Question: Jerry Manuel and Ryan Church
In one of the more painful moments of the season, Ryan Church missed third base last night, while rounding the bag 
on his way to scoring what could have been the go-ahead run.
However, Joe Torre immediately called to the umpire for an appeal, who called Church out for stepping in front of the base – not on it.
To me, it looked like Church knew he goofed up, as he sheepishly looked over his shoulder while limping back to the dugout.
“I thought I touched it. I thought I did,” Church said from his locker following the game. “That’s why I kept going. If I had any doubt I would have stopped. I just feel terrible for not being able to touch the bag. It’s a simple thing to do. I didn’t do it.”
…yes, we know you thought you touched third… that’s the point… you thought you did, but you didn’t… ugh…
The other newsworthy element, though, is that Manuel essentially left Church out to dry – first, by not arguing the call, and later by not defending his actions during the post-game talk with reporters as he normally will do.
Honestly, I never bought in to the popular talk that said, ‘Manuel is no fan of Church,’ which started in spring training. However, it’s hard to deny it following last night’s events. I mean, Manuel literally turned his back on Church when he entered the dugout after the play. Crazy.
Manuel clearly has no issue with arguing calls. He does it a lot. At minimum, he jogs out to clarify, last week he bumped the ump. Yet, last night with Church, he did nothing. Why? Did he take his cue from Church’s body language, which suggested the ump would be right? Did Razor Shines signal weigh out? Or, did Manuel essentially quit on Church, for the final time? If so, why? What’s Manuel’s beef with Church, who’s hitting .276 with just eight RBI?
Here’s the thing, whatever the reason, something isn’t right, and this may end up being the beginning of the end of Church’s time in New York – especially since Angel Pagan is hitting, and with so many other options on the bench.
Mike Francesa, do you have anything to add? I bet you do.
