It was announced about 15 minutes before game time that Jimmy Rollins (or "J-Roll" to the kids) would not be in the starting lineup for the Phillies' afternoon finale against the Mets. There was no word as to why, so imagination ran wild as to whether it was injury, or disciplinary. When J-Roll grounded out to end the game as a pinch hitter, injury was pretty much ruled out. It was confirmed after the game that it was indeed disciplinary. "Jimmy was late getting to the yard. I called him in and talked to him. That's all I got to say. It's an in-house thing between him and I," Manuel said. "That's one of our rules: Hustle and be on time. I talked to him about it. That's all; I don't want to talk no more about Jimmy Rollins." (...)Charlie Manuel did what he had to do here ... but I can't see this as evidence that all of a sudden Rollins is some sort of troublemaker. Sure, it's ironic that these kind of problems are now on the Phillies side instead of the Mets side as they were last year, but it shouldn't be indicative of a larger problem. The Phillies' problems lie in a hot Mets team that has beaten them two of three and nine of 13 on the season to move into first place.
"We're not going to agree on this one. I agreed with him last time, but we're not going to agree on this one," said Rollins, who got pulled from a June 5 win for not hustling out a popup that wasn't caught. "But he's the manager; he has to set a precedent for certain players. (...)
Rollins claimed he left the Le Parker Meridien Hotel on West 57th shortly after the team bus, but got caught in traffic.
"I did the same thing I do all the time. Usually 10 minutes after the bus, I drive myself. But you can't change lights," said Rollins, who didn't apologize to his teammates. "No, it's not their decision. It's not their issue."
P.S. Rollins absence didn't hurt the team much, as replacement Eric Bruntlett had three hits.
