It turns out that the pre-game brouhaha wasn't the first time that Hanley has been called out this season.

They would have you believe it was overblown, this pregame flareup that occurred Wednesday between Hanley Ramirez(notes), the Florida Marlins’ All-Star shortstop, and Dan Uggla(notes), his double-play partner, a verbal skirmish about Ramirez taking himself out of a game the night before because of a tight hamstring.

But this is not the first time a teammate has challenged Ramirez – a month ago veteran infielder third baseman Wes Helms(notes) confronted him in an altercation that turned, at least briefly, physical.

Personally, I don't remember the Wes Helms incident with Ramirez.  There are two possible reasons why: 1) I forgot. or 2) the Marlins have kept it pretty quite until now.

But as far as Uggla goes, the whole thing is over.

"I don’t want to spend a lot of time on that. It happened. We’re a family. I love him like a brother. We’ve gotten past it and moved on,’’ Uggla said, adding that he did not regret his pre-game verbal confrontation, which led to a closed-door meeting.

"I’m glad it happened. I’m glad its over with. I’m glad we’ve moved on and I think we are stronger an closer and tighter because of it.’’

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Outfielder Cody Ross said he and his teammates are "like brothers. Me and Uggla fight all the time. We yell at each other constantly. It’s good. It builds comraderie.

"We support each other...

 

It is possible to galvanize a team and a teammates relationships through such a confrontation, it has happened.  It wouldn't work with me, but it does with some more normal people.  Maybe Wes Helms had the best quote about the incident.

"I want him to understand he can become a leader," Helms said. "He’s a guy with unbelievable talent. What we’re seeing now, this is nothing. This is just half of it. This guy can be among the league leaders for the next 10 or 15 years.

"I want to explain to him, ‘These guys are going to listen to you because you’re good, and if you lead, they’re going to follow.’ He’s beginning to take to that well.

"Two or three years from now, we’re going to look back at this and laugh and say, ‘You remember when you did this and this? Now you’re a grown man.’ "

If Hanley is indeed injured, then there is no problem with his teammates.  However, when he says his hamstring is only 10% it does bring up questions, since if it was only 10%, as he said, he would be on crutches and he is not.  Trust me on this, I tore a hamstring once and it was better than 10% and I was pricing Rascal Scooters.  Okay, Rascal Scooters didn't exist at the time I did it, or at least to my knowledge, but I would have been if they had or known about them.

Ramirez has the talent to be one day enshrined into the Hall of Fame, there is no doubt about that, and no one wants him to play if he injured, then again no one wants him to be a prima dona either.  I guess it is fine line.