LoDuca is Mets leader...period.
Paul LoDuca has had a rough two weeks. He's lost his starting spot in the All-Star Game [I gave him my 25 votes.], he's bruised and banged up, he's facing a two game suspension, and he hasn't been batting very well [BA dropped from .319 to .282 during the unfinished month of June]. Why can't we give the guy a break? Throughout the year Paulie has been arguably one of the Mets most consistent hitters.
After the rain out against the St. Louis Cardinals LoDuca lashed into a radio reporter saying:
"You need to start talking to other players," he said loudly. "It's the same three or four people (who deal with the media) every day. Nobody else wants to talk. Some of these guys have to start talking. They speak English, believe me." [Star-Ledger]
Give me a break, now everybody is calling him a racist?! There's no way. After every game I watch I always see interviews with LoDuca on television. It's funny too because I was wondering the other day why I never see Delgado explaining his recent slump, or Valentin or Franco ["leaders" of the team] talking about the game or their recent batting hardships. I thought Franco was supposed to be a leader?
In the beginning of the second game Hamels threw at Reyes, and a warning was issued. Therefore Maine could not throw at one of the 'cheese-steak' hitters, and Willie was clearly upset that the warning was issued so quickly. Later in the game John Maine got hit by Geoff Geary, and Geary did not get thrown out! Why wasn't Randolph out there arguing? He just shook his head. [I am a Willie supporter, this just upset me].
LoDuca is a leader. He plays hurt, and he plays with a fire that a lot of teams would love to have [Yankees? Haha]. He speaks to the media when they lose, and he speaks to the media when they win. He handles our young and inexperienced pitchers very well. Along with Rick Peterson, I believe LoDuca has a lot to do with the progression with this electric pitching staff [with the exception of El Duque and Glavine]. I think we need to give him a pass. The whole team sat in the clubhouse until around 12 o'clock before the game was cancelled, and I’m sure it was getting to everyone on the team [I know the fans were mad]. What really made me happy was that all the players on the team stood up for LoDuca. It was the only positive I pulled out of this whole “ordeal”. LoDuca is the leader of the Mets and I think it’s about time they rewarded him…captain maybe? Contract extension?
