Bling

[MFS62]

Do you think ballplayers should be allowed to wear jewelry while on the field? I'm talking about stuff that shows ouside the uniform like pendants, necklaces and earrings.

There's a rule that says that all players on a team should wear the same "uniform". And it has been enforced to include the length of socks.

Do you think all this bling violates the rules?

Later

[Guest KC]

If Lastings dives for a ball in the outfield and lands on that cross the wrong
way he could really hurt himself.

[MFS62]

I thought of that.
Or slide on his belly.
But at least we know he'll be safe from vampires.

Later

[Willets Point]

How long before a pro sports team is called "The Vampires" or something similar.

[metirish]

Did Wilile put a ban on ear rings last season?,I seem to remember something about that, especially with Floyd, I could be wrong on that though, the cross Lastings wore should be banned just for being ugly.

[Frayed Knot]

Lastings is all set in case he needs to weigh anchor someplace.


Yes it looks stupid and yes, I think the team (if not the league) should ban/restrict such stuff.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm OK with the goth cross sartorially.

Baseball-wise, it may be too much cross to bear.

[Vic Sage]

as long as a player's apparel or accessory doesn't

1 - confuse anyone as to the player's team affiliation,
2 - distract players or otherwise interfere with play,
3 - create a hazard, or
3 - violate any law

...then i think players should be allowed to express their individual personalities by wearing whatever. Baseball is unlike other team sports in its focus on individual accomplishment.

I also have a problem with owners and/or managers who insist on a "facial hair and hair length" team standard. Baseball ain't the army; hell, it ain't football, either.

[Willets Point]

Vic Sage wrote: I also have a problem with owners and/or managers who insist on a "facial hair and hair length" team standard. Baseball ain't the army; hell, it ain't football, either.

On the one hand, they're running businesses and have the right to set standards for their employees. On the other hand if the standards they set are stupid and pointless then they deserve to be mocked (and these are stupid and pointless).

[Gwreck]

Vic Sage wrote: as long as a player's apparel or accessory doesn't 3 - create a hazard

Here we have the problem, as least as it relates to Milledge. As mentioned above, that cross could potentially injure him pretty severly during the course of his baseball activities.

I think a restriction on such things would be will within the Mets' rights, depending of course on the contracts and the like. Personally, I think it'd be sensible too.

[Guest old original jb]

It's like

[Vic Sage]

Gwreck wrote: ... that cross could potentially injure him pretty severly during the course of his baseball activities. I think a restriction on such things would be will within the Mets' rights, depending of course on the contracts and the like. Personally, I think it'd be sensible too.

what if the cross is made out of rubber, or styrofoam, or play-doh?

[Gwreck]

Vic Sage wrote: ="Gwreck"] ... that cross could potentially injure him pretty severly during the course of his baseball activities. I think a restriction on such things would be will within the Mets' rights, depending of course on the contracts and the like. Personally, I think it'd be sensible too. what if the cross is made out of rubber, or styrofoam, or play-doh?

Well, then it's not probably not a hazard.

Seriously, my only objection is that I don't want him getting hurt.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Thanks. Great to be here.

How about that Lastings Milledge? I don't wanna say his bling is but...

...to fit it on the roster they had to put Julio Franco's glove on the disabled list...

...Endy Chavez borrowed it the other night to pinch hit with ... got a double!

... it has its own baseball card ... uniform number ... agent...

I don't wanna say that cross is big, but a few drunken Met fans after the game nailed Kaz Matsui to it!

...Seriously, it can help, though. When he came up in the 7th inning last night, Miguel Batista confessed he was going to throw a fastball... Cowbell Man banged out 'Onward Christian Soldiers' ... the beer vendor working right field passed a collection plate ... Mel Gibson started filming...

Thank you, thank you. Be good to your bartenders and waitresses...

[Guest Edgy DC]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060531/capt.9b5c8b2e10234a51aad49533c4a7f588.diamondbacks__mets_baseball_nym113.jpgFor what it's worth, the Times says it's made of wood, so maybe it'll splinter before ripping his jugular open. Or maybe it'll splinter, then rip his jugular open.

[MFS62]

JD,
You forgot to remind them to try the veal and to drive home safely.
LOL!

Later

[soupcan]

Dreadlocks, '44', oversized crucifix...

Enough. I don't like this kid. Package him for Dontrelle and be done with it.

[Vic Sage]

]For what it's worth, the Times says it's made of wood, so maybe it'll splinter before ripping his jugular open. Or maybe it'll splinter, then rip his jugular open.

well, that would certainly teach him a good lesson!

[metirish]

Bill Madden of course likes to dwell on the negative....it's the Mets and all.

] He's here to get major tweaking The kid arrived at Shea a few minutes before 6 p.m., just in time to get his briefing from Willie Randolph, a run-down on the signs from the Mets coaches and a few swings off a batting tee. For a brief while there at the Providence, R.I., airport yesterday, it had been touch-and-go for 21-year-old Lastings Milledge's much-anticipated, but hastily executed Met debut as his initial flight to LaGuardia was canceled and he found himself muttering, "Biggest day of my life. I can't believe this is happening to me." Actually, there are two theories as to why the Mets chose to bring their top prospect and 2003 first-round draft pick to the majors after just 50 games at Triple-A Norfolk (in which he had nevertheless hit .291 with 32 runs scored and 22 extra base hits). The public one was that, with Xavier Nady having undergone emergency appendectomy surgery after Monday night's game, they needed another bat rather than a 13th pitcher and Milledge's was the best available. The private one was that the Mets' high command felt Milledge, who's apparently developed a reputation for being a little too full of himself as he's progressed rapidly through the minors, would benefit from a couple of weeks of seeing how this present group of Mets go about their business for Randolph. Or as one Mets insider put it to me: "This is a real team here and these guys are really playing their butts off for Willie. Everyone's ego is in check, and from what I saw of (Milledge) in spring training, he's got great talent but he needs to tone down the all the stylin' and that other stuff." It was interesting that before the game last night, Cliff Floyd, whose place in the Met outfield Milledge might very well take next year, was issuing a glowing endorsement of the kid, noting, "He's willing to learn about baseball and that's what we're all here to do." Still, when asked what the most important thing he was told when he was first called up to the big leagues by the Montreal Expos in September of '93, Floyd said: "Be on time. You want young guys to respect the game." One can only wonder if Floyd was subtly referring to what many others observed about Milledge in his first major league spring training - that he routinely operated on "Pedro time" in that his standard arrival time at the ballpark was 9:00-9:15 for 9:30-9:35 stretching when everyone else (Pedro exempted) would be there at least an hour earlier. So what's the big deal, especially if he didn't break any rules? If nothing else, the perception that, already, at the tender age of 21, Milledge could be what is referred to in baseball as a "one-in-25" guy. For their sake, the Mets can only hope this is all perception because there is clearly talent here and seemingly a confidence to perform on the big stage of New York. And if there are any character flaws, this, rather than Triple-A, is probably a much better venue for straightening them out. "We're bringing the kid up and giving him an opportunity to play," said Mets GM Omar Minaya, "but at the same time he doesn't have the pressure of having to be 'the man.' Our rightfielder is Xavier Nady when he's ready to come back and Milledge is only here to help us out in the meantime." In that respect, there was little he could do to help out last night in a game in which Alay Soler's ineffective pitching put the Mets in a 7-1 deficit by the fifth inning. In his first at-bat, Milledge lined out sharply to short with none out and a couple of runners on in the second. His first major league hit - a leadoff double to left in the seventh - was likewise smoked, but his new major league mates were unable to get him home. While it was merely a snapshot, his tools - bat pop, speed afoot - are obvious. It doesn't take a seasoned scout to see the kid's got natural talent. He got here just in time to play last night - this time not by his own doing - and he had himself a pretty nice debut, even if it was in a losing cause. "I really wasn't nervous. I don't know why, I was just real calm," said Milledge. "Right now I'm not focused on how long I'm gonna be here, but how much I can contribute for us to win." While Minaya might insist this is only a 10-day-to-two-week cameo, Randolph conceded that "anything can happen." And even though the Mets would not be at all surprised if Milledge performs well enough to warrant staying here the rest of the year, the most important thing for the long term is not how he hits, runs or fields, but how he takes to the program. Originally published on May 31, 2006

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/story/422385p-356547c.html

[Frayed Knot]

[cynic's view]Madden pissed off that Milledge makes it to the show quicker than Eric Duncan[/cynic's view]

[HahnSolo]

Man Madden is just ridiculous.He bashed the Mets for years for drafting Aaron Heilman in the first round (the Mets could have had Jason Anderson!!). I guess if he keeps knocking Met first round picks, one of these days he'll get it right.

Back to the topic, though, Mad Dog Russo dislikes Lastings's bling. Says he's "a little too flashy for me," which in Russo code is something meaning he's young, black, with cornrows, and jewelry

[metirish]

From what I read about Duncan recently he won't be in the big leagues any time soon.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]The public one was that, with Xavier Nady having undergone emergency appendectomy surgery after Monday night's game, they needed another bat rather than a 13th pitcher and Milledge's was the best available.

Who in the world, I'd ask Madden, would build a roster with 13 pitchers and three outfielders?

[Guest sharpie]

Mets should probably have made the genius move of signing Terrence Long.

[Elster88]

I just think his cross is stupid looking.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think it's hot.

Gary says he hasn't seen it today though.

[MFS62]

On an interview of Willie by M&MD this afternoon, Massive Mike brought up the subject and Willie said he might ask Lastings not to wear it.

Later

[Elster88]

HahnSolo wrote: in Russo code is something meaning he's young, black, with cornrows, and jewelry

I think this is an unfair statement.

[soupcan]

I don't. I think its pretty accurate.

[MFS62]

I agree, too.
I've listened to him since the start of the show, and I can't recall him ever saying anything positive about any Black athlete (except for the Sultan of Shot, of course). It sometimes reaches epic proportions when he denigrates the accomplishments of Black quarterbacks, even great ones like Warren Moon.

Later