Hanley Ramirez and the Marlins aren't going to stop doing their "Lo Viste salute" just because Astros relief pitcher Wilton Lopez was furious over it.
“The only thing I can say is we’re going to keep doing it. It’s our thing,” Ramirez said (Fish Tank blog).
The Background: In the above split picture, Hanley Ramirez on the right is rounding the bases following a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Astros back on April 15. The blast came off of, you guessed it, Lopez.
The two met again this past Wednesday and Lopez plunked Ramirez. He was then removed -- not ejected, just removed by his manager -- from the game. The above left picture here is Lopez screaming at Ramirez from his dugout after being taken out of the game. For their part, the Marlins weren't very moved by it. Via Fish Tank blog:
“Very mature,” Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said sarcastically when asked about the incident after Wednesday’s game. “He’s lucky I wasn’t Hanley. I would have chased his (rear) all the way to Puerto Rico.”Lopez is actually from Nicaragua, but the real point here is the Marlins appear to have a bit of a swagger. Add that to a team with this kind of talent that is returning home after an 8-1 road trip and I think it's pretty clear what the message should be: Watch out for the Marlins. They aren't messing around.
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