Jimmy Rollins is the Phillies’ leader. But what kind of leadership is he providing?
With Charlie Manuel questioning his club’s hunger, Rollins lent credence to those worries, showing up over an hour late to Shea and getting benched for today’s showdown for first-place in the NL East.
Rollins arrived an hour before first pitch, earning a lecture and a seat in the dugout to watch the Mets’ 3-1 win. It fittingly ended with Rollins grounding out on the only pitch he saw all day, knocking the fast-falling Phillies from atop the division for the first time since June 1.
“Jimmy was late getting to the yard. I called him in and talked to him. That’s all I got to say. It’s an in-house thing between him and I,” Manuel said. “That’s one of our rules: Hustle and be on time. I talked to him about it. That’s all; I don’t want to talk no more about Jimmy Rollins.”
Rollins understood being held to a higher standard as the leader, but didn’t agree with it.
“We’re not going to agree on this one. I agreed with him last time, but we’re not going to agree on this one,” said Rollins, who got pulled from a June 5 win for not hustling out a popup that wasn’t caught. “But he’s the manager; he has to set a precedent for certain players.
“You’re held up to higher rules and that’s fine. You’re not going to always agree. He shouldn’t have been in that position, but he was.”
Rollins claimed he left the Le Parker Meridien Hotel on West 57th shortly after the team bus, but got caught in traffic.
“I did the same thing I do all the time. Usually 10 minutes after the bus, I drive myself. But you can’t change lights,” said Rollins, who didn’t apologize to his teammates. “No, it’s not their decision. It’s not their issue.”
Rollins had been late earlier this year, but avoided a benching just by calling ahead. Today, he didn’t even bother, saying “It wasn’t any use. You can say traffic, but that doesn’t really change anything. You know you’re not going to get there no matter what you do.”
It added weight to the worries that they’ve lost their fire, Manuel admitting “We’re not – I don’t know if it’s hungry enough. We’ve got to get after it more. All of a sudden we don’t have that extra kick like we used to.”
Jamie Moyer said “It’s disappointing. It’s unfortunate, but rules are rules. I commend Charlie. We all need to be accountable. You play not only for the manager and coaching staff, but amongst teammates.”