The Los Angeles Dodgers have been hemming and hawing about manager Don Mattingly's future with the team, despite the third-year skipper rallying the club from last in its division to within two wins of the World Series over the course of the last few months.
So when it came time for his final media appearance of the year, Mattingly, alongside Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, turned the tables on the front office in one of the most awkward and uncomfortable power plays you'll ever see.
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Wearing a black shirt and sitting with his arms crossed for most of the address, Mattingly -- who said his reported $1.4 million option for next year has already vested -- did a little waffling of his own about his future with the club and whether he'd even like to be back next season.
"Yeah, I love it here," said Mattingly, who appeared to want to be just about anywhere but where he was. "I like being here. But I don't want to be anywhere you're not wanted."
Mattingly, during his refractory effort to get himself a long-term deal, also spoke to just how trying the 2013 season was without the full support of management -- almost as if to say, "Imagine how good it could be if I actually had some support."
"This has been a frustrating, tough year, honestly," Mattingly told the assembled media. "I think when you are in with a club like this, basically as a lame duck, with the payroll and the guys that you have, it puts you in a tough spot in the clubhouse. When you're put in this position, the organization basically says 'We don't know if you can manage or not.'
"That's the position I've been in all year long. So that's not a great position for me as a manager. That's the way the organization wanted it last year. That's fine. At this point it is, what it is."
Mattingly's move -- which was probably directed more at Dodgers president Stan Kasten -- left Colletti in a position where all he could do was spin his wheels, say he wanted Mattingly back and assured the media that they'll be talking to Mattingly about his future.
But Mattingly, seemingly content to work elsewhere if he can't get a multi-year guarantee out of the Dodgers, made it excruciatingly clear that he's won't be waiting around for that discussion to happen.
Now, for some links:
- Kanye West rented out AT&T Park to propose to Kim Kardashian.
- Russell Westbrook was back at practice -- sort of -- for the Thunder on Monday.
- Antti Niemi robbed Todd Bertuzzi and won the game with this ridiculous shootout pad save:
- Gregg Popovich is not a fan of sideline cameras . Surprise!
- Sean Taylor's girlfriend described his murder during testimony in his murder trial.
- Via KSK , Jared Allen's sack of Eli Manning Monday night was truly something to behold:
- "What breakup?" says Rory McIlroy:
#21 #luxembourg #mygirl ¿¿¿¿ @CaroWozniacki
-- Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) October 20, 2013 - The ever-confident Nate Robinson thinks he'd be one of the NFL's best cornerbacks had he stuck with football.
- The Red Sox fan who caught Shane Victorino's ALCS Game 6 grand slam has been sleeping with the ball ever since.
- Tyler Hansbrough had an incredible change of heart when he realized he was about to take on Metta World Peace after a hard foul:
- The 76ers are not expecting Nerlens Noel to play this season.
- Seton Hall's basketball coaches will face Kobiyashi in a hot dog eating contest.
- Via Business Insider , Pajtim Kasami may have scored the goal of the Premier League season:
- Jerry Kill gave an emotional postgame speech after Minnesota beat Northwestern on Saturday:
- Some lucky guy bought a World Series ticket for $6 on StubHub.
- The Cavs are planning to retire Zydrunas Ilgauskas' number this season.
- Some Buffalo Bills players went ghost hunting:
Ghost hunting in Buffalo... @robertwoods @FlashGoodwin @Gragg80 @ajwilliams23 @Fred22Jackson pic.twitter.com/YA4ZweoEsC
-- Jeff Tuel (@qb10jvt) October 22, 2013 - Ohio will be rocking these uniforms for the Battle of the Bricks on Saturday:
Ohio Bobcats repping new White "Brick" uniforms for the Battle of the Bricks on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/n5SL2B4X0t @PhilHecken @UniWatch
-- Jacob Corrigan (@Jacob_Corrigan) October 21, 2013 - Martellus Bennett wants to punch Brandon Meriweather in the face.
- David Garrard is in and Brady Quinn is out as the Jets' backup QB.
- Lindsey Vonn posted GoPro video of herself crashing on the slopes:
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Post by Lindsey Vonn .
- Donte Stallworth went on an anti-Bush twitter rant Monday.
- Will Muschamp calls his Florida Gators " inept offensively ." You don't say?
The original article can be found at FOXSports.com: Buzz: Mattingly makes things awkward.
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