Wallace Matthews of Newsday, has done it again. On Thanksgiving Day he chose to write an article with the sole intent of bashing the New York Mets.
Here are some of his comments…
It is Turkey Day, which means it is once again time to brine, stuff, baste and roast the Mets.
Having enjoyed more free rides this offseason than a serial turnstile-jumper circa 1977, the Mets made a comeback on Tuesday by trading Guillermo Mota for Johnny Estrada, who is Paul Lo Duca, only worse.
So far, this offseason is shaping up as even worse than last year’s, when the Mets at least had an excuse. Having failed to make it out of the 2006 NLCS by, arguably, one called strike, GM Omar Minaya believed, with some justification, that all his team needed was a turn of the wrench or two to make the adjustments that would put the Mets in the World Series.
This year, having witnessed the worst collapse in New York baseball history, Minaya knows it’s going to take a lot more than that. The problem is, what the Mets need most can’t be had on the free-agent market.
Heart transplants are not available. Character can’t be bought even for A-Rod type numbers. As far as we know, not even BALCO has figured out how to bottle killer instinct.
I could blog for hours just on those excerpts alone, and yet the worst is yet to come. When did Newsday decide it was okay to have one of their writers bash one of their local teams, and get away with it?
Here are some more derogatory statements that were printed about our Mets…
Worst of all, Estrada looks to be just another part-time player on a roster that is chock full of same. Aside from David Wright at third, Jose Reyes at short and Carlos Beltran in center, the Mets don’t have one everyday player who looks capable of playing a full season.
John Maine is dependable, but as for the lone lefty, he’s Oliver Perez one start, Oliver Hardy the next. Cover your eyes when Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber are given the baseball.
The bullpen has been improved slightly by the departure of Mota, who will now collect the remainder of his post-steroids reward money in Milwaukee. But it is still a collection of guys, Billy Wagner included, that you would prefer to see as little as possible.
Then there are the corner outfielders: Moises Alou, who is a good half-player, or half of a good player, managing to appear in 87 games last season; Endy Chavez, who made it into 71 games, Lastings Milledge, who showed improvement but was lucky to make it through the year with his head still attached to his shoulders, Marlon Anderson, Ben Johnson and Carlos Gomez.
His parting shot…
Happy Thanksgiving, Mets fans. Enjoy your bird today, because a diet of turkey doesn’t go down nearly as well in April.
I myself do not subscribe to or buy Newsday. I often read their online edition and even then I only read the baseball news. Believe it or not, one of my favorite Mets beat writers is Ken Davidoff, who also writes for them.
I think it is outrageous for any writer to consistently beat up and put down a team in such a degrading and unprofessional manner. Matthews has been doing this against the Mets for too long. I wish there was something we could do to keep trash like his from making it to print.
