Lastings Milledge started Thursday's game against the Mets on the bench. But it wasn't an ordinary day off. Milledge was benched by
Manny Acta for being late to the ballpark ... an infraction which is
nothing new to Lastings.
"He showed up late for work," Acta said. "I love Milledge and he knows it. Out of all the rules I have, I have three rules that are unbreakable regardless of who you are. You can be the 25th guy on the team, or Ryan Zimmerman. At least, [Milledge] gets disciplined. Go ask Jim Bowden, Stan Kasten and the Lerners what would they do to me if I showed up late for work."
I heard they make Acta watch the entire final season of
Diff'rent Strokes ... you know the one where they thought America would never know the difference between Dixie Carter and Mary Ann Mobley? Yuck!
Milledge didn't deny that he was late to Nationals Park, but declined to give the reason. Asked what happened, Milledge said: "That doesn't matter. I was late. ... It's something I couldn't control. I take full responsibility."
Most likely, this isn't going to be a big deal ... mainly because Acta knows how to
handle these kind of matters. And he knows Lastings from their Met days, so if anybody can smooth this kind of thing over without Lastings, or anybody else harboring any hard feelings, it's Acta. To illustrate that point, Acta did put Milledge in Thursday's game in the sixth to pinch hit, and he worked out a two out walk in front of Felipe Lopez's game changing grand slam to
win the game for the Nationals.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. This guy is trouble. The mets always trade a problem player. he is on a downward trend. give him a year or so and he'll be out of baseball. no loss
Posted at 10:49AM on Apr 25th 2008 by murphys5
2. Never did like Lastings Miledge. Since he hit the first home run he hit as a Met I knew he was done. He won't be lasting too much longer in baseball.
Posted at 10:40PM on Apr 25th 2008 by Bernie
3. Lastings is a young talent on the rise. he fits in great with what the nationals are trying to accomplish with a some what young team. give him time and he will develop into the procductive 5 tool CF that he is despite the minor problems that have occured.
Posted at 2:59PM on May 2nd 2008 by bobby lewis
4. Lastplace Milledge Spells team with an I every time he suits up. He's been winning the "Gary Sheffield Award of Self-Centeredness" for 3 years running. Good riddence. Just like Coleman, Bonilla, and LoDuca, the Mets don't keep troublemakers, whinos, and loose cannons around in respect to their loyal fans.
Right now we have Brian Schneider playing GREAT baseball and Flyin' Ryan Church tearing up the game in every freakin' inning he plays. Unlike Milledge, these guys are pros who leave their egos at the door, show up on time, shut up, play hard and win. When you are paid a gazillion dollars every two weeks, that's what you're SUPPOSED to do.
Learn your place, rook. Get used to being baseball's next Alex Escobar. And for those of you who don't know who Alex Escobar is, the answert is: exactly.
Posted at 6:26PM on May 5th 2008 by subwayseries