Feb 20 2014 08:02 AM
And under-reported angle of the Richie Incognito saga is that Miami already had survived a sports bullying scandal earlier in the year, after Tino Martinez resigned after several Marlins went to management to complain that he was mistaking taunting and brutalizing for coaching instruction.
The players who came to management, of course, are either gone or have been subsequently marginalized. Tino? He's chillin' with Vic Sage and all his Yankee buds at Bronx Bombers.
(And you know, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that Joe Pepitone was dead.)
The Marlins had a legendarily inept offense last season, so Tino wasn't long for this world anyhow. But the Fish go through batting coaches like (insult pop culture reference here). The current guy? Frank Menechino. You know, it's one thing when a guy who wasn't much of a big league hitter gets a batting coach job --- as long as hitting was his game. You know, minor league stars who don't have the physical skills to execute at the big league level as consistently, but have the science down. Corner infielders and corner outfielders.
But Menechino? A banjo-hitting backup middle infielder? Doesn't give me much hope that the article underscores his "blue collar" traits. But, that's OK. I'm not looking to hope much for the Marlins.
