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As noted yesterday, during his appearance on WFAN, SI.com’s Jon 
Heyman expressed concern with the way several people on the Mets treat Manny Acta around the batting cage before playing the Nationals.
According to Heyman, many players and people from the front-office – not Jeff Wilpon – spend two to three hours treating Acta like ‘some sort of returning hero,’ and he feels it is very disrespectful to Willie Randolph.
In today’s Newsday, David Lennon investigates the relationship between the Mets, Acta and Randolph, who tells Lennon:
“How does that happen? How does that become normal? I don’t know. It’s just foreign to me, that’s all. I’m fine with, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ That stuff. I wish that we could enforce it more, really. They talk about it, but I don’t really see anyone policing it. You can’t force people not to talk to someone.”
According to Lennon, Major League Baseball prohibits fraternization with Rule 3.09.
David Wright, as quoted by Lennon, said:
“I’ll keep it down to a quick hello and that’s it. I’ll be the first one to be friendly with other players before we come to the park or after leaving the park. But as far as that time when I have my uniform on and they have their uniform on, I want to go out there and kick their butt…I think it’s important that they know that I’m serious about winning and I expect the same from them.”
…first of all, outstanding job by lennon, with what is a must-read report…second, i think the spirit of Rule 3.09 is essentially dated, considering how fluid free agency has become…i mean, so many of these players and coaches are friends, because so many of them have played together on previous teams, in other countries, in the minors, etc., that they may as well talk around the cage…as a fan, i prefer willie’s and wright’s approach, but i think it’s too late to go back unfortunately…
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I want David Wright to do something wrong already! God, is he really perfect? Don’t pay your taxes, get caught at a strip club, get into a bar fight, steal an old ladies purse already!!
I like the old school. Like last year when he started
the shaved head thing. We are very lucky to have him.
seriously, when there is no other story to tell, the media has to come and dig up BS…. its quite sad
espn radio yesterday was saying how it is disrespectfult hat beltran went behind willie’s back to talk to reyes
lets just play baseball
true. leadership is really disrespectful.
And if he says nothing, then “that proves he’s not a leader.”
Beltran can’t win with a lot of people.
everybody at espn and the entire ny media also spent 18 months saying that tom coughlin lost the team and didn’t get along with his players and was not a leader.
they just want a story. ny has a big, wealthy audience so they want any story that catches the city’s attention. media has become gossip in sports and politics.
i agree with wright and willie that socializing should be on the field before the game btw teams or the front office.
*shouldn’t
to be fair, Coughlin DID lose the team in 2006, but he came into training camp and changed his approach, becoming much friendlier and appointing the players council thing where he listened to grievances and whatnot, and he won the team back.
he lost princess tiki barber. that’s for sure.
haha so true. Has any athlete’s stock ever plummeted so much in a single season? Right now he’s just about the most disliked athlete in NY, after being beloved a year ago.
I don’t want to demean the sport, but because of the lack of physical contact in the sport (compared to say football or hockey) and the nature of free agency, this isn’t all that different than actors in a movie who play the protagonist and antagonist. When the director says “action”, you have to play the part of despising your enemy, and look like you mean it. Once the director yells “cut”, most of the time you are respecting a fellow co-worker. That’s just the way that it is.
Remember, these guy do charity events together, some have history of being on a team together, and they essentially all work for the same employer: MLB. Teams are almost similar to different departments within a big company.
Hockey never ceases to amaze me, because all it takes is one hard slash on a wrist or ankle, or one check with the elbows up and guys who were teammates for 3 years suddenly want to seriously injure one another. As long as there is regular contact, the spirit of animosity towards the opponent will exist. In baseball, you get an occasional bean-ball or take out slide, but that is rare and often let to pass under the bridge over time.
i think you underestimate the spirit of competition, which is what it’s all about, physical contact or not. And I don’t think it has to be about hating your opponent, its about wanting to beat them. It’s about you winning, them losing. That’s where the satisfaction comes from. Whether or not they fight or want to injure each other means nothing to me. That seems to go against the spirit of competition in my mind. You’re best against their best. You win, they lose. That’s it. I think Dwright has it right.
We’re talking about batting practice! Not a game, batting practice!
I can care less about what they do outside of the 9 innings of baseball…or longer until a winner is decided. As long as they play to win, WHO CARES?
Great post oldbackstop, I completely agree. Case in point, Scott Gomez and Jamie LAngenbrunner played together for years in Jersey, and were supposedly close. Now they match up in a playoff series, and by game 2 Gomez is crosschecking Langenbrunner in the chest in passing after a play was over. They proceeded to punch eachother a couple of times, and skate off to the penalty box, yapping back and forth at eachother as if they were true enemies. Youre right, this simply is not the rule in baseball, it is the exception. At the same time though, during important and meaningful games, I think most baseball teams are ready to fight t protect their team first and foremost, and not worried that they might have buddies on the other side. E.G Jose Reyes and Miguel Olivo last year, they were supposedly friendly and had known eachother for a long time.
I guess no one saw the huge hug that Wright gave Paul Lo Duca the other day during warm ups.
LOL at Wright’s hypocrisy
“But as close as he is with the Nats’ Ryan Zimmerman, a fellow Virginian, Wright kept his distance before this week’s games. Former teammate Paul Lo Duca got a hug, but after that, Wright only waved from the other side of the batting cage.”
It was mentioned in the article. Sadly but not unexpected
now-a-days, Lennon didn’t say specificly which players
were hanging all over Acta. This is typical of todays sportwriter/talking head. Willie’s been in a bad spot since
the day he walked in the door because Omar & Tony B. want to maintain some control/say in the clubhouse and
it’s completely unfair to the manager. Plus, most of the
(latin)veterans brought in by Omar have little to no leadership skills hence EVERYTHING that goes in any way
wrong is always “Willie’s Fault”. Here’s hoping that if we don’t atleast make the playoffs Omar is held responsible.
The Wilpons have been WAY too soft and most of the media has treated Omar like they treat Obama.
So if Tori Hunter asks Johan Santana to have dinner when we visit Anaheim in June, how is Santana supposed to reply? “Are you kidding? I’m not going to have dinner with you! I’d rather kiss my own sister than have dinner with you!”
they’re talking about on the field before the game
And how is that different than after the game? As long as it’s not during the game, what is the problem? Do they play with less effort or less will to win if they joke around before the first pitch? Really, what is the big deal?
two lawyer may be good friends. they may go out for drinks after a case against each other, but they don’t hold hands in the court room. business is business.
it’s not a huge deal. it’s not the end of the world. it’s just my perspective.
the point is, the game has changed over time. In years past, players didn’t fraternize with each other, and they were more ok with bowling over a catcher, going into 2nd with a really hard slide, throwing at people, they didn’t care, because they weren’t friends, the only object was winning. Now, players are friends, players make a lot of money, everyone is happy for the most part, and you just don’t see that kind of play as much anymore. I’m not sure its bad or good, its just the way it is
Not while court is in session. However, I have been in courtrooms where opposing counsels would joke around before the judge comes in. Hell, if I know my opposing counsel on a personal level, I would have no problems chatting with him/her before the court is in session. But once the judge comes in, it’s all business.
Darkstar, I agree with you that the game has changed. However, I don’t think fraternizing with the competition is the cause of the soft play during the games. Even if Wright now only waved from the dugout and don’t do any fraternizing with Lo Duca, I don’t think he’ll try to bowl over Lo Duca when the chance presents itself.
Even IF there’s no pre-game handholding/embracing/flirting, the play on the field will not change.
I kind fo see what youre saying KFS. I played baseball forever, obviously not at a prolevel, but it doesnt mean I didnt really want to win. And in high school, middle school, little league, babe ruth, whatever, I usually was matched up against some of my buddies. I would enjoy BSing with them before the game, but once the game started, it didnt matter. Again, if I got onto second base while my buddy is playing shortstop for the other team, maybe have a little chat, but it wouldnt stop me from take out sliding, bowling over, or throwing some chin music towards one of my buddies. In-fact, it almost makes it more fun that way for me. Let boys be boys. A lot of guys will go the extra mile to make sure they beat their buddy, not take it easy on them, atleast I would.
Who Cares this is a complete non-story. Seriously these guys have nothing better to write about?
What a waste of time.
Exactly the Mets won 3 straight from the Nats so there wasn’t anything negative to write about so Lennon has to come up with something. Than you have Beltran telling Reyes to be himself and to not care about the other team because his team needshim to be himself. Beltran was showing leadership s