Jordangry

[Edgy MD]

Different outlets are reporting this Valdespasm of anger with varying degrees of gravity, so, you know, make of it what you will.

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/in-mets-clubhouse-tension-over-valdespins-t-shirt/ In Mets Clubhouse, Tension Over Valdespin�s T-Shirt By ANDREW KEH SAN FRANCISCO � There was an awkward scene in the Mets clubhouse late on Wednesday, even as the team was celebrating a 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. Jordany Valdespin, the Mets rookie utility player, became angry when he returned to his locker to find the shirt he had worn to the ballpark torn and written upon. The sleeves of the white T-shirt were shredded. On the back of the shirt were the words �El Hombre� and on the front was a variation on the popular I Love New York design, reimagined as �NY Loves Valdy.� �That�s not funny,� Valdespin yelled at no one in particular. �I never play like that.� The prank was apparently meant to teach the rookie a lesson. The players were supposed to wear collared shirts to the ballpark. The tension then seemed to dissipate just as quickly as it arose. Valdespin ended up wearing the shirt out of the clubhouse, laughing with his teammates and stopping to pose for photographs they snapped with their cellphones.

[Ceetar]

That article makes it sound like Valdespin was initially miffed that his teammates were implying something about his play but lightened up when he realized it was only rookie hazing about him skirting dress code rules.

[Edgy MD]

Probably exactly what it is, but different reports seem have different levels of subtext, insinuating what kind of loose cannon Valdespin may or may not be.

I just thought it was worth re-printing here, for the sake of the thread title, if nothing else.

[metirish]

Handbags and nothing else.....piss taking really.

[G-Fafif]

I'd like to hear what Billy Wagner thinks.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Probably exactly what it is, but different reports seem have different levels of subtext, insinuating what kind of loose cannon Valdespin may or may not be. I just thought it was worth re-printing here, for the sake of the thread title, if nothing else.

Definitely. Jordangry is a great word.

It'd make a great meme too. You wouldn't like him when he's Jordangry.

[metirish]

G-Fafif wrote: I'd like to hear what Billy Wagner thinks.

shit, Tony Bernazard ripped his shirt of and ran around the clubhouse screaming street spanish......what a scene...

[TransMonk]

Know your place, Jordangry.

[Edgy MD]

Oh, God, Justin! You don't know what you're doing!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ceetar wrote: You wouldn't like him when he's Jordangry.

Because then he'd start swinging wildly and making mental errors?

[G-Fafif]

I seem to recall a couple of months ago when all was Met sweetness and light that somebody (Wright, I think) was proudly explaining that we don't haze rookies here, we're all a family, helping new guys get acclimated (and instead of forcing newbies to don the sundresses, they wore Western wear and hockey sweaters). But, I guess, Valdespin must be testing somebody's patience.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: I seem to recall a couple of months ago when all was Met sweetness and light that somebody (Wright, I think) was proudly explaining that we don't haze rookies here, we're all a family, helping new guys get acclimated (and instead of forcing newbies to don the sundresses, they wore Western wear and hockey sweaters). But, I guess, Valdespin must be testing somebody's patience.

I remember that article but not who was quoted in it. hazing via enforcing a dress code (and thereby unity right?) seems a little different.

I don't think we've seen the pink backpack this season have we?

[bmfc1]

I guess this means that Martino will have an article soon on riffs in the Mets clubhouse, perhaps something about conflicts between white players and Latino players, and how Terry Collins is losing control of his team, as he is alleged to have done in the past.

[bmfc1]

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: I seem to recall a couple of months ago when all was Met sweetness and light that somebody (Wright, I think) was proudly explaining that we don't haze rookies here, we're all a family, helping new guys get acclimated (and instead of forcing newbies to don the sundresses, they wore Western wear and hockey sweaters). But, I guess, Valdespin must be testing somebody's patience. I remember that article but not who was quoted in it. hazing via enforcing a dress code (and thereby unity right?) seems a little different. I don't think we've seen the pink backpack this season have we?

When I go to Nationals Park, I sit on the 3B side and the Mets bullpen is in LF. I always look for the bearer of the pink backpack as the relievers make their walk from the dugout to the bullpen. The last two times I was there, no one had the pink backpack.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

G-Fafif wrote: I'd like to hear what Billy Wagner thinks.

Billy was just trying to familarize Lastings with the rules of chess.

[G-Fafif]

The Second Spitter wrote: G-Fafif wrote: I'd like to hear what Billy Wagner thinks. Billy was just trying to familarize Lastings with the rules of chess.

Know your rook's place.

[Ceetar]

Valdespin is apparently still wearing the shirt.

[Edgy MD]

Know your place, Rook

[MFS62]

Vangelis?
Missed that the first time around.
Really LOL!

Later

[G-Fafif]

pI_nk0L-cF4

Jordany get angry
Jordany get mad
Give unnamed veteran
The biggest lecture he ever had

[Edgy MD]

MFS62 wrote: Vangelis? Missed that the first time around. Really LOL! Later

Don't sell Vangey short. Before his Oscar-glomming days, he had a prior life as a progressive rocker, selling over 20 million with his Greek outfit Aphrodite's Child, who occasionally included Irene Pappas as a guest vocalist. After they broke up, he made a pile of crazy-assed electronic solo albums, before being recruited for the high-profile job off replacing mad scientist Rick Wakeman in Yes. They rehearsed for a month or two before he one day looked up at Jon Anderson and said, "Look, this isn't going to work --- I'm just too awesome."

No small amount of Americans --- including my father --- enchanted by Van's piano soloing from Chariots of Fire, picked up a Vangelis solo album to serve as after-dinner music, only to have their minds blown by freaky-deaky electronica.

[Guest themetfairy]

Edgy DC wrote: Know your place, Rook

Possibly my finest parody contest entry.

[G-Fafif]

Well, this is a stupid relief.

A day after his teammates sent a message by doing uninvited alterations to Jordany Valdespin's white T-shirt, the rookie arrived at the ballpark in a more-businesslike collared shirt. Valdespin acknowledged he initially was upset when he returned to his locker after Wednesday's game and found the T-shirt's sleeves cut up with "EL HOMBRE" printed on the back and other markings. He had considerably calmed down by the time he left AT&T Park after that game. He actually wore the defaced T-shirt in the clubhouse again before today's game, showing a sense of humor. "At the time you get mad, but what can I do?" Valdespin said. "I'm not going to fight with anybody in here. We're a family in here. Sometimes they do it to be happy, have fun." Valdespin gave an interesting response when told that one day he could be a veteran and police the clubhouse, performing rituals such as cutting up unauthorized shirts. (Terry Collins has a dress code that includes no T-shirts.) Valdespin pointed to the locker of David Wright nearby, said Wright respects all of his teammates and added that he would follow that model and never do such things, even if some of his current teammates found it appropriate to destroy his clothing. "No, no, no, no. I'd never do that," Valdespin said. "You know why? You've got to respect everybody. The example here is this guy, David Wright. He's the captain of the team and he respects everybody. ... The respect is very important on this team." Collins appeared satisfied Valdespin's veteran teammates handled the issue -- or non-issue, in reality. "Especially when you're a rookie, once in a while you make an error in judgment," the manager said.

Boys will be idiots, but the de facto Captain doesn't shred shirts.

(Unauthorized shirts, at that.)

[Edgy MD]

Collins appeared satisfied Valdespin's veteran teammates handled the issue -- or non-issue, in reality.

He ignores clubhouse problems on his fantasy team.

[bmfc1]

As suggested above, Martino is on the case! In an article posted on Thursday nigh story, he leads with this:
[note: this version is not on the website as of early Friday AM]

A pink shirt with a white collar, with the collar being the most important thing. That is what rested on a hanger in Jordany Valdespin's locker before Thursday's 9-1 win over San Francisco, while Valdespin wore his vandalized white t-shirt, and a smile.

and later, there are two anonymous veterans:

The incident also dragged into the open clubhouse mutterings about Valdespin's brashness, not typical for a rookie � even one with a habit of knocking pinch-hit homers. Whether or not this is a problem depends on who you ask; as with any issue in a group of 25 people, opinions vary. So while one veteran says, "He doesn't have a single friend on this team," another says, "He's not a bad guy at all, he just doesn't get certain things yet."

He sums things up and decides that all is well, for now:

Only postseason hindsight will tell us whether it is reasonable that the Mets are descending into the dysfunction that can haunt out-of-it teams. Josh Thole and Tim Byrdak have long since squashed any resentment that lingered from Byrdak's on-field anger last month about pitch selection, and Pedro Beato, who publicly criticized Thole, is in the minor leagues. The group remains mostly cohesive.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/jordany-valdespin-experiences-rookie-hazing-ny-mets-roll-9-1-win-san-francisco-giants-article-1.1127869#ixzz22RCTfBlx

Edited August 2, 2012 by Guest

[Ceetar]

this is all Carlos Beltran's fault. If this was last year, he would've already had bought Jordany some shirts/clothes and he would've known what to do.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Ceetar wrote: this is all Carlos Beltran's fault. If this was last year, he would've already had bought Jordany some shirts/clothes and he would've known what to do.

I have a photo of Carlitos shirtless. He has one of the best physiques I've seen on a man. (nttawwt)

[G-Fafif]

Not so angry, but, per Brian Costa, oh so cocky!

SAN FRANCISCO�On the surface, it was a simple violation of a team dress code. Rookie Jordany Valdespin wore a white T-shirt on the Mets' team bus Wednesday, rather than a collared shirt. And what happened next is well-known by now: Teammates cut up the shirt and wrote on it with marker. Valdespin fumed. Then he calmed down and laughed it off. But there is also little doubt that Valdespin's overall demeanor and reputation played into the episode. Simply put, he is the kind of player that some older players view as needing to be taught a lesson, and not just on how to dress. That is partly a reflection of Valdespin, who has the swagger of a superstar at age 24. But it is also indicative of baseball's unwritten rules for rookies. First-year players are expected to act with a certain outward deference to veterans. They are generally expected to be seen and not heard. Things like cranking his own music in the clubhouse, as Valdespin did a few days ago, though seemingly harmless in other contexts, is frowned upon within the fraternity of major-league players. "Personally, I don't have a problem with Valdy," Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey said. "I think he plays hard. At the same time, there's a learning curve on his part." That is true with all rookies, but because he has been labeled cocky and immature dating to his minor-league days, Valdespin doesn't get the same benefit of the doubt. "I think he has to work hard to do it cleaner and better than everybody else, because for whatever reason, it seems he's got a label that has come with him," Dickey said. "In my mind, if I'm him, I'm trying to do it better and cleaner than everybody else." On the field, Valdespin has shown flashes of great potential. He entered Friday with five pinch-hit home runs, the most in a single season in team history. Overall, he was batting .265 with seven home runs and 23 RBI. Though Valdespin came up as an infielder, he also has played all three outfield positions this season. He doesn't lack confidence. Generally, rookies are praised for "acting like they belong." But that is true only to a point. And even Valdespin acknowledged he is still learning how to carry himself. "When you come here, you have to respect everybody in here," Valdespin said. "They can do whatever they want. I can't do whatever I want to do. I'm a rookie, and I have to respect them." At times, the way rookies are treated seems less than professional. Dickey wrote about the issue in his memoir, in which he recalled an older teammate kicking his shoes across the clubhouse simply because he didn't like how close they were to his locker. When rookies have no voice or sense of ownership, Dickey said, it is bad for the clubhouse culture. But by all accounts, the Mets are a pretty lax bunch. Young players are still encouraged to be themselves. They're just expected to adhere to team protocol and, around the clubhouse, be more observant than outspoken. Some conform willingly. Rookie pitcher Matt Harvey said when he was in the minors, he might put his own music on the clubhouse stereo and dance around a bit. "Up here," he said, "I'm watching and learning and seeing how the older guys do everything." But for others, the unwritten rules of the majors take time to learn. It can take weeks of silent observation, a lecture from a veteran teammate or, in some cases, a T-shirt shredded and markered. "We've all had times like that," reliever Tim Byrdak said. "When you get up to this level, you don't really know what to expect. There's no book that can tell you exactly what to do here and what to wear."