With Twitter, Facebook and blogs – both mainstream and otherwise – available throughout the 24/7/365 news cycle, it’s impossible to not transfer that meme to those that cover and watch sports.  On Saturday, Jordany Valdespin took one to the forearm a day after he embarrassingly celebrated a home run during a Pirates blowout win.  What resulted was talk about the validity of Pittsburgh’s Bryan Morris‘ actions, and how the Valdespin’s teammates reacted. Instead of continuing this news “filler,” let me set everyone straight as to what the deal is with Valdespin.

First, Jordany Valdespin is nothing more than a backup player. He isn’t the future, nor is he a clone of Jose Reyes, the answer in the outfield or infield, or some sort of energizer for a slumping offense. He possesses poor plate discipline and is an average defender, at best, at any position. His career MILB on-base percentage was .330. In the big leagues he’s shown even less of a penchant to get on-base with his .287 clip. Even worse, he doesn’t come across as a hard worker or someone that possesses a big league baseball IQ. There is nothing with Valdespin’s process that screams big league starter, much less star. I have my doubts he will stick around since he seems unable to endear himself to any clubhouse throughout his career.

This is not about race. The players dislike Valdespin because of who he is. Think it’s just his current teammates? After a game-winning grand-slam against the Dodgers, former B-Mets reliever Erik Turgeon took to Twitter and shared these nuggets:

“Valdespin with a walk off home run. If you need me I will be in the bathroom throwing up! I have Zero respect for that piece of s***”

“If your shocked that, then you don’t kno bout all that! Happy for the mets wish someone deserving got the hit like Lagares!”

“Tough for me to get Valdespin out when I’m on the same team as him don’t ya think?”

“Evidence ask your favorite guy in the organization who there least favorite guy is”

Who cares what a retired minor league reliever says, right? What about his current teammates, none who seemed upset or enraged that he was plunked on Saturday. There was furor about how John Buck conducted the pie celebration after that very same grand slam. When I asked Buck about it last week his response with a coy smile was telling: “A big walk-off home run deserves a big pie to the face.”

Read from that what you will, but contrite, at least in my opinion, is not the word to use when describing Buck’s comments. Remember, this is the same guy that was suspended in the minors for an undisclosed incident (some speculation is that it was for a Ruben Rivera-type action, read into that what you will), and again this past offseason during winter ball. There is too much smoke around Valdespin’s fire.

On a good team Valdespin provides speed and power off the bench. Those are characteristics that do make him valuable. His clownish behavior is probably overshadowing that right now, making the story more about him than the team. This will be tolerated when someone like R.A. Dickey is winning Cy Young Awards, but rarely so with a borderline big league player. Valdespin embarrassed the Mets this weekend. Take those blue and orange sunglasses off and see what the opponents do to another bad team celebrating a meaningless home run. It reminds me of how the Nationals used to be when they had Anderson Hernandez, Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes: Bad attitude, clownish behavior and, worst of all, a lot of losses.

The shame of it all is Valdespin does have some raw talent. If he took the time to learn from those around him, and put the effort into improving, perhaps there would be hope for better days ahead. Right now, you can’t even get him to take extra batting practice. He consistently never shows up to such events, which is almost sacrilegious on a team that is hitting so poorly; even more damning for a wet behind the ears rookie.

If I were the Mets I would move on from Valdespin ASAP. You probably don’t want to release him as he is too good to be put on the waiver wire. Perhaps there is a minor deal that Alderson can spring for an outfielder. Not a starter or star, but someone that is a bench player, but is a starter on this team due to circumstances. Maybe another team looks at Valdespin’s talent and thinks they can “steal” a future contributor. You never know what you can get if you ask.

Sandy Alderson needs to set the tone and show the club that professionalism and behavior matters to this organization. Ridding the clubhouse of Valdespin won’t turnaround this lost season, but it will be addition by subtraction. You are not losing anything on the field as those late-game home runs are bound to run dry as he makes his way around the league.

I am sure this opinion will stir up debate, however I doubt it’s worth the time.

Those that contribute the least spray the most champagne; they also take up the most space when it comes to the news.

The bio reveals some shocking and even sad details about his life in baseball and the toll that drug addiction took on his career and his life.

Gooden believes if he had died the moment the Mets won the World Series in 1986, he would have saved many people a great deal of grief – starting with himself.

The mercurial former ace’s downward spiral began just minutes after Jesse Orosco tossed his glove in the air to celebrate the Amazin’s comeback victory over the Red Sox, Gooden writes in his new autobiography “Doc: A Memoir.”

The first call Gooden made after becoming World Series champion was his father. The second was his drug dealer. That night, Gooden went on a cocaine and booze bender that ended up causing him to miss the Mets’ victory parade. Instead, he watched the celebration on television at his home – a moment he describes as the loneliest he has ever felt.

“As my teammates road through the Canyon of Heroes, I was alone in my bed in Roslyn, Long Island, with the curtains closed and the TV on, missing what should have been the greatest morning of my life,” Gooden wrote.

The book reportedly chronicles Gooden’s rise to become one of the best young pitchers in baseball history, his years with the Yankees and his complicated relationship with Darryl Strawberry.

People make mistakes, and Dwight has made a lot of them. But we have always been a forgiving people and we now know that drug addiction is a disease that can sometimes grip you and never let go.

I’m glad Gooden didn’t die and I’m even happier to see him continuing to fight through his addiction. It’s a never-ending battle.

I was talking about Gooden just last night and discussed how cool it is that this one-time mets pitching phenom is the one leading the charge and heading up the Matt Harvey Fan Club. He never misses one of his starts and he takes to Twitter every five days and joins the rest of us to cheer Harvey on.

Doc’s always had a good heart and many times I often wonder just how great his career could have been before the drugs took him down that dark path. To this day, his rookie season was one of the most thrilling and exciting times of my life as a Met fan. The World Series in 1986 was the cherry on top. I will always love Dwight Gooden for that.

Pre Order “Doc: A Memoir” Now!

Mets third baseman David Wright drove in the game winning run in that game with a walk-off hit to clinch the victory for Team USA. After the game, combat veteran Felix, a die-hard Met fan, shared in the celebration as Team USA all signed his flag for him.

Hat tip to Kay for the link.

Let me start off by saying, I downright love the “Home Run Apple.” Whether it’s the old one outside Citi Field or the new one inside the stadium, the Home Run Apple is a Mets and baseball icon.

In addition to bringing multiple high-profile free agents including Jose Reyes, the Marlins have made headlines with their brand new state-of-the-art ballpark built on the site of the old Orange Bowl.

The stadium will feature a swimming pool in left field, a retractable roof and even aquariums with live fish on either side of home plate.

But the thing you won’t be able to miss is the Marlins new version of the Home Run Apple.

A 50-plus foot structure in left center field lights up like Las Vegas each time a Marlins player hits a home run. Fake marlins, seagulls and flamingos all move around in every direction, and a central marlin on top does a 360-degree spin.

Check out this rendering below:

Many of the Marlins players have said this new structure is distracting. From a Mets fan’s perspective, this home run celebration is way too over-the-top, especially compared to the classic Home Run Apple.

I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to seeing the new Marlins ballpark. But hopefully when the Mets head to Miami, they can limit the amount of home runs surrendered so we don’t have to see that obnoxious home run celebration.

However, with Giancarlo Stanton (formerly known as “Mike”) crushing balls, it will be difficult to contain this Marlins’ lineup.

Though I don’t want any players hitting homers against us, seeing Reyes hit a few and show-boat around the bases while that structure is going off will be tough to watch. At least if he hits an inside-the-park home run, it will be go by much quicker.

Stay tuned because we will be hearing much more about this structure as the season nears.