Watching The Major Leagues

Last night Fernando Martinez of the New York Mets made his second start in the big leagues. He has not recorded his first hit in the majors but has an RBI. However in the bottom of the sixth inning with Ron Villone on the mound, Martinez hit a pop fly to the catcher. It is at this point that the madness ensues. First the catcher botches the play in fair territory and Villone recovers the ball and throws out Martinez at first. Second Fernando Martinez stood in the batters box and watched the play unfold. Let me remind you that Fernando Martinez is highly praised as the Mets' #1 prospect in the minor leagues. From the first practice in tee-ball players are told to run out every play. Now for a Major League player to sit in the batters box and watch a play unfold in front of them is simply unacceptable. Fernando Martinez better enjoy watching the game because if he continues this lack of hustle and production then he will be watching baseball more than playing the game. It is worth pointing out that Martinez is not the only player to lack hustle on the bases or in the field. However Martinez only made one previous start in the Major Leagues and has not hit 500 homeruns, 3000 hits, or 800 RBIs. This also does not mean that all great players did not hustle. In fact Pete Rose was known as Charlie Hustle and he is the all-time hits leader. It appears that the days of hustling players busting it down the line on a grounder are long gone. Hopefully Fernando Martinez does not fall into the category of lazy ballplayers that he seems to be surrounded by in the Mets organization.