23
2009
Was The Bernazard Story Overblown?
An article by 
Brian Moritz of Press-Connects wrote a new article that sheds some more light on the alleged incident involving Tony Bernazard and what transpired in the clubhouse of the B-Mets.
The Double-A squad spent the day trying to downplay a story in the New York Daily News that said Tony Bernazard, the Mets’ vice president for player development, ripped his shirt off and challenged the players to a fight during a post-game tirade in the team’s NYSEG Stadium clubhouse July 1.
“I think it’s been blown out of proportion,” B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras said after his team’s 9-3 loss to the Connecticut Defenders. “Tony was trying to pump the players up. He took his shirt off but he had a T-shirt on underneath. To me, he never threatened anybody or asked anybody to fight. Before he started the meeting, he took his shirt off. That’s it. I’m telling you, it’s been blown out of proportion.”
In the original story reported by the Daily News, it said that Bernazard singled out the team’s shortstop Jose Coronado and called him a derogatory name referring to the female anatomy. But Brian Moritz reports a different story.
“No, he didn’t call me a name or ask me to fight,” Coronado said.
Brian also includes a quote from catcher Josh Thole, who believes the entire story has been totally overblown.
“This has been taken way too far,” B-Mets catcher Josh Thole said. “It’s uncalled for as far as you guys (the media) blowing this out of proportion, so I don’t think anything more should be said about it.”
Earlier today, I wrote a lengthy piece on why Omar needs to go.
Imagine if Omar Minaya had addressed this situation as soon as he first got a whiff of it?
Maybe the entire story has been overblown…
However, it could have been avoided and it may have never gotten to the press if Omar had simply picked up the phone, find out exactly what happened, and straightened out anything that needed to be corrected or addressed.
Instead, the news went in one ear and out the other, and only now does Omar decide he has to investigate.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Braves | 26 | 20 | .565 | 1.0 |
| Mets | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Marlins | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 23 | 23 | .500 | 4.0 |
Last updated: 05/25/2012
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No, it was not overblown. These players don’t want to lose their jobs, or be blacklisted within baseball.
It DID happen. As did all of the other stories that have come out regarding him. If the Mets don’t fire him, there’s no hope for the organization. All of the players hate him, he’s a jerk & treats them like crap, obviously.
Of course it really happened. And you were there to witness it. And the manager and the players that stepped forward to straighten out the record, including the purported target of TB’s alled outrage, are wrong.
I pray that you never sit on a jury.
Ha! Get a hold of yourself. It did happen. Why would I bother saying it did if I didn’t know that? If I didn’t know, I would say that I think/felt that it really happened.
What or who is your source of information? Is it based upon your personal knowledge and observation or upon someone else’s? Three other people that were present disagree with your assertion. How is it that your knowledge and interpretation of the events that concern TB in the lockerroom that evening is superior to others who are known to be present, have spoken out, and have identified themselves?
Pray, tell.
Some past accusations against Tony B. are that he gets too close to Latin players. Well I guess we won’t hear that one any more.
This story is starting to endear the Tony B. approach to me!!
As far as the unnamed player on the Mets who commented that “nobody likes him” I’d bet a nice chunk of change that it was Wright who said that in anonymity. Wright was close with Willie and it’s no secret that Tony was the main catalyst to Willie’s demise.
Ha! Really, if you knew how many of the players can’t stand him (pretty much all) then you wouldn’t have a guess. It could have been anyone really.
You’ve got a fertile imagination, so consider writing a fiction story. You just did.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF ASSUMING GOING ON HERE:
1) THE ASSUMPTION THAT B-MET PLAYERS & MGR.(TONY B. HIRED) HAVE AN AGENDA FOR LYING HERE
2) OMAR DID ABSOLUTLY NOTHING AFTER HE ORIINALLY FOUND OUT. LET’S ASSUME DIFFERENTLY, OMAR WAS INFORMED, PICKED UP THE PHONE, CALLED JEFF & TONY TO INFORM THEM OF WHAT HE HEARD. REC’D DIRECTION FROM JEFF. LIKELY TO HEAR TONY’S STORY BEFORE ACTING. CALLED TONY, HEARD HIS VERSION, CALLED B-MET OFFICIALS, HEARD THEIR VERSION OF “NO BIG DEAL” AND WHO IS TO KNOW NONE OF THIS OCCURRED. SPEAKING FROM MY OWN MNGT EXPERIENCE, ASSUMING IT ALL SEEMED OK PER TONY & B-METS WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT PUBLIC IF IT WASN’T ALREADY, ESP IN NYC? CERTAINLY, ONCE IT WAS PUBLISHED, SAYING U KNEW & FOUND IT TO BE NOTHING SOUNDS LIKE A COVERUP. SO, SINCE MOST LIKELY THIS IS JEFF’S CALL ON HIS BOY, OMAR HAD TO FOLLOW ORDERS REITERATING A NEED TO INVESTIGATE, REPEATEDLY AS HE WAS NOT AT LIBERTY TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE ACCOUNTING FOR HIS DISCOMFORT WITH THE QUESTIONS.
PESONALLY, I’VE NO USE FOR TONY THE BUZZARD; BUT AS A PEOPLE MANAGER OF CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE WITH A FORTUNE 500, I KNOW MOST EMPLOYEE FOIBLES ARE NOT BLACK & WHITE SITUATIONS. ERRING ON SIDE OF CAUTION IS USUALLY BEST. TYPICALLY THE NYM BUNGLE THESE THINGS SUCH AS THE CLEON JONES’ SEX IN A VAN ESCAPADE, THE STEVE PHILLIPS SEXUAL HARASSMENT SITUATION AND I GUESS WE’RE FORTUNATE BERNAZARD DIDN’T COME ON TO A PLAYER ONCE HIS SHIRT WAS REMOVED.LOL I’VE BEEN TO MANY A MNGT SEMINAR WHERE THERE ARE ‘TRICK SITUATIONS INVOLVING ABHORANT, OUT OF CHARACTER EMPLOYEE ACTIONS THAT ARE CATASTROPHIC IF KNEES ARE JERKING. TYPICALLY YOU COME TO FIND OUT THE BEHAVIOR IS RELATED TO SOME PERSONAL CRISIS IN THE EMPLOYEES LIFE, RIGHT AFTER YOU MAKE THE WRONG DECISION, CAN U SPELL WRONGFUL TERMINATION LAWSUIT? IT COULD NMAKE MAIDOFF A DROP IN BUCKET.
IF I RECALL CORRECTLY AN INCIDENT OF BUS RAGE, COST US A FUTURE ALL-STAR PLAYER IN MELVIN MORA AFTER WE SHIPPED HIM OFF FOR CLOCKING REY ORDONEZ ON THE TEAM BUS. THAT’S TYPICAL KNEEJERK PENALTY OF RASH DECISIONS REAPING POOR RESULTS.
Of course the manager and the players are going to say its overblown. They dont want to feel any repercussions on speaking out. It wouldnt surprise me if Omar and the Wilpons told the manager and players what to say to try and take some of the heat off that a-hole bernazard. The organization is becoming a joke….or is it already a joke? Changes are needed and lets begin by firing Tony B.
The one issue that clearly isn’t “overblown” is the fact that for two years we’ve only heard TB mentioned in a negative light.
Incidentally, was his tirade at Citi overblown?
The guy is a major asswipe. How good a baseball man he is remains unknown. It’s also clear that the Big Mets’ players hate his ass.
So even if the Binghamton incident is a no-biggie (could be), why do we have a person like this so high up in the organization. God knows the results don’t support keeping a POS like this.
I agree moreso with your comments, Russ. Whether the story is true or not, there’s been too much negativity surrounding him and not enough performance to justify his continued employment.
I wish our focus could shift to something useful like someone instructing Ollie Perez on the virtues of an overhand delivery, which is easier to repeat, so he can gain consistency in his wind-up. He’s a tall lefty with a long wingspan and could just as easily emphasize downward movement on his pitches instead of side-to-side with his current sidewinding delivery. I would make him watch 3 hours of Steve Carlton tapes everyday until it sunk in. I’m blown away that no one has grasped this concept in an effort to reduce his walk totals.
Sorry to digress, but I wanted to discuss baseball for a change.
He looks like Al Leiter at the end of his career to me trying to hit the corners and walking a boatload.
The pitty is that Ollie has a very live arm. He’s the protypical pitcher who is allowed to be wild within the strike zone. If he adjusted his arm angle and threw over the top 3/4′s plus, he could put some nasty downward movement on pitches and moderate the break with by tightening or relaxing his grip and moderate the speed with his arm velocity AFTER his front foot lands.
Another way of looking at it is this: the strike zone has greater height than width. A pitcher can moderate the height of a pitch with his stride more than with his arm angle. A pitcher can more easily and accurately control the location of his pitch with his follow-through if the other variables remain constant. This is done with his legs and torso.
A pitcher can moderate the movement of a pitch through his grip, wrist and arm action. But that comes last. The foundation for control is in the wind-up, which is controlled primarily by the legs and torso action.
While we can’t turn Ollie into Greg Maddux, the principals that Maddux relied upon to establish superior control upon are universal.
Bullshit spin control by the Mets P.R. team.
From the beginning I thought the import of this escapade was that of an average locker room story on newspaper steroids.
Having played some college baseball and having worked for a big Fortune 500 company for 30 years, I have seen these contretemps many times. They happen in every organization and are usually not discussed beyond the next water cooler session. What was the big deal? Omar minimized its importance, so what?
Let’s judge Omar and Tony Bernazard on their baseball success. Let’s not parse the distinctions between baseball etiquette and baseball ethics to column-filling extremes.
I’m a fan, not too impressed at the moment with the Mets success, but I won’t hold Omar or Tony to standards beyond the playing field.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. If someone is threatened in that way, it is never ok. Brushing those things aside will only work for a short time, if at all.
Everyone expected this team to be #1 this year. But without leadership and real chemistry, it’s not going to happen, no matter who you have playing for you. You all know that. And when one of the main people in charge of dealing with all of the players acts this way, how do you expect those players to perform?
The players need to know that the organization has their best interests at heart. You tell me how they’re supposed to know that in this one?
What makes me laugh is that the media have accused Bernazard, inter alia, of making reference to “female anatomy.” My street slang dictionary suggests he probably called Coronado “a pussy”…BFD!!!
I doubt Coronado wilted in a corner and wept, because if he did, well… he’d be a pussy.
I played on sports teams for 20 years and sometimes those heated sessions are ultimately what brought people closer. Frankly, I don’t think this current Mets team has any balls.
Just the other day, Matt Diaz rolled onto DW’s back right calf after being forced at third to prevent Wright from completing a doubleplay throw to first. It was a cheap shot. We’re a long, long ways away from when Ray Knight popped “The” Eric Davis in the face after Davis pushed him at 3rd base.
Again, I’m not a Bernazard supporter – I don’t like the current direction of the organization as a whole. But I disdain witch hunts and irresponsible journalism even more. I have a big problem listening to some BS spouted by some self-proclaimed baseball “insider” cashmere cupcake who doesn’t know jack-$hit about the game itself. That REALLY pisses me off.
I’m no General George Patton, but after spending years playing, watching, and coaching all sorts of organizations, including baseball teams, this story was only slightly more important than an out of town obituary.
So when a Manager goes berserk in a locker room over turning the food table, throwing chairs, getting in the face of his players that’s ok?
BUt when an already unpopular upper management person on a team having a horrible year attempts to “fire up” a lackluster team in the organization by taking off his over shirt BEFORE giving a passionate speech, he should be let go?
Of course media the Tony . story is has been over-blown. Why is Charley M. still allowed to manage? Lou P.? Ozzie G. of the White Sox? These are grown men working a professional job, not children. Professional ahtletes don;t fall under child welfare laws as pampered as they may be. The team was playing poorly and Tony B. went after them. Shrugs.. I think we need to get over it and move on. Obviously Tony B. has some vlaue to the Met organization or he wouldn’t be around.
Blog writers ever on the look out for a easy to write story latch on to the now we know, INCORRECT report that Tony. B. ripped off his shirt and gave a bare chested speech to the Bing. Mets. A speech that we now DID NOT single out the shortstop of the team and DID NOT call the player a derogatory word.
I’m fine with it. Lets get on to more important things like; WOW! Gary Sheffield is STILL suffering from the 120+ hour leg muscle cramp!
Someone alert the Alias Bureau Sports people! God! Amazing!
no. it was not overblown. Omar is over blown. Just blow him and his low-class sidekick out of town.
So is it my imagination or does our illustrious GM have something against Players born and raised on North America? Roy Halladay is sort of available but the Phillies will get him. Matt Holliday was available but the Cards got him and then there is La Roche to the BO SOX. It seems like Omar is either the most pridefull and yet poor judge of talent in the history of the Mets or he is only will to look at players who have Spanish as a first language. Thank god we were lucky enough to get David Wright by some miracle. HELLOOOOOO WE NEED PITCHERS AND BATS!!! Does it take a genius to get that????? Trade our non-producing underclassment give us a chance to move forward. Maybe the Mets ownership is telling Omar to write off this season. If that is the case could they PLEASE share their wisdom with their, once again, ashamed fans. Someone explain how the heck we lose 2 of 3 to the NATS!!!!! Maybe their GM is better than ours cause we know our manager is better than our record show.