Edgy MD

SteveJRogers wrote: SteveJRogers wrote: John Franco, Braden Looper and Billy Wagner gotten just as much flack as did Armando Benitez and currently Francisco Rodriguez, though the latter two do have some off the field issues that don't help their "it's all in the fans' heads" cause when it comes to ripping them. You don't believe that for a minute. Really now. I'll give you people were preconditioned to dislike Rodriguez and Benitez based on incidents and general behavior before becoming Mets (but then again I'm sure some of that caused people around here to be preconditioned to like them). But I'd wager that Franco is just as hated as Benitez was, but the fact that it has been so long since he was a regular closer, and the fact that the Mets brought him back to the fold has changed the narrative to him being a fan-favorite. Steve, you're re-writing history here. If you really want to want to go find all the negative articles written about John Franco and Braden Looper, I'll find all the negative ones written about Armando Benitez. I think we can save that time though, can't we? SteveJRogers wrote: SteveJRogers wrote: And I think it's a bit unfair to pull out a comment out of context (wow, someone being snarky on the internet, I for one am shocked...and stunned) to prove that anyone that dares suggest that the way Omar shaped his roster was racially motivated in anyway is in fact a racist him or herself. What comment did I pull out? I didn't aver that anybody is explictly a racist. But there are issues with double standards all around this team and this fanbase and they need to be addressed. Fine, you created a comment that you'd be sure would be plenty available in Raul Chavez signs with the Mets articles. I can buy that there are issues of double standards when it comes to certain issues within the fanbase, but at the same time you are picking on blind attempts at being funny on comment sections of articles as opposed to debates in message forums. I'm picking at hateful attempts at being hateful. SteveJRogers wrote: SteveJRogers wrote: The idea that the Mets were guilty of shaping the roster in that way does go back to comments and actions Omar himself had made early in his tenure. So it isn't a stretch to see someone make a snarky "gee I thought Omar was gone" retort on an article on the Mets signing a Latino ballplayer. What do you mean by "it isn't a stretch"? I don't think it's a stretch. I think it's tired, derogatory, hurtful, counterproductive, ignorant, petty, and embarassing. And those comments are all over the place. The Mets aren't "guilty" of anything in building their roster, except perhaps for not building it as well as they might have. So, Omar wasn't a racist, but anyone who suggests that the way he built the roster over the years is? When I call somebody a racist, I'll let you know. SteveJRogers wrote: Where there is smoke, there tends to be fire. Someone isn't going to make a snarky blind comment unless there was something to the insinuation in the first place. Seriously? Steve, seriously?

SteveJRogers wrote: Yeah, but the fans' response is still there years later, Whether it's us or not, it's still a story (which Tracksuit does a terrible job with, I think). Google "Mets sign Raul Chavez" and it's better than even money one of the first responses below the story will be something along the lines of "o great, another latino! I thou Omar was GONE!" It's just there and needs to be discussed. My experience suggests that nine times out of ten, if a player has labels of moral failure like "lazy," "jaking," "baby," "only cares about the money," "million-dollar arm/ten-cent head," we're talking about a non-white or foreign-born guy. At the same time though Tom Glavine is not exactly held in any amount of regard by the majority of the fanbase. None of those labels were applied to him and I certainly didn't say players of color were exclusively criticized. I'm talking about why some people get unfairly criticized. Sometimes hated. SteveJRogers wrote: And if you want to say "well, he was a member of the 1990s Braves dynasty" sure, but Steve Trachsel and Aaron Heilman are also lumped in as major sources of fan ire in recent years. Those lables weren't applied to them either. If I meant "ten times out of ten" I would have said it. SteveJRogers wrote: John Franco, Braden Looper and Billy Wagner gotten just as much flack as did Armando Benitez and currently Francisco Rodriguez, though the latter two do have some off the field issues that don't help their "it's all in the fans' heads" cause when it comes to ripping them. You don't believe that for a minute. SteveJRogers wrote: Just as much as Martino is cherry picking the current whipping boy, you can easily cherry pick non-minority Mets that have been the scourges of the fanbase in recent years. Actually, you're cherry-picking here, Steve. SteveJRogers wrote: And I think it's a bit unfair to pull out a comment out of context (wow, someone being snarky on the internet, I for one am shocked...and stunned) to prove that anyone that dares suggest that the way Omar shaped his roster was racially motivated in anyway is in fact a racist him or herself. What comment did I pull out? I didn't aver that anybody is explictly a racist. But there are issues with double standards all around this team and this fanbase and they need to be addressed. SteveJRogers wrote: The idea that the Mets were guilty of shaping the roster in that way does go back to comments and actions Omar himself had made early in his tenure. So it isn't a stretch to see someone make a snarky "gee I thought Omar was gone" retort on an article on the Mets signing a Latino ballplayer. What do you mean by "it isn't a stretch"? I don't think it's a stretch. I think it's tired, derogatory, hurtful, counterproductive, ignorant, petty, and embarassing. And those comments are all over the place. The Mets aren't "guilty" of anything in building their roster, except perhaps for not building it as well as they might have.

Facebook Guy wrote: Ok Mets. Castillo is gone, finally. Now how about Ollie? While you're at it, it's time to take Beltran behind the barn and put him out of his misery (and ours).

That nips my "Andy Martino isn't entitled to an opinion" Facebook page in the bud. Did he really write that? Is he Ms. Met?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Castillo cut! Twitter is gone all atwitter with the news.... And just when I was about to engage a dumbass who argued that fans booing Doug Sisk somehow proved they wouldn't also irrationally hate a black player. As if the charge wasn't racism but white supremacy. Hilarious that he had to go back a quarter century to find a white guy treated shittily enough to make his point. Aaron Heilman wouldn't serve?

The Second Spitter wrote: LS. you forgot injury prone. Anybody who asks "why all the hate" either: (1) Hasn't watched any baseball for the last year, possibly longer, or (2) Hasn't received much attention of late. Darryl Strawberry wrote: Brokenness comes from lack of love or not being loved. LOVE conquers all! Your actions not doctrine! We show people the love of God by actually loving them through care, concern and kindness. People say "I Love You" all of the time but are you really loving that person through your actions, what you say to them, spending time with them, your attitude and tone toward them and how you treat them? That is loving.

Sholy Shit, Shatman!

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Edgy DC wrote: It almost seemed like Track was trying to bait an emotionally vulnerable Castillo into making a complaint about racial mistreatment, and that would have certainly been career suicide. Castillo demonstrating better judgment in this regard than former manager Willie Randolph with his "smells a little bit" comment to Ian O'Connor in 2008 when O'Connor (that hack) tried to make his shaky managerial status a race thing. One former star second baseman learning from another...sort of. Don't expect the fans to interpret it that way. Already the reaction is as if Castillo made the charge. Yeah, good work there, Track.

Well, we didn't have anyone better last year and still buried him neck deep at the end of a bench. This is about all sorts of unfairness. I mean, he was buried behind other Latin players by a black manager working under an Afro-Latin GM. But it was still strange and unexplained.

It almost seemed like Track was trying to bait an emotionally vulnerable Castillo into making a complaint about racial mistreatment, and that would have certainly been career suicide.

G-Fafif wrote: What's lacking in this piece is any actual fan perspective on a story that's supposed to be about what "the fans" (as if we're all a homogeneous mass) are thinking, beyond an anecdotal reference to Twitter. I certainly agree. Martino punted here.

metsmarathon wrote: racism is everywhere and it is pervasive. but not everybody is a racist. it's just the blithering idiots. i actually think the nativism is a greater factor than racism. far greater. it's just buried a little deeper. oe: classism, too. Agreed.

metsmarathon wrote: unfortunately, for too many others, it is about imagined moral and character flaws realizing themselves as degraded performance on the field. But this is the crux. As baseball gets more expensive, the fanbase gets whiter. The greater virtues get projected onto the players folks identify with. The lesser ones onto the players they don't. It's always been there but it has to be discussed, because fueled by beer and frustration, it gets ugly, regressive, and sometimes dangerous. (Hold for a moment. I'm going to split and merge.)

Yeah, but the fans' response is still there years later, Whether it's us or not, it's still a story (which Tracksuit does a terrible job with, I think). Google "Mets sign Raul Chavez" and it's better than even money one of the first responses below the story will be something along the lines of "o great, another latino! I thou Omar was GONE!" It's just there and needs to be discussed. My experience suggests that nine times out of ten, if a player has labels of moral failure like "lazy," "jaking," "baby," "only cares about the money," "million-dollar arm/ten-cent head," we're talking about a non-white or foreign-born guy.

Few explicitly insert race into the mix. But it's there. It's all over this team and its fanbase. For all I know it's all over baseball, but the racial and nativist resentment surrounding this team is as persistent and evergreen as Jay Horwitz.

They hated on him well before the pop fly, and I think it's clear that Mets of color and foreign-born Mets have a different row to hoe regarding fan indulgence. That said, Martino has nothing there. No new angles, no juicy quotes, no Castillo willing to take the bait.

A lot of sources hintnig that Castillo's neck is on the block this morning, On what could be his last day as a Met, Tracksuit looks at the color issue.

Dwight F. Bernardlooks back. Not for nuttin', but what an uneventful career.

No? How about Mark Kiger and his wife Bedhead Barbie?

The Google, baby.

Bittiger, like Skip Lockwood, was a third-baseman-turned-starting-pitcher-turned-reliever. After the Mets dealt him to Philly, he homered in his first at-bat like the former hitter he was. He played parts of four seasons for the Phillies, Twins, and Cubbages. He's now a "player personnel consultant" with the independent league Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, which doesn't sound like sitting on top of the world, baseball-wise, but good on him. No shame in the Northern League. They're two-time defending champs. It's just that title that depresses me. He was originally a pitching coach for them back in 2003 before scouting for the A's for six years. Now he's got that scout-like title in the Northern League and, well, they owe him more than that. Steve Colyer, what ever happened to you?

You know that guy? He was moving up the ladder, I wasn't expecting much out of him, but I certainly expected him to appear --- maybe even a brief run as a starter, or a few signature moments, you know. But nothing. One day he was just gone. Anyhow, that's the purpose of this game. I mention a prospect I lost track of. You tell me what's become of him. Still in the system but seriously regressed? Toiling for the Round Rock Express? Indy leagues? Japan? Five-ten at Leavenworth? Then you conclude by floating a prospect you lost track of. Chase Lambin.

More than that, he was widely considered the league's standard bearer. For a long time, the instant argument against Phil Rizzuto's Hall of Fame candidacy was that if Marty Marion wasn't in, Rizzuto certainly shouldn't be.

Yeah. You should present your credentials to him forthwith with an offer to be his co-writer. That's a very thoughtful guy there, and honest enough to acknowledge right out that his thoughts can come out haphazardly. How many bloggers have this same problem and couldn't give a fig? With somebody to help him tease out his ideas and order them into a narrative, Mookie could author a wonderful book.

Mookie, trying very hard to find his voice with his first post in the blogosphere. There should be a Mookiesphere.