Beat Crazy

[Ceetar]

Sherman, today: They have duplicity with, say, a lefty-hitting second baseman. But the industry knows the Mets have had multiple disciplinary problems with Jordany Valdespin and that arbitration eligible Daniel Murphy is about to get expensive for a defensively deficient player without power. With Matt Den Dekker coming, the Mets should definitely make available fellow lefty-hitting outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis (viewed as a fourth outfielder in the industry) and maybe even Lucas Duda. Duda�s real position, first base, is blocked by Ike Davis. http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/no_bull_MKZdLSwtlJrPwemAOgrXWL#ixzz21Ai5iYSF Why "disciplinary problems" is he talking about with Jordany? I know he's a hot head and there are temperament issues, but the phrase he uses typically goes with NFL or college players and guns, drugs, or domestic violence. Am I unaware of some issue(s) or is Sherman overstating things?

It's the temperament thing. I've heard this said, a lot,(going back to before 2011 Spring Training) but I've never heard of specific incidents. He's always seen fine to me.

[Edgy MD]

It's all there in the narrative of my parenthood. The specifics aren't clear but you get the timeline. He appears to have been following Wally Backman up the ladder in the Mets' system, so he's been Wally's headache on like three different teams now, and when Wally MF Backman has to warn you about getting your temper under control, you're a loose cannon.

As former field manager for the Mets farm system, Terry knows exactly what he's dealing with.

[G-Fafif]

Speedo Tracksuit confirms thing you weren't wondering about isn't an issue. Great reporting!

NY Mets are fading in the pennant race, but are closing racial divide in the clubhouse Frank Francisco confirms white and Latino players harmonious in Flushing in far cry from Paul Lo Duca/Carlos Degado rift years ago NEW YORK DAILY NEWS SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012, 11:28 PM When Red Sox pitcher Vicente Padilla accused Mark Teixeira of racial insensitivity a few weeks back, he pulled Frank Francisco into the story, too. The Mets� closer was rehabbing in Port St. Lucie, Fla., then, but working at Citi Field over the weekend, so I could finally ask him: What was that about? More important, Padilla�s comments created a fresh chance to dive into the loaded dynamic between white and Latino players � and to learn that said dynamic has improved inside the Mets clubhouse since the Paul Lo Duca/Carlos Delgado years. This is not relevant to the standings. Harmonious or not, these banged-up Mets are sinking; the weekend�s sweep by the Dodgers, ending with Sunday�s 8-3 loss in 12 innings, provided further confirmation. But while the team has stagnated on the field, it has made progress in more difficult areas. First, the back story that has us talking about this again: Padilla told NESN.com this about his former Texas Rangers teammate: �The things (Teixeira has) done, against the Latinos, he doesn�t open his mouth about. ... He also had problems with Frank Francisco, our closer back then.� Teixeira called the charges �completely erroneous.� On Sunday, the closer acknowledged tension surrounding Teixeira in Arlington, but said he did not personally see race as the cause. �I never had a problem with him,� the thoughtful closer told me. �I know, like, most of the Latinos didn�t like him.� But as Francisco saw it, the issue was less loaded � a clubhouse card game that sometimes extended past the accepted window of 45 minutes before game time. �We used to play cards, and he didn�t like the game,� Francisco said. �It wasn�t Latin. It was me, Marlon Byrd, Kenny Lofton. We used to play together. �I never had a problem with (Teixeira),� he added. �He didn�t have a problem with me. It was with Kenny Lofton. Teixeira (had) three years in the big leagues back then, and Kenny Lofton was playing forever. Kenny Lofton said something to him, and he said, �Kenny, go back to your locker.�� But let�s cut a few layers deeper than old Rangers drama, and use the Padilla flap as another reminder of the cultural misunderstandings that divide major league clubhouses. Speaking generally about baseball teams and not the 2012 Mets, R.A. Dickey, who played with Teixeira and Francisco in Texas, agreed that race can be an �elephant in the room� in baseball. �You feel the segregation going on in the clubhouse,� Dickey said. �It is natural to hang out with people of your own culture, and there is nothing wrong with that. But the way it gets toxic is when it keeps you from interacting with your other teammates.� The Dominican-born Francisco agreed with his Tennessee colleague. �Sometimes Latinos have their own group,� the closer said. �Same culture. We have more in common, and probably talk about stuff that happened over there.� Both pitchers denied racial awkwardness in this year�s Mets clubhouse. �Honestly, here it�s one of the best,� Francisco said. �I�ve been on like five different teams, including the minor leagues, and here ... everybody gets along good.� Other seasons were messier. The way a longtime Met laid it out for me Sunday, there were lingering white/Latino tensions as recently as 2010. The dynamic, as described by the player, was this: Some white Mets grumbled that their Latino teammates received excessive playing time and contracts during the Omar Minaya era (a ridiculous assertion to anyone who knows the fair-minded Minaya). Still, those feelings engendered the same �they�re taking our jobs� paranoia that underlies the larger debate over immigration in America. Now, with mostly different personnel, disagreements involve simpler issues like the volume of a clubhouse stereo. �Some guys like the music, but I guarantee (others) here, they don�t like it,� Francisco said, chuckling. �They don�t like all that loud (stuff).� But the closer believes that on issues of cultural awareness, his team is in a good place. �We spend more time together than with our family,� Francisco said. �We�ve had to learn how to respect each other, and understand that everybody came from different cultures.� As for Padilla dragging him into this conversation, Francisco laughed while remembering a pitcher famous for head-hunting. �He�s different,� Francisco said. �The only problem was, he hits people all the time. Besides that, great guy.�

[bmfc1]

"It wasn't an issue until I told you about it and now it's not an issue. Look at me!"

[Edgy MD]

Tracky wasn't exactly on the job in the LoDuca/Delgado era.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Tracky wasn't exactly on the job in the LoDuca/Delgado era.

so his perception of it is purely from the other beat writers/narrative. Which he admits (I think?) by calling it a loaded dynamic?

And then finds some way to tie in a political reference about immigration! win!

[Edgy MD]

More important, Padilla�s comments created a fresh chance to dive into the loaded dynamic between white and Latino players � and to learn that said dynamic has improved inside the Mets clubhouse since the Paul Lo Duca/Carlos Delgado years.

This is a pretty awkward transition.

[Frayed Knot]

Also, is the implication that Delgado and LoDuco were the specific antagonists during that period or are they just being used as examples to set the era?

[MFS62]

I wonder who the "longtime Met" is.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: Also, is the implication that Delgado and LoDuco were the specific antagonists during that period or are they just being used as examples to set the era?

Yeah, just leave loaded implications out there, and we're supposed to nod knowingly as if we know specifically what he's referring to, and we don't.

LoDuca was a big-mouthed go-to guy for the beat writers, and then, during a losing streak, he complained that they don't go to the Latino guys. "They speak English, believe me," I believe, was his quote.

That's all I got, and it was unclear even then how much hostility was meant. But I can't get from there to the matter-of fact grumbling of whiteys over playing time given to Latinos.

[Ceetar]

That comment from Lo Duca always seemed more a dig at the media guys laziness than a knock at his teammates. But I could see how they wouldn't want to spin it that way.

[Edgy MD]

Agreed on both counts.

But it was also a statement of his frustration with being the spokesman he was always happy to be when things were going well.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Agreed on both counts. But it was also a statement of his frustration with being the spokesman he was always happy to be when things were going well.

well yeah, which is why it happened in 2007 and not 2006. ;-)

[Frayed Knot]

And is Delgado being included here for his Toronto-era comments about 'GBA' being installed as the 7th inning stretch song during the post-9/11 era and all the attached side issues there?
Carlos might have meant a lot of things by his comments but I'm not sure anti-white was one of them.

[Edgy MD]

Tracky's being slacky. And not a little bit tacky.

[bmfc1]

Martino with another anonymous quote. From the game story:

This, in a game that was in some ways a truer test than Harvey�s major league debut in Arizona last Thursday. That night, Harvey was finally living what he had waited most of his 23 years for, revved up and throwing 98 miles per hour, which he does not usually do. As one teammate put it, �He looked great, had great poise, but he also got lucky� in striking out 11 Arizona Diamondbacks, a franchise record for a Met debut.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/matt-harvey-solid-start-ny-mets-offense-t-touch-tim-lincecum-4-1-loss-san-francisco-giants-article-1.1126368#ixzz22J5v6MkB

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

bmfc1 wrote: Martino with another anonymous quote. From the game story: This, in a game that was in some ways a truer test than Harvey�s major league debut in Arizona last Thursday. That night, Harvey was finally living what he had waited most of his 23 years for, revved up and throwing 98 miles per hour, which he does not usually do. As one teammate put it, �He looked great, had great poise, but he also got lucky� in striking out 11 Arizona Diamondbacks, a franchise record for a Met debut. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/matt-harvey-solid-start-ny-mets-offense-t-touch-tim-lincecum-4-1-loss-san-francisco-giants-article-1.1126368#ixzz22J5v6MkB

That's a lazy cheap shot. I've vented at length on this topic over the years. But if I guy doesn't want to stand behind his words, then don't quote him. We're not dealing with Watergate and Deep Throat here. This isn't a source worth going to jail to protect the identity over.

It's about accountability for both the player AND Martino. I know this is rampant in the sports pages, but if reporters started growing a pair -- and gained some integrity -- it would happen a lot less.

I've known at least one reporter at a paper I've worked made up quotes and sources. He was fired, and he should have been. We have no guarantee that Martino isn't making this crap up because no one will call him on it.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The mug of the (new?) Newsday Mets beat guy, Mark Carig (or maybe Butch Huskey). I can't read his articles online but the Twitter makes him seem fairly ambitious.

I've been riding my bike to work almost every day and as a result don;t need something to read on the commute so I've been missing Tracky.

[Edgy MD]

If he's truly ambitious, he can be the next beat reporter to put Mike Francesa to sleep.

[youtube:13dnmb00]aAONQyJWC-8[/youtube:13dnmb00]

[G-Fafif]

Carig Tweeted something the other night that included the phrase "should of," which may have been some kind of in-joke that his MFY followers got, but was discouraging enough to make him the most briefly followed Mets beat writer in history (albeit my history). It was the same night I read a well-respected sportswriter use "jive" for jibe, noticed SNY couldn't spell "Tommie" and read a piece of analysis that was attacked for being "overly analytic". So this fucker can keep his cutesy "should of" BS off my fucking timeline.

(Also, some vigilant copy editor at Newsday changed his name and email address to "Craig" on his second article for them, so there ya go.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy DC wrote: If he's truly ambitious, he can be the next beat reporter to put Mike Francesa to sleep. [youtube]aAONQyJWC-8[/youtube]

That's great. Usually when Sweeney's on, Francessa never lets him get a word in because Mike can't stand to look as though he can possibly be informed of anything regarding the MFYs, since he already knows it, particularly better than some wet-behind-the-ears beat jockey. I guess this clip shows as much as well.

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: That's great. Usually when Sweeney's on, Francessa never lets him get a word in because Mike can't stand to look as though he can possibly be informed of anything regarding the MFYs, since he already knows it, particularly better than some wet-behind-the-ears beat jockey.

Francesa does that with everyone concerning every sport; his interviews don't ask questions, they make statements in order to see if the interviewee agrees with him.
Just because Sweeny has been doing this for 10 years or so doesn't get him off the hook.

[G-Fafif]

I sympathize with Mike Francesa. Listening to the Mike Francesa show often makes me drowsy.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think his know-it-all tendencies are most apparent during Sweeny's reports, a lot of them lately are just Mike interrupting then lecturing the poor guy.

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think his know-it-all tendencies are most apparent during Sweeny's reports, a lot of them lately are just Mike interrupting then lecturing the poor guy.

True, but the differences are mostly just a matter of degrees.

The funny thing in that clip is that when MF does snap out of it he appears to be pissed at the behind-the-scenes guys for allowing him to nod off in the first place.

[Edgy MD]

Brian Costa leaving the Mets beat at WSJ to become their national baseball writer.

WSJ, since covering baseball, seems to get as much wrong as anybody, but I applaud them for taking new angles and asking new (and often bigger) questions.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I read a full article on Newsday.com the other day. Did they quietly (or maybe not-so-quietly) end the paid subscription requirement?

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I read a full article on Newsday.com the other day. Did they quietly (or maybe not-so-quietly) end the paid subscription requirement?

long long time ago I think.

Edgy DC wrote: Brian Costa leaving the Mets beat at WSJ to become their national baseball writer. WSJ, since covering baseball, seems to get as much wrong as anybody, but I applaud them for taking new angles and asking new (and often bigger) questions.

Well yeah, they didn't want to make waves by not getting half of it wrong.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

No, I got half an article from Newsday just today. I think it depends on the content.

[G-Fafif]

Newsday still has the requirement but the mobile site doesn't. You can read that for free.