitive?

I can't believe what I've been reading.  Maybe it's the nature of the online world, but I cannot understand what exactly is wrong with a manager stating something that he believes has got to be said.  Sure, you can argue that Donnie should have done this a long time ago, but that's neither here nor there.  All we can look at is what needs to be done today, and I applaud this initial effort to try to steer the ship in to the right direction.

After all, If a manager perceives that a player is lacking in his hustle (his grit) and he doesn't do something about it, doesn't that mean that said manager isn't doing his job?  Sure, you prefer it stay in-house.  I get that.  You always prefer that this kind of thing stay in the clubhouse, but sometimes public admonishment is needed too.

Heck, I don't even believe this was all that bad.  Mattingly just stated what he thought to be obvious.  He put the best team, on that given day, on the field that he believed would give the team the best chance of winning.  If that means that Ethier has to sit because he hasn't been giving the kind of effort the coach believes is necessary to win, then so be it.  And on some other day, Kemp might sit for the same reason.  Or Carl Crawford.  Or Adrian Gonzalez.  Or AJ Ellis.

And there is nothing wrong with that.  There is no shame in it.

Have we become so damn sensitive that public criticism of a millionaire ballplayers effort is construed as an insult that cannot be allowed? 

Get this straight.  Ethier should feel no shame because of the recent comments made by Mattingly.  Mattingly was not trying to insult him or publicly out him as a villain.  He was signalling to Ethier that he knows he has more to give.

In sports this is often called "Compete Level", but I prefer to call it "Manning Up".  You experience it when you are about to take that midterm exam, or when you're at work getting prepared to give an important presentation. 

The test here is how the player in question responds.  We'll get a good look at his mettle, and for that matter the mettle of the entire team.

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