COOPERSTOWN, NY—Claiming the former outfielder had no place in the Hall during an intense moment as the event entered its second hour, Alex Rodriguez slammed Manny Ramirez Wednesday for lackluster fielding over the course of his career during the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame candidate debate. “To all the Hall of Fame voters sitting in this room or watching on TV, I ask you whether someone who consistently ranked as one of the worst fielders, someone who was routinely questioned for his lack of hustle, deserves election to the Hall of Fame over a more well-rounded candidate such as myself, not to mention that I bring more seasons of MLB experience to my candidacy,” said Rodriguez at the MLB Network-hosted candidate forum, ignoring interjections by moderator Ken Rosenthal that he had gone over his allotted answer time, which in turn riled up Ramirez and Hall of Fame candidate opponents including Roger Clemens, David Ortiz, Billy Wagner, and Carl Crawford. “We’re here to make our case for election to baseball’s highest honor, and frankly, we see other candidates on this stage who I’m just not sure have what it takes to serve the Hall of Fame community. With the vote so close at hand, why are we still seeing low-polling candidates like Bobby Abreu and Mark Buehrle on this stage? Whether candidates are qualified is up to the voters, of course, but I’m not sure how you can look at someone with such a low fielding percentage as Manny Ramirez, not to mention the lack of leadership and his off-the-field issues, and wonder if he would really make a good Hall of Famer. With the future of Major League Baseball at stake here, I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this is the most important Hall of Fame election of our lifetimes.” Longtime debate watchers told reporters it was the most memorable moment they’d witnessed since Jim Kaat sunk his own Hall of Fame candidacy in the 2002 debates when he forgot one of the names of the bases.