Have you even seen a kid (or a dog, for that matter) get punished? At first, you totally get it, knowing that they need to be corrected. But then, your humanity kicks in and you find yourself heartbroken at their cute little face, which wears the words “I’m sorry” better than the insert of an Akon album. It’s very tough to take, and you come away wondering if the punishment (and the ensuing agony) was really worth it.
Well, that’s how I feel about Carlos Ruiz right now, both due to his 25-game punishment from MLB and his having to answer questions about his indiscretion.
Today Chooch met with pale, sweaty reporters in Clearwater. He was so sorry, so very sorry. And now he knows he will have to pay for his mistake.
“First, I apologize to my organization, the fans, my teammates, my whole family,” Ruiz said. “I feel so bad. I’m trying to put everything behind [me] and do my best this year.
“For me, it’s hard, man. I leave my team for 25 games but I want to play. At the same time, I feel like they support me. I have a lot of good friends. I’m ready to come back and do my best.”…
“Baseball has rules,” Ruiz said. “When you make a mistake, you have to pay. I pay my 25 games. Like I said, I apologize to my organization, my teammates, my family, my fans. I’m trying to put everything behind [me] and get ready for the season.”
But have you ever been diagnosed with ADHD?
“Like I said,” Ruiz responded, “I got caught two times.”
And with that, a PR handler cut everyone off and ended the interview.
Gonzalez, both in his article and on Twitter…
How difficult is this? Ruiz: “It’s difficult. It was hard to explain… I love my city in Philadelphia, my city in Panama." #Philliestalk
— John Gonzalez (@gonzoCSN) February 13, 2013
… described a strange scene in which Chooch was hesitant to answer questions and Phillies PR handlers – already an overzealous crop – were seemingly eager to end the interview.
Bob Brookover, of Philly.com or the Inquirer or whatever he’ll be writing for once Interstate General Media foolishly separates the Inquirer from Philly.com for no apparent reason, spoke with Charlie Manuel, who yelled at Chooch, or something:
"I got on him pretty good and I think he reacted pretty good," Manuel said after his team's first official spring-training workout Wednesday. "I trust him. I don't think he'll ever do it again based on how he reacted and some of the things I said to him. He definitely was shook up and you could tell he felt real bad about what happened."
"When I talked to him, he seemed like he was really hurt over it," Manuel said. "He told me, 'I will never do it no more. That was terrible and I shouldn't do that.'"
🙁
UPDATE: John Clark reported on NBC 10 that he was told Ruiz cried, a lot, as he walked away from meeting with the media (probably not the first Philly athlete to do so…). So sorry, he is.
Video after the jump.
