OK, so I just got the latest Ebbet’s Field Flannels and this t-shirt made me immediately think of my New York Mets. As of today the team batting average is .254 — which is not good for a team with a $140 million payroll.
Even though DP has been spending a lot of time on basketball (Shaq composing a song to Kobe — how sweet! — and the NBA draft) I’m glad he was able to squeeze in some baseball talk today. And what a plus: he chatted with former Mets pitcher and current Mets broadcaster Ron Darling. I’ve always liked Ronnie, and not because he is one of the few Asian Americans to make it to the big leagues. He’s from Hawaii, which practically makes us related. (I think there are at most six degrees of separation for people who were born in Hawaii.) He was a very good pitcher for the Mets (winning the World Series with them in 1986) and is a great analyst. His work with TBS worries me and a lot of other Mets fans in that the national exposure might lead to a big network luring Ron away from the Mets’ regional network. It was neat to hear that Ron is a KO fan. Why is it that we feel a connection to total strangers who like the same things we do? Gary Cohen, the Mets’ play-by-play man, has mentioned getting home after games and tuning in to the late night “Countdown” rebroadcast. That makes it two out of three, as the other Mets broadcaster is Keith Hernandez (he of the “What’s that girl doing in the dugout?” fame), who expresses a more conservative opinion than do his booth-mates.
In discussing the NBA draft DP brought up the issue of “character issues.” (I liked Paulie’s comment “I don’t have character, but I have plenty of issues.”) It sounds like the big Character Issue Guy in this draft is O.J. Mayo. It got me thinking about baseball (which I think about a lot anyway) and how behavioral and criminal problems of NBA and NFL players often make the news and how little of that you hear regarding MLB players. Or NHL players, for that matter. Baseball and hockey have elaborate minor league systems and most players drafted into those leagues spend at least a few years toiling in the minors. Even guys who sign million dollar contracts spend time in the minors. This means long bus rides between small cities pretty much out in the middle of nowhere and way less than Michelin Guide five-star meals and accommodations. Perhaps this helps to stifle any potential behavioral problems. In a way, it’s a good come-down for guys who grew up as gifted athletes and who were probably spoiled by their families, friends, schools, and communities. A little time in the minors might help with keeping them grounded. Additionally, more players from Latin America and the Caribbean are entering the MLB system and with most of them coming from impoverished backgrounds they have a hungrier attitude than many Americans and this might help keep everyone more focussed on developing their skills as opposed to goofing around and getting into trouble.
The Mets are still playing inconsistent ball, losing a series to the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are 28-50 and on pace to lose about 104 games this season. This is nowhere near the 120 the Mets lost in the inaugural year, 1962. So we still got that going for us.
And even though our manager and centerfielder got tossed in the 11-0 loss to Seattle’o Murderers Row a couple nights ago, the umpire who did the tossing, Brian Runge, gave us a nice il mio male after conferring with his father, former MLB umpire Paul Runge.
Even umpires can achieve redemption. The apology shows that Runge the Younger doesn’t have a character issue, even if he did let his emotions get the better of him during the game.
Really, the only reason I bring this up is to mention that I used to watch Paul Runge umpire games in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League back in the day when the PCL included the Hawaii Islanders and not the Omaha Royals.
Omaha’s on a coast? The Pacific coast?
This also gives me an excuse to use a great quote by the late Ed Runge, father of Paul and grandfather of Brian, on the task of an umpire:
For those of you scoring at home: Yes, the Runges are a three-generation umpiring family.
