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Earlier today, I linked to a blog post by Justin Rodriguez for the Times Herald-Record, in which he claims that Mets Single-A OF Ike Davis disrespected a female reporter, Mira Wassef, while calling her ‘sweetheart,’ and refusing an interview request.
According to Rodriguez, Wassef was “clearly shaken by the behavior of Davis and some of his teammates.”
…the thing is, in wassef’s actual story for the Herald-Record, which is actually a nice, flattering piece about davis, there is no mention of the situation rodriguez describes, and she provides quotes from davis, meaning he did grant her an interview…also, if davis did grant the interview, how come rodriguez does not mention this in his blog post…and, if this is such a big story to him, why did he put this on his blog, and not in an actual story for his newspaper…i’m so confused…
…also, from what i can gather, neither 
rodriguez, wasseff or the newspaper have made any attempt to contact the Mets about this situation…
…additionally, i talked with Mark Healey from Gotham Baseball Magazine, who spends a lot of time covering the Brooklyn Cyclones, and i also talked with other people i know who frequent the locker room from time to time, and, from what i can tell, the team’s manager, Edgar Alfonzo, would never tolerate this sort of behavior from his players…
…i’m not saying rodriguez is off base…i’m just saying, i’m confused and don’t i quite understand how all of these pieces fit together to match his use of words like, ‘pathetic’ and ‘disgrace,’ while calling davis a ‘punk,’ and demanding an apology…
good work, matt
i didnt realize the yanks were playing tonight… lets hope for a long, exhausting game
I think the Phils game (currently losing 2-0) is more important than the shankees. Of course, it’d be nice to see the “Jankee” (Reyes’ pronunciation) suffer a few injuries tonight.
Well, I’d rather the Mets players watching the Yankees..seeing what they can see, salivating over relievers.. If anything can wake the Mets up in the late innings, it’s the Yankees relievers.
Ceetar, you should know by now, any pitcher they haven’t seen that has an ERA greater than 6.00 shuts the mets down, Rookie, Vet, starer, reliever, makes no difference. Pitchers of ALL sorts (other than studs) find a new sense of life and confidence when they realize they are pitching against the mets. Just the way it works, we beat up aces and scrubs shut us down. It’s been this way since 2006.
Matt, been a loyal reader for a while now, but you helped create this mess as part of the “media”
Stories are ran with and promoted and theres no going back after something is printed or published. there is always a number of people that will never hear about the retraction or correction… kinda like those who hate Jerry Manual coz he called us fans pieces of crap right?
Just another day with the Mets and the media I suppose
Just another reporter trying to make something, out of nothing. Wrong thing to say, maybe. A disgrace, Hardly.
Wow..I lose more and more respect for the media every day.
That an Eisenhower button? He running for president again?
I guess it’d be better than our current selection…
I tend to disagree, but whatever.
The Mets have done pretty well against ‘new’ starters this year.
A remember a couple of times It only took one time through the lineup and they’d figured guys out. Cueto off the top of my head. They’ve seen Pettite and probably Ponson. and Rasner. so Giese who’s facing Pelfrey, who the Yankees haven’t seen, who haven’t also been known to have that problem recently.
and slowly the truth comes out. how incredibly
silly.
unbelievable.
everyone who just posted on the other related
thread should apologize to ike for jumping to
conclusions.
Who cares about Ike Davis? You think he’s actually going to play for us anytime soon? Don’t you realize this organization has one of its best prospects hitting .340 in the minors coupled with a struggling 1b, who strikes out every at bat in 3 pitches and refuses to dive for a grounder, yet we refuse to call the prospect up? You think this mentality is going to change any time soon?
the whole story was ridiculous, as were a lot of the
reactions here.
and yes, bringing up a prospect would be nice.
carp is a worse fielder than delgado, trust me
that’s why BLOGGERS get a bad name….some dopes run with stories without any validation….
I don’t even see the blog post with these accusations. It’s like they deleted it and it never existed.
That blog entry has been taken down.
Ridiculous.
The Post is reporting that Justin Rodriguez and Bart Hubbuch were seen “canoodling” at the Toolbox. Not sure if that is relevant.
Talk about feeling used and abused…lol. Man, though, I’d love to know the real truth.
For the record, I stand by my reaction in the other thread, having thought the story was true. I believe everyone in that thread who gave an opinion did so out of honest belief that the story was true. And that those who doubted it turned out to possibly be right, well… good for them!
*beats chest victoriously*
Easy, Tarzan…. :)
Maybe there’s a little bit of truth to both stories… I still think it’s reasonable that Ike could have called the reporter “sweetheart” and she didn’t think it was a big deal. Because at least in my opinion, it’s not.
it’s well and good but you didn’t know if the story was completely true and jumped the gun.
this is how the duke lacrosse case got started.
i’d like to see that a-hole with the hjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhj nickname come forth and apologize now, for getting on all of us who were insulting this blog.
you sir, are a piece of work
now that we got to the bottom of the make-believed perceived sexism in our low-A affiliate, can we please talk about barry bonds?
No. That’s all I have to say on the BB subject and I’m gonna keep on saying it. No.
Matt,
If you read the blog, it does state that Davis did finally sit down and did the interview. Whether true or not, I don’t know, but be sure you have your facts straight. It does mention the the blog that Davis did grant the interview. It is lbelow:
Wed, Jun 25 2008
Mets 1st rd. pick Ike Davis and some of his Brooklyn teammates embarrass team
Actually, the entire Mets organization should be embarrassed by their behavior. They certainly don’t know how to treat a woman.
I’m sorry to have to report this, but here it goes: Earlier today, one of my colleagues, staff writer Mira Wassef, a hard-working and conscientious reporter, went to Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill to interview Davis. Brooklyn, the Mets’ Class A New York-Penn League affiliate, is in town to play the Renegades.
According to Mira, and I totally believe her, once she walked into the Brooklyn clubhouse, several players began whistling at her and making cat calls. She was unnerved to say the very least. You think the Mets look bad on the field? Well, check out this group of chumps. The performance by the Cyclones was pathetic. A disgrace.
Then came Davis, the Mets’ first round pick (18th overall) in the draft earlier this month out of Arizona State. Mira asked for Davis and, sitting in the clubhouse, he raised his hand. Mira asked if Davis had a few minutes to talk for an interview.
His reply?
“I’m not playing tonight, sweetheart. We don’t have anything to talk about.”
Sweetheart? Apparently, Davis, who signed for $1.5 million yesterday, thinks he’s still on campus or something. He’s not. Davis disrespected a professional trying to do her job. Good luck with that if you ever make it to the Mets.
Kid, you would be swallowed alive.
This abysmal debut by Davis certainly shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Yes, he finally sat down with Wassef, after she explained that she still would like to talk with him. Davis was nice enough to give her an interview full of attitude.
I think Mets general manager Omar Minaya needs to give Davis and his pals a pep talk before they do further harm to the organization’s reputation. Check that. He’d better do it. Don’t let Davis and some of his teammates make another reporter feel uncomfortable and demeaned.
It should be noted that Mira also interviewed the Mets other first round draft pick, Reese Havens, a shortstop, selected 22nd overall out of the University of South Carolina. I spoke to Mira shortly after she left Brooklyn’s clubhouse and she was clearly shaken by the behavior of Davis and some of his teammates.
She did say Reese Havens is a gentleman.
Good job, Reese, but that still doesn’t make up for Davis’s disgraceful act. So here’s what you need to do, Ike: Be a man, not a punk. Ike Davis, the Brooklyn Cyclones and Mets owe Mira Wassef a public apology.
If this was Lastings Milledge people would be calling him a Thug who doesn’t respect women. Where is the outrage?
if you missed the outrage, it’s all over the other thread on this topic.
take a look, and then get over it. jeez.
this is why we wait before calling a 20 year old kid a misogynist, a disgrace, etc…
The reporter DOES mention that Davis granted the female reporter an interview — “one with plenty of attitude.”
Matt, the young lady’s piece was supposed to be a profile story, not one recounting his behavior toward her. And if it sounded in any way flattering, perhaps it had that tone because the reporter knows she’ll have to deal with him all season and perhaps feels intimidated that she has to “concentrate on the positive.”
Either way, give her credit for being professional enough to do her job and write about Davis despite his boorish behavior.
Too many women, whether reporters or in other professions have to put up with continued male sexism and it sucks. If Davis acted this way toward my wife, my mother or any of my sisters-in-law, it would take all my strength not to get in his face and tell him he WAS being a punk for treating a woman in such a manner. Catcalling her and then later being patronizing and calling her “sweetheart”?
How would this Neanderthal have felt if his mother (or if he has them, sisters) was treated in such a manner? This the 21st century and there’s no longer any excuse for, or defense of such behavior.
Seaver,
It doesn’t say Ike cat-called her. It says his teammates did. I’m not sure what his idea of “plenty of attitude” is, but seeing as how he got so bent out of shape over “sweetheart”, it makes me think there wasn’t much there. And if there was, why wasn’t he specific about what it was? That’s shoddy journalism: inferring something without giving facts.
Of course, considering that the only ‘fact’ he gives us is that he used the word “sweetheart”. It’s odd that he goes off on Ike with such derogatory language as “abysmal”, “punk”, “disgraceful act”.
I know nothing about this particular reporter or his blog, but I think it’s somewhat common now for reporters to put the “meta” of how they go about their jobs in blog posts. It would have to be a pretty major incident to make the newspaper proper. Sort of a matter of journalists (just like umps should!) keeping themselves out of the story. Unless it meets a certain egregiousness threshold.
the thing is, in wassef’s actual story for the Herald-Record, which is actually a nice, flattering piece about davis, there is no mention of the situation rodriguez describes
Even if Davis pimp slapped her while telling her to get back to the kitchen, do you really think it would be appropriate for her to mention it in an article?
Well, yeah, if he pimp slapped her while telling her to get back to the kitchen, I’d want to read about it.
i’d want to promote him to the big club immediately
we need that kind of passion and intensity
Yeah, “an article” was a bad choice of words — I should have said HER article, because it still wouldn’t have been appropriate for her to write about it.
Hey! What’s that broad doin over there in the Padres dugout? Why there aint no chicks allowed in the dugout! She oughta be cookin me up some supper is what she oughta be doin!
Oh wait, that was Mex.
Sorry Ike. Didn’t mean to pin somethin else on you!
“also, if davis did grant the interview, how come rodriguez does not mention this in his blog post”
from THR blog post:
“Yes, he finally sat down with Wassef, after she explained that she still would like to talk with him.”
RIF: Reading Is Fundamental
“and, if this is such a big story to him, why did he put this on his blog, and not in an actual story for his newspaper…
…also, from what i can gather, neither rodriguez, wasseff or the newspaper have made any attempt to contact the Mets about this situation…”
why does this bother you? he obviously felt the incident shouldn’t be swept under the carpet, so posted what he thought was appropriate…he didn’t make a federal case out of it, just brought the matter to light.
The THR isn’t the NY Post…there was no reason to make it a front page story or run to the Mets crying. Why does that lessen the story’s credibility for you?
I spoke to the paper. The did not believe that it was necessary to
contact the Mets and tell them the story and get a comment before they posted the story on their website.
Very unprofessional.
If you consider the paper unprofessional for having failed to seek comment from the team before putting it up on the blog — what’s your feeling about this blog running the item and questioning it? Should someone from MetsBlog have contacted the writer first?
ALWAYS BELIEVE, I’m not arguing so much as I’m impressed that you contacted the paper. Just trying to highlight that this is an issue in blogging versus the “awful” newspapers that some commenters are dumping on. IMO, it’s rare to see a blogger calling up for comment before publishing–and now some newspapers, who find themselves competing against bloggers, seem increasingly willing to take the same approach, at least when it comes to their blogs.
Justin Rodriguez was shaken by Davis’ behavior? LOL!!! I hope he didn’t faint, poor gir…I mean guy.