Met Front Office angry at 3 Mets who hate America

[HahnSolo]

Beltran, Castillo, and Ollie skip the Mets visit to Walter Reed Hospital.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2010/09/09/2010-09-09_awol_mets_irk_brass.html

Beltran seems to have an excuse; Castillo gets the willies; and Ollie's not talking. Also absent from the article: any real evidence from McCarron that the front office is in fact upset.

I must say that reading the comments on the article are, shall we say, eye-opening.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Beltran's excuse may be legit, or it may be a copout. (I suspect it's legit.) Perez's no-comment seems like what we'd expect from him. Castillo's excuse? Cowardly! "I appreciate what they've done, but I can't bear to look at them." WTF?

[Guest Edgy DC]

If it's non-mandatory, it's non-mandatory. If the News cares so much about the wounded at Walter Reed, they can spend more time writing about them and advocating for them, instead of using them as an excuse to beat up on players.

I read about a wounded vet yesterday who was visited by 14 Mets. Met after Met tromping through his room. He didn't say anything about the Perez slight leaving a sore spot.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I don't have a problem with what Castillo said. Disfigurations can give some people the Willies.

Poor Ollie P is just getting killed, but he's not doing himself any favors.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Are these guys even Mets fans? If I was in the hospital, and a bunch of unfamiliar Kansas City Royals came to visit me, I'm not sure what I'd think. I mean, I'd appreciate that they took the time, but I'd probably be more impressed to be visited by celebrities that I had heard of.

[HahnSolo]

And now Track Suit chimes in:

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2010/09/walter-reed-controversy-sure-d.html

Wonder who the young Met who tried to speak up was, and the veteran who shot him down?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

How about what he says about Castillo and ethnicity?

"Castillo was a terrific illustration of the ethnicity point before this happened. A guy without a ton of ability who smartly scratches out hits and gets on base, who plays through injuries to help his team�hmmm�are we talking about David Eckstein? No, we�re talking about Castillo, who would probably be called a �grinder� and a �gamer� if he were white. That reality led to a tarnished image of Castillo before the Walter Reed issue, and has not helped him this week."


I think fans were plenty hard on Frenchy, and he seemed to be kind of white.

[Ceetar]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: How about what he says about Castillo and ethnicity? "Castillo was a terrific illustration of the ethnicity point before this happened. A guy without a ton of ability who smartly scratches out hits and gets on base, who plays through injuries to help his team�hmmm�are we talking about David Eckstein? No, we�re talking about Castillo, who would probably be called a �grinder� and a �gamer� if he were white. That reality led to a tarnished image of Castillo before the Walter Reed issue, and has not helped him this week." I think fans were plenty hard on Frenchy, and he seemed to be kind of white.

There was a poll when Frenchy was traded on the broadcast that 90% of fans said they thought he was treated unfairly or something.

I don't really care about what fans think anyway, as long as the front office doesn't make decisions based on them/us. I do (did) worry that Jerry Manuel feels that way about Castillo, and Beltran, though.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Tracksuit had a lot of useful points to make, but was all over the place.

Wait, you say some Met players were also angry with the trio? Another shocker�peer pressure in the locker room. It is dangerous to automatically assume that, when someone bothers his teammates, he is wrong and the teammates right. To illustrate: a young Met recently tried to address the others, speak from the heart and say that the team wasn�t playing to its potential and should try harder. Many veterans did not approve of a less experienced player speaking the truth, and one confronted him with something to the effect of, �What makes you think you have the right to say these things, kid? How long have you been here?�

Why does he have to hide the names here? Does he have this second-hand?

I think it's as obvious as the morning sun that it's generally easier for folks to rip the effort and ethics of an ethnic minority.

[TransMonk]

This story is such a waste of ink and bandwidth.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

And now Track Suit chimes in: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2010/09/walter-reed-controversy-sure-d.html Wonder who the young Met who tried to speak up was, and the veteran who shot him down?

Tracksuit is 100% right and of course is getting whalloped in the comments section. I'm sure it was Chris Carter who spoke up and RA Dickey who told him to STFU. Just kidding. Of course it was that sneaky firey Hispanic bastard Oliver Perez.

[Willets Point]

TransMonk wrote: This story is such a waste of ink and bandwidth.

Agreed. It's second to the "Ground Zero Mosque" as a media-generated non-story.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Agreed that this is a non-story very much like the "Ground Zero Mosque," but Martino touches on some other illuminating things. Each of them could and perhaps should make their own essay.

Tracksuit's comment section is always a red-light district. I always love the comments along the lines of "I'm not racist --- I'm just a hateful misanthrope who will use racially linked issues when necessary to leverage my hate on a case-by-case basis. But I've got a lot of other tools in my case, you stupid faggot."

This internet thing is going to make belligerent morons of us all.

[dgwphotography]

I've made it a habit to try to avoid the comments section after most articles like that - they just make me too damned angry.

Beltran certainly gets a pass here, because he's working on something that will benefit thousands of kids from his home. Castillo and Perez I already have no use for, so getting angry with them over this is just piling on. This is as much of a non-story as the one about no Yankees showing for Bob Shepard's funeral...

[Ceetar]

dgwphotography wrote: This is as much of a non-story as the one about no Yankees showing for Bob Shepard's funeral...

at least the excuses were better than "the bus got stuck in traffic"

[smg58]

The irony is that if the Mets don't go and visit wounded soldiers, nobody gets mad at anybody, and nobody makes nasty comments.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

The comment sections after articles are very frustrating, especially because we allow people to hide behind fake names and pretty much say what they want. I get hammered routinely by a group of people with an obvious agenda, and I know some of them are staffers of groups I cover.

One of my buddies worked for a city's convention and visitors bureau. One of his jobs was to sign up for a million Google alerts, and any time the city was mentioned in a bad light, he was to sign on and post positive things, without saying, of course, that he was paid to do so.

So if a convention and visitors bureau is savvy enough to do that, you know the unions/political groups/companies have people on payroll doing the same.

Most of it is an intimidation tactic. They figure if they call me a "union-hater" often enough, or pound on me every time I quote this group or that, I'll stop writing stories that they think are critical of their group.

Our paper's web team wants us to get into the comments and answer questions and move the discussion along. They want the hits on the paper's site. But some of these people scare me. One was actually threatening me. We banned him, but there's nothing to prevent him from re-registering with another name.

[metirish]

Willets Point wrote: TransMonk wrote: This story is such a waste of ink and bandwidth. Agreed. It's second to the "Ground Zero Mosque" as a media-generated non-story.

this a thousand times. I'll be busy tomorrow......I'm going to a Koran burning.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Castillo's probably doubly unnerved by the prospect of getting crapped on for "dos manos" by a guy without any hands.

Yeah, this is really kind of stupid. Well, except for fueling my ever-burning Real American fanlust:

When R.A. Dickey was asked Wednesday if he had an opinion on some teammates not going, he said, "I do have thoughts on that. I don't want to make them public." He said he had not talked to any of the players who did not attend, but noted that he found the experience worthwhile. "To be able to look a guy in the eye who doesn't have arms or legs and say, 'Thank you,' that's a big deal," Dickey said. "I take it personally."

At which point, he gently placed down the basket of puppies he was personally nursing back to health, adjusted his katana blade in its back-scabbard, and flew off into the sky toward Adams Morgan, because he had heard an old woman crying for help there.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Castillo's probably doubly unnerved by the prospect of getting crapped on for "dos manos" by a guy without any hands.

Line of the year.

[metsmarathon]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I don't have a problem with what Castillo said. Disfigurations can give some people the Willies.

i have absolutely no problem with luis castillo's position on this. none. it comes across as weak and cowardly, sure, but you don't know what's going on in a guy's own head sometimes. phobias, fears, willies. its just plain unfair to judge a person on such a basis.

if luis is truly and deeply affected by this, as he says that he is, then i have no problem with his not going. i trust that he is telling the truth here. (has he been cowardly in his time with the mets?? i forget? how did he address the media after dropping the popup? does he stand up, or weasel and hide?)

ollie? well. he's just dumb for non-commenting. granted, his teammates probably told him not to fucking come.

[metirish]

Fuck you Castillo, fuck you Beltran and fuck you Ollie...fuck you gay people too

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't think he's particularly dumb for not commenting. Sheesh, if they've got evidence that he was at an anti-wounded vets event, let them show it.

[Willets Point]

metsmarathon wrote: ollie? well. he's just dumb for non-commenting. granted, his teammates probably told him not to fucking come.

They gave him the address and told him to meet them there. Turns out, it was really the Blue Oyster Bar, and Ollie doesn't really want to talk about what happened there.

[G-Fafif]

metirish wrote: Fuck you Castillo, fuck you Beltran and fuck you Ollie...fuck you gay people too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruNrdmjcNTc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E

I can feel a boot in my ass just watching those.

[batmagadanleadoff]

He's still my favorite Met this season, but fuck R.A. Dickey on this one.

[G-Fafif]

So 15 Mets visited Walter Reed two years ago (link courtesy of Mets Police) and everything is fine. 30 Mets visit this year and it's a scandal.

Is this like ERA where lower is better?

[Guest Edgy DC]

What, are you supposed to be? Some kind of comedian?

Somebody needs another boot in his ass. Where's Charlie Daniels?

[HahnSolo]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: He's still my favorite Met this season, but fuck R.A. Dickey on this one.

What did he do or say that was so bad?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: I don't think he's particularly dumb for not commenting. Sheesh, if they've got evidence that he was at an anti-wounded vets event, let them show it.

Hmm.

So, it does seem like Ollie is whatever he is at this point; that is, it seems increasingly like he ain't making any changes/improvements, or at least that they're not bloody likely.

At this point, were I a Wilpon, I'd seriously consider pulling Boras aside and pitching him the idea of turning Ollie "heel." Like, he starts being openly villanous-- flipping sick kids the bird, chopping his crotch when he retires batters, and, YES, founding and presiding over anti-wounded vets rallies (perhaps making out with simulated "army wives" as he does so). Worst case scenario? The Mets and Perez (the organization) tried something funky and failed, and they're in roughly the same place they're in now. Potential upside? A regional/national pop-culture phenomenon, perhaps? The Mets get their money's worth and get to try a partially different marketing tack-- call it "anti-mystique"-- that punctures the pomposity of the hermetic-nostalgia/Vertical-Swastika crowd across town and makes guys like Reyes, Wright, Pagan and Dickey all the more salable for their "face" personas. Perez gets a useful second career as Mexican Kenny Powers/New John Rocker that'll pay his bills a lot longer than that shitty fastball will.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Guest