"I'm not the one booing, I'm not the one screaming, I'm not the one saying pretty disgusting things at time," Rodriguez said of the fans after hitting a walkoff home run to win Monday night's game. "That seems pretty entitled, you're just making yourself look pretty bad as an individual, as a person, as a fan."
On Tuesday afternoon, hitting coach and former World Series champion manager Charlie Manuel joined Jon Marks and Joe Giglio on the 94WIP Marks & Reese Show and was asked about the comments Rodriguez made.
"Here in Philly, I look at things and as long as you hustle and play the game right and things like that," Manuel said. "When you struggling sometimes, they gonna let you know it. They pay money every night to come here and see you play and they expect you to be a little mentally tough. And I think he is a tough player. That's one of the reasons he made our ball club, is 'cause he's a mentally tough kid and his position on the team is a part time player and he has to battle to keep his job. He kind of said things that was bothering him, I guess, from what I hear. The fans they have a right to react too, and I'm sure they will."
Manuel managed the Phillies from 2005-2012 and tried his best to tune out the criticism.
"I did not read the papers and every now and then if somebody drove my car, I would hear the radio," Manuel said. "And yeah, I would get a little ticked off. I tried not to let it bother me and focus on doing my job and eventually when we started winning, the fans definitely got interested in our team because of the characters, and how we played, and how hard we played, and of course the winning. If you win and things like that, they're gonna treat you tremendous. I cannot ever tell you to this day, since we won the World Series, how we get treated. Really, I can't even explain it to you."