Perhaps Delmon Young, the Tampa Bay Rays’ talented but ill-tempered rookie outfielder, learned a lesson when manager Joe Maddon pulled him from a game for not running hard to first base. Perhaps. That putative lesson: Always hustle and show respect for your teammates and the game that overpays you.
But I doubt it. Young was hyphenated-expletive irate when taken out of that game against Toronto — but apologized to Maddon the next day. Likely it was his agent, rather than his conscience, that prompted the gesture. Insiders will tell you Young is not one of the good guys and only seems tolerable when juxtaposed to Elijah Dukes. Otherwise, he embodies surly entitlement.
Here’s a suggestion. Show him some vintage video of how two successful managers have handled no-hustle incidents:
* New York Yankee manager Billy Martin stopping the game to remove future Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson from right field — and humiliate him in the process.
*Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox doing the same thing to future All-Star centerfield Andrew Jones .
Maddon didn’t publicly humiliate Young, who nobody has compared to Jackson or Jones yet, even though the player had blatantly embarrassed his team.