Memories of Lastings Milledge

[Valadius]

The one moment I will NEVER forget about Lastings Milledge - his "first drink".

[seawolf17]

I loved that time when he ran down the right-field line, high-fiving the fans. Loved it. We'll miss you, Lastings.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Wearing that giant-ass wooden cross.

[Guest martin]

i like that bat twistoflip wrist back and forth thing he does while he walks to the plate. saw some of the other fellers doing it after he arrived. i will miss it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Pure batspeed.

[nymr83]

seawolf17 wrote: I loved that time when he ran down the right-field line, high-fiving the fans. Loved it. We'll miss you, Lastings.

that was the memory i would have posted too. i feel like that enthusiasm went away FAST

[Guest iramets]

nymr83 wrote: that enthusiasm went away FAST

It didn't GO away as much as the Mets systematically beat it out him. "If you--EVER [whack!] show that KIND [whack!] of damned ENTHUSIASM [whack!] again, sonny-boy [whack!]..."

[nymr83]

very fair point.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

My memory is it was the left-field lline, not the right. I am dislec, dislexe, er cock-eyed
though from time to time.

[Guest iramets]

Kid Carsey wrote: My memory is it was the left-field lline, not the right. I am dislec, dislexe, er cock-eyed though from time to time.

News, 5/16/07:

"Milledge made his big-league debut last May and immediately rubbed some teammates the wrong way by showing up late and high-fiving fans down the right field line after hitting a home run. "

[Guest iramets]

My memory of Milledge is "Show some humility, rook."

Though I forget who said it.

[Guest martin]

i think it was wagner who was ultimately blamed for that note. "know your place, rook".

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'd have liked trading Wagner for Church & Schneider.

Milledge. Had an injury at the worst possible time.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

I swear I remember him running past the visiting dugout on obviously some
other occasion and pissing people off for fist pumping and maybe high fivin'
down the left-field line once.

I don't have a lot of specific memories except when he whiffed sometimes,
he really whiffed.

[Fman99]

There was a game this past year that he was sent in as a pinch runner and scored a winning run on a real shallow sacrifice fly. I also remember some real acrobatic catches in right field this past season.

I find this deal odious.

[nymr83]

="Fman99"]I find this deal odious.

I find it odorous!

[smg58]

I liked the guy, I'm sorry he never got a fair chance to show what he can do in a Mets uniform, and I'm sorry he's gone.

[Gwreck]

I remember it being bigger.

[Elster88]

iramets wrote: ="nymr83"]that enthusiasm went away FAST It didn't GO away as much as the Mets systematically beat it out him. "If you--EVER [whack!] show that KIND [whack!] of damned ENTHUSIASM [whack!] again, sonny-boy [whack!]..."

lol. Good to have you back.

[A Boy Named Seo]

[Guest Iubitul]

I loved the high five incident. At the time, I took at youthful enthusiasm, and nothing more. He made more than a few fans happy that day.

I look at some of the coverage he got in the press as borderline racism, that a few of these fat, white sportswriters didn't like his "blackness". F*ck them.

I hope he comes back, becomes a huge star, and gives them all a great big shitburger to eat. Hopefully, this will do the same to Omar that Kasmir did to Duquette, because I'm starting to get the sense that Omar doesn't have nearly the clue that I gave him credit for.

[Frayed Knot]

="Iubitul"]I loved the high five incident. At the time, I took at youthful enthusiasm, and nothing more. He made more than a few fans happy that day.

I wasn't thrilled with it at the time mainly because I'm not big on in-game celebrations. Doing the same thing coming off the field following a win wouldn't have bothered me at all. On the other hand I just looked at it as a youthful over-the-top moment not as some kind of sign that he was a bad guy.

]I look at some of the coverage he got in the press as borderline racism, that a few of these fat, white sportswriters didn't like his "blackness". F*ck them.

That's certainly possible - although several writers seem to have gone out of their way since the trade to say that he was generally a nice guy to deal with while implying that it was teammates who often had a problem with him. On the other hand I know that NYDN's Adam Rubin pretty much despised him, saying that he was often crude, tasteless and not pleasant to talk to going back to his minor league days.

[Guest iramets]

Which goes to a key philosophical point: Do you want to build your team based on your perceptions of chemistry, cameraderie, character, leadership, or are you looking for on-the-field skills?

The easy answer is "Both," of course, or "The two go hand-in-hand" or "Handle on case-by-case basis" or similar pap, but --as in Milledge's case, and Dykstra's, and Strawberry's, and Mitchell's and many, many other young talented ballplayers with limited social and temperamental skills--often strong signs of playing ability coincide with equally strong signs of some sort of crippling personality disorder.

If you're looking for Dwright-type personalities, are you willing to pay top dollar to acquire them? Do you pass on every Milton Bradley who becomes available, however desperate your need may be for his blend of on the field skills? Do you acquire guys with substance abuse problems that other teams are willing to pass up, or are you one of those teams that can take on a "Wild Bunch" personality mix if that means a pennant or two?

Considered purely in the abstract, which way are you going to lean: get as many of these guys as you can get, and run the risk of a team out of control, or avoid these guys as much as possible, and try to win with a little less talent and more team chemistry?

[Guest iramets]

I'm having a phrase resound inside my head: "WE WANT OUR LASTINGS MILLEDGE!", chanted by hundreds of fans, and I know it comes from some similar phrase, but have no clue what the original is. What am I thinking of?

[stevejrogers]

I want my MTV?
I want my Maypo?

[metsmarathon]

naturally, i prefer the more weasely way around the teambuilding thing. build a strong character team such that you can add in a troubled soul and it will not tear the team apart but might actually inspire more greatness out of the player.

basically, what the patriots are doing with randy moss.

[metsmarathon]

mmm... maypo...

more lasting milledge please!

where's the lastings milledge?

mill... ings.... edge... edge... mill... last....
last... ings... mill.... edge....

[Guest iramets]

metsmarathon wrote: naturally, i prefer the more weasely way around the teambuilding thing. build a strong character team such that you can add in a troubled soul and it will not tear the team apart but might actually inspire more greatness out of the player. basically, what the patriots are doing with randy moss.

Ah, the old "24-and1" philosophy of team-building.

[TransMonk]

I remember Lastings getting suspended in the last week of the season while his team was in a pennant race.

I remember him coming back from his suspension and allegedly playing a part in inciting a bench clearing brawl in the second to the last game of the season. (Which may or may not have inspired a last place team to play a little harder on the last day of the season...not that it mattered with Glavine's performance.)

I remember Milledge being given the starting RF job in August 2007 over Green and then Green outplaying him offensively for the remainder of the season.

I don't remember any of Milledge's 2007 home runs putting the Mets ahead in any game. They seemed to come when the Mets were way up or way behind. Yet to his credit, I believe his RISP and "clutch" stats were pretty good.

I remember him making some amazing outfield catches this past season, and then thinking that if he were playing the ball better that they might have been routine.

[Guest Edgy DC]

If (for the sake fo argument) they want to scuttle Milledge because they fear his character is counter-productive or dangerous, it doesn't have to mean they make a crap trade.

I'm getting the idea that Iubitul doesn't like fat guys.