Probably not, but screw 'em.What started out as a night of much consternation, with Steve Trachsel flying back home to San Diego to tend to personal issues (which we hope of course are resolved in a happy manner) and Carlos Delgado taking the night off with "overall body soreness" (which sounds like the NHL is giving lessons in how to announce injuries). But Julio Franco stepped in to drive in five runs, including a long bomb to the deepest of deep center fields, and allay my fears a bit regarding whether Franco (as fine a clubhouse influence as he is) is a waste of a roster spot at 117 years old.
David Wright also went deep which made the young girls squeal in ecstasy. Combine them with bombs by Shawn Green, Endy Chavez, and Fluff Castro, and throw in a sparkling six inning gem by Tom Glavine and the Mets have served all of the naysayers a heaping pile of "get off our backs."
And with the Phillies out of the picture, the news just keeps getting better and better. The Padres and the Dodgers now fight for the right to avoid the Mets in the first round. Remember, California friends, Julio has his eye on you.
Now, off to enjoy a few days off. Overall mental soreness.
9 comments:
"He's a great kid, a good kid," Randolph said. "He works his butt off like everyone else. You're trying to make the kid out to be a bad kid, a problem child. It's wrong."
-Willie Randolph, on Lastings Milledge
Props to Willie. I have never seen more people root for a young player to fail than Milledge. The fact is, none of us have met him, so who are we to judge his character?
This "bad additude" is a creation of the vicious New York media, and now we assume he's a punk and a clubhouse manager. Nice for his manager to stick up to him.
And as for the note, what if this wasn't Milledge's fault at all? What if it was Mike DeFelice who had shit for no reason? The point it, we don't know, and its not our place at all to judge.
The kid's a talented ballplayer, and I can only hope that people get off his case so he can show what he can do?
I'm ashamed to admit it... but living in Austin right now I've been pulling for America's Team so that I might be able to catch a playoff game in enemy territory.
By the way Astros fans are the most obnoxious I've come across. They're sorta like Red Sox fans but with zero knowledge of baseball or their team. (Oh wait... don't we call those types Yankee fans?)
Astros fans are the lowest. Booing an injured Beltran after that great catch in their bizarre stadium.
Other great quotes:
"I want you to find out who put it in his locker," (Julio) Franco said at one point, "and leave Lastings alone."
Carlos Delgado, whose locker at RFK Stadium borders Milledge's, said that he did not know of any problems between Milledge and the veteran players on the Mets. Delgado said the hand-written sign was not indicative of a larger problem.
"That's all right," Delgado said. "That sign's been around for 125 years in every Major League clubhouse in the world."
------------------------------
It's pretty obvious everyone hates him, lets trade this punk right now!
Anywho, good point by anonymous. Nobosy will admit, but a lot of the unnescary Milledge hate is due to racism and the media's perception of him as a classless thug.
Trouble follows the guy around like a shadow at high noon and it's "racism". Unbelievable.
Only, weren't many of these "racists" bothered when Milledge rudely turned his back on Willie Randolph...?
Way to bring up another non-issue. If Willie thought that was anything more than Milledge thinking he was done speaking, why would Willie defend Milledge and tell people to get off his case?
I'm reading these posts and I get Lasting's attitude problem is A. a media creation and B. a product of racism?
Dude, his TEAMMATES are on him. His teammates are largely black and latino. If your teammates question your character, then I doubt A & B are good theories. Racism (definitely a problem in society) and the media (popular target for those who disagree) are likely NOT the problem with Millege ... his manager supported him in the hope he would play without distractions.
It's not support Willie's giving, it's a temporary "shaddap and play".
-----------------
If Willie thought that was anything
more than Milledge thinking he was done speaking, why would Willie defend Milledge and tell people to get off his case?
-----------------
Because Willie knows where he's managing, and is trying to keep the humongous media contingent off his team and his young player's back.
It was the only way to downplay it because the incident was on video tape. If you recall, Milledge had first forced Randolph to talk to his right shoulderblade. Then, when Randolph wasn't anywhere near done speaking, Milledge started walking away. Willie had to call for Milledge and then actually chase him down to make him listen and face him.
He's got an attitude problem the size of Jupiter, and the people around him have babied him all his life because he's always been the most talented guy in the room. I'm convinced that the people still defending Li'l Lastings, The World's Greatest Living Sportsman, will do it no matter how many people he disrespects, upsets, or shows up, on the field and off.
Gentlemen:
There's one culture in the clubhouse, one in the stands, and one in the pundit's booth.
Milledge was rushed up to MLB before he was ready during a tense, pennant-hunting year.
Immediately, the Daily news did a putrid hit piece on him, drooling with racialist fears only worthy of the NYPost.
Fellow white co-workers have called him 'another nigger with a du rag' when we've talked baseball.
Milledge has his problems, no doubt. He's a kid. But every African-American in a sport now played by upper-class whites, so-called 'rednecks' (another racist term), and Latinos, seems to take so much more crap for every 'transgression' than a DWright or a Jose Reyes sliding shoulder-to-catcher shins in a meaningless game before the playoffs.
I think Willie--who was token-interviewed 11 times for a manager's job, and knew the farce until Omar came along--understands what Millidge has to face.
As for African-Americans, they have a right to disagree amonst themselves as surely as I have with other white people.
Black="thug"; White="colorful." And anyone who thinks Delgado and Milledge--both of who share the same skin tone but come from two distinct culture are the same--well, dog help you.
Post a Comment