He’s fast, he’s powerful, he can catch, he’s got a shotgun for an arm, and he can hit. Oh yeah, and one more thing… he’s got a whole lotta attitude. Of course I’m talking about our very own Lastings Milledge.
I can’t remember another player who was surrounded with as much of a media spotlight even before getting a full season in the bigs. He has already gotten as much ink in this city this past year, as anybody else on the team.
There is no doubting or disputing the enormous talent and potential embodied within this young and colorful player. But, even before he got a chance to show what he can do, fans have already weighed in on him and either love him or hate him. I am asking you to do neither. I am just asking you to support him. We have no justification to love him or hate him. However as Mets fans we do have an obligation to support him like any other player on the team.
Let’s give him a fair shot and every chance we can to succeed. Forget what he has done off the field. Many of the Mets that we revere today, were no choir boys in their personal lives. The media loves to create a polarizing figure that they can use as a lightning rod to drum up sales. Don’t fall for their tricks.
They have nothing to lose and everything to gain by creating and dramatizing the whirlwind of controversy that surrounds this young and talented phenom.
But we as Mets fans have nothing to gain by buying into all the hysteria.
And we have a lot to lose.
I think Lastings Milledge has a chance to become one of baseball’s most exciting players. We owe it to ourselves to allow Lastings the opportunity to try and fulfill that promise. I am so glad that the Mets resisted the temptation of trading Milledge. In fact I am absolutely thrilled that he is still with us.
I think he is going to be something really special, and I call on him to forget all that bad press, and all that bad blood, and take the field on Thursday and show the great city of New York what you got!
In the last three games since the break he has won two games with his speed and with his bat single handedly.
I call on Lastings Milledge to rise above the adversity and do all of the things that had scouts drooling when they first laid eyes on him. In the next three months, Milledge has a chance to prove his value to the team and capture the hearts of our city.
As Mets fans, we grew up rooting for the underdogs and for players who have had the deck stacked against them.
Let’s give the kid a break, and in return we might just get another player to join David Wright and Jose Reyes as the cornerstones of the future for the New York Mets.
