The more I think of the Church thing …
The more I think of it, the more it ticks me off.
Omar Minaya and the Mets basically threw Ryan Church under the bus yesterday when he said the team’s decision on handling him on any given day was based on how he is feeling. The man has a head injury. He’s not thinking clearly to begin with.
PHOTO: AP
Let me get this straight. The team flies Moises Alou from Atlanta to NY to get his calf looked at, because the team trusts its doctors. Yet, they fly Church around the country. And, he has a head injury. And this is after having a head injury earlier in the season.
Church should have been on the DL a week ago.
When Minaya said he went off the player’s evaluation of his health, I asked him where Church got his medical degree. He wasn’t pleased with the question.
I also asked him if players don’t lie. Maybe lie is a strong word, but players constantly say they are able to play when they aren’t. His response was, “I don’t go into a relationship thinking someone is going to lie.’’
That’s pretty naive, especially in the baseball industry.
The man has a head injury, dammit. This has been screwed up from the start and it’s not getting any better.
Print This Post
| 
Advertisements
It is truly amazing how incompetent the Mets handle church’s situation. I’m no doctor but when that happened i knew he was going to miss some games because he had a concussion in spring training. I know from following football and hockey how bad a injury concussions can be. It’s unbelievable how the Mets handled that situation. One would have to wonder about the mets front office.
When the man’s right, the man’s right. You are right Delcos. Last night Cohen claimed the Dr said he could play as soon as he felt OK. Somehow, I think that is a line of BS.
Mishandling a head injury can ruin a career or worse. And the Mets treated it like a joke.
JD: I am totally with you on this one. They totally screwed this up. Especially the point you made about players lying….I remember the numerous times Willie has put in relievers that are obviously tired/overworked and when they do poorly as a result of that he’ll say that it was because he asked the pitcher how they were feeling, they said they could go. Players are rarely going to say that “can’t” go out there.
In this case…Church probably feels a duty to get back out there especially with the team struggling. Omar’s statement is stupid
John, god bless you for your moxie in asking Omar the hard questions over the way the team has handled this injury. If it was just a hammy pull you can just let it slide. But a head injury like this is serious business. You don’t screw around, and the two plane flights in and out of high-altitude Denver could have been detrimental to Church’s health.
You are right that you don’t listen to the player because the head injury itself could be impairing his judgment and also because players are inclined to say they are OK when they are not. Omar’s response to your questions were insufficient and disappointing.
Hopefully Church is OK and comes through this injury with no ill effects.
Right on John. Why doesn’t Minaya just say that he made a mistake? Its really not that big of a deal. Head injuries are not that common in baseball.
John – I am also in agreement with you. I know you don’t have time to read a lot of the papers I do, but several of them, including the Times, have had a lot to say about the Mets poor treatment of Church.
Even here on the blog, a couple of nights ago, a poster named Howard who has a medical background, wrote about the proper treatment of concussions. He even offered to assist the Mets in learning about concussions.
Ironic that Church has two brothers, one in Iraq and one involved in security at a federal penitentary and he’s the one who gets hurt in a baseball game. I hope his parents are not upset about this and that the Mets have kept them informed about his treatment.
John – I just found the post from ‘Howard’ – here it is:
howard
May 28th, 2008 at 9:20 am
John: You are right on about Church; I am a Neuropsychologist and can tell you that rest was what he needed. There are protocols to follow in sports medicine re: concussion evaluation. He should have been screened for cognitive and physical symptoms daily. There are simple rating scales that would monitor his progress that trainers in most sports are routinely taught to do. Their mistakes are unbelievable! Say what you will about NFL and NHL, they seem to routinely do these screenings and err on the side of caution. He should have been DLed and seen the Neurologist and a Neuropsych for screening immediately. I’d be glad to help the Mets get the training—it’s really not that hard to get. UNbelievable!
Howard in NJ
PS Hope Church gets better soon.
JD: Great post. The way this team handles it’s medical evalutations is just riddiculous. Wasn’t this supposed to change when Omar took over? It has just gotten worse. I mean for goodness sakes, common sense dictates that a guy has a second concussion in two or three months should be given at least a few weeks off before going back out to play. Clearly Omar knowing the Mets were in bad shape, with few options to replace Church, clearly put the team’s well good over the HEALTH of a player. That can’t happen.
JD—Great example comparing the team’s handling of Alou’s calf injury with Church’s concussion.
With all the news in the past few years about head injuries in sports you’d think the Mets would have been smarter in dealing with Church. I am hugely disappointed with the team.
The sunshine bores the daylights out of me…
Don’t they realize from the other sports such as football and hockey, how serious concussions are. Concussions can be career-ending and life-altering injuries if they continue. You don’t need a medical degree to determine that they’ve mishandled this. But from reading this blog in the past few years, they tend to screw around with disabling players (IE Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran).
John – I do share your opinion that Church should have been put oon the DL right away.
This team has a history of waiting too long to DL players. I wish I knew why. It is extremely frustrating.
Perhaps baseball should look into minimum standards for returns from concussions. They should also look into a shorter DL stay, say 7 days, for nagging injuries. They could limit the # of players allowed on it at any given time to prevent abuse.
John,
Do you still think Jose needs to be benched?
Just Wondering,
Ed in Westchester
Hi Ed: I’m not sure of the context of your last post. If you’re tweaking me, very good. If it’s a serious question, here is my answer:
The NEXT time Reyes screws up with his focus you let him know it by sitting him a game. You just don’t do it. There’s no message to do it now when he’s playing well.
However, when Reyes is playing well is when he has gone into cruise control and takes things for granted. That’s when stuff happens. You can’t take plays off in this sport. That’s what he needs to learn.
I know few of you agree with me on this, but I’ve seen him enough to know it will eventually happen.-JD
Why is the occasional fielding issue with Reyes so important to you, JD? So deeply intently vital? This team lacks hitting a lot more than it lacks fielding and Jose’s hitting.
Overestimating the value of defense already got this team stuck with Schneider and Castillo for the forseeable future, even as they regress defensively in front of our eyes.
It ain’t “catch-ball” it’s “baseball” and you gotta get on the bases to win the game.
Yeah, he’s not playing like a Gold Glover right now. He’ll get over it… or you know what? Maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll regress to being simply an above-average defensive SS and…
If he’s hitting, I don’t really care.
And, anyway, having disposed of Gotay for the sole reason that he was never going to be a Gold Glover apparently, the only infielder the Mets have is Easley and…
He’s worth a lot more making sure Delgado isn’t starting than pushing Reyes out of the lineup for illogical reasons.
As for Church… the dude was playing so vastly over his actual talent level that I’m not surprised that both the team and the player are recklessly trying to keep that lightning in a bottle.
The longer Church is off the field, the more another one of Minaya’s bad moves is exposed and the more Church has to face that the beginning of this season was a fluke.
And Minaya’s gotta be in as much trouble as Willie is, behind the scenes.
It really seems like pretending that Church is less injured than he is… it’s shaping up like a CYA move for both the front office and the player himself.
Irresponsibly so because he seems like he’s one concussion away from permanent damage and… while he’s not the player he looked like for a month and a half there… he’s a human being who shouldn’t be sacrificed for such a petty charade.
John – It was a tweak.
Question for you.
Why is it that when Jose makes an error or baserunning blunder it is chalked up to “lack of focus”, but when David Wright does the same thing, it is not?
Mike C.
So I guess Millegde’s bad start is a fluke too?
Mike C – and if Omar had not traded “Near Infinite Potential” and left him in right field, they would be making a serious mistake since he is certainly not playing anywhere near what his “rep” says he should be doing.
Keep bashing Church though. That’ll work.
Completely ignore that he simply never got a fair shot in Washington, and now that he is, he might be reaching a better level. Stats in the minors don’t always equal results in the majors. Sometimes guys never live up to them. Sometimes they exceed them.
John wrote – I know few of you agree with me on this, but I’ve seen him enough to know it will eventually happen.
———————-
So Jose can’t possibly mature? He is ALWAYS going to go on cruise control?
That’s a great attitude.
I’m sure he loves it when you come into the clubhouse.
Mike C.: The Mets lost the pennant last year by one game. Reyes’ failure to cover second led to a big inning and a loss. ... His error in Colorado cost them that game.
There are slumps, but defense, hustle and focus should be constants every night.
Tell me, why should people get aggravated by Perez’s lack of focus and not Reyes when the result is the same?-JD
scoopcoop – you forget that Milledge is “bleeding potential” and Church is a “platoon player”
according to Mike C of course.
then again, if it were up to him, the entire team would be under 26 yrs of age.
Question—did Church visit the hospital in Atlanta and they determined it wasn’t a concussion? (I remember hearing this on air a day or two after the incident). Perhaps the Mets got bad medical advice initially and that spiralled things out of control. Either way, it has been mishandled, but perhaps we should not assign as much blame to the Mets as some suggest. (In any event, let the guy recuperate now and get right.)
John – Oh, they also lost a game down the stretch where David Wright made an error to cost them a game.
And several where the pitching flat out stunk.
But it is Jose’s fault they lost the division.
I for one get upset when Jose makes an error. But I get upset when anyone makes an error.
I also get upset when the excuse is “lack of focus” for one player, but that is not used for anyone else.
But that’s just me.
The start of the 2008 season will not tell the story of that trade, I’ll tell you that much… however…
Right now, Church is trying to and failing at playing through his second concussion this spring and Schneider can’t buy a hit to save his life while Milledge is feeling his way out in his first full season.
Flukey early season stats aside, on this day, he’s playing better than the both of them… and time is the friend of a player Milledge’s age while at Church or Schneider’s age… not so much.
Though on the topic of Reyes one more time:
Sitting Reyes because of his defense and then playing… a fortyish oft-injured secondbaseman with limited shortstop experience?
Reyes on his worst day is better defensive shortshop than Easley on his best.
So even that one leg to stand on? No, not even that.
Let the kid play.
Pitching is Perez’s primary job.
Hitting is Reyes’ primary job.
If people were killing Perez for his lack of focus at the plate, the analogy would better fit.
Perez’s losses of focus are losing games… at the end of the day, most of Reyes’ miscues aren’t things whereupon the fate of the entire game hung, they either win despite the error or (more often) would’ve lost even if he’d made the play cleanly.
Very very different.
Wondering why nobody in the media is mentioning how that Cancer Delgado was the only one that didn’t get involved in the celebration after Tatis’ hit? I watched the replay 3-4 times no Delgado. Funny how you can get on Reyes case about Defense and effort and not a peep on Delgado. Delgado’s effort, defense, and attitude are all deplorable. As someone that has had 4 concussions I agree with you on how they’ve botched this Church concussion issue.
Also, sorry to triple post here but…
That god-awful bullpen and Willie’s god-awful handling of it down the stretch was what lost the pennant last year.
You can isolate any point in a season where you lost by one game and say that one mistake that lost one game lost the season.
But you actively look at that collapse, that stretch of games where they just fell apart… and you’re looking at Schoeneweis-Mota-Sele-types pitching awfully and the rest of the bully burning itself out trying to cover for them, until they were pitching like crap as well.
I think stating they “Threw Church under the Bus” is a bit extreme.
They probably “mishandled” the situation but you have to agree comparing the Church injury to Alou’s calf is misleading because head injuries are different than muscle/joint injuries. Like Darling said last night; “Concussions aren’t baseball injuries” and the Mets have probably erred in going more on how the player felt.
When I think of the term “throw someone under the bus” I think of Clemens testifying that his wife took HGH when he didn’t – and I don’t see this Church situation
as malacious in any way – but it seems like you are painting it that way.
Mike C, so Milledge is feeling his way out eventhough he is on his way to putting up numbers that would fit w/his, albeit short, career numbers.
But Church is failing b/c he can’t get off the canvas after getting hit on the head.
And he (Milledge) is playing better? Milledge’s defense and baserunning is as bad as it ever was and he still can’t hit a breaking pitch. What games did you watch when the Mets played the Nats?
You can argue that Milledge could improve and be better someday. But to argue that he is better now is ridiculus.
Mike C,
and if this is early season, why so negative about the Mets. Isn’t it early?
The stance that is being taken now is a correct one, why does it matter what Minaya says about it? Im sure they know they didnt handle the situation well but do they really need to come out and apologize to every newspaper in the world? There are plenty of other things to criticize Minaya and the Mets about that there is no need to extract a pound of flesh over a situation that has been rectified.
Mike C: If not Schnieder who would be catching ?
Schneider is a # 8 hitter and if you play Castro against lefty’s is makes a nice combo.
You actually did have one legitimate point about Omar’s screw ups this year. If they had simply put Castillo on the DL for the first week of the season and kept Gotay. They may have had a better chance of sneaking him through waivers or with all the injuries he may have never had to go down.
His roster management not just this year but also last year have been bad enough that someone should be held accountable.
I mean Delgado can’t hit lefties any more. Not just this year but all of last year. Why they do not have a right handed hitting first base option is not stupid its insane.
Baseball has a long way to go when it comes to head injuries. It was obvious to anyone who even watches other sports that when Church got his SECOND concusion in that short of time, you have to DL him. The guy was knocked out cold. He slammed face first into the ground while unconcious.
This might be an overall problem with our team. Players cannot always decide whether they are injured enough to have to sit. Yeah, some guys can still perform at 75%-80%, but other times you should DL them for 15 days and get them back at 95%-100% longterm.
John: Back on point about Church you are 1,000 percent right.
The Mets screwed up.
I do not remember where I read the story this week but
Corie Koskie said he had to retire from baseball because of post concussion syndrome. In the story he practically begged Church to call him so he would not end up in his situation.
If anybody finds the story please leave a link so others could read it.
I mean, if we want to conflate two of these discussions?
The Mets frequent mishandling of the DL and it all coming down to one game?
We could always talk about the Mets delusionally pretending that Cliff Floyd was fit to be on the NLCS roster in 2006 and then having no one to hit with except Floyd in Game Seven and…
Watching him just completely gak it up when you could tell that Willie’s “gut” believed that he was going to suddenly morph into Kirk Gibson because he was an Experienced Veteran™.
You could argue that the die was cast for 2007 and 2008 in that ridiculous decision. This constant groping for fliers on players who were good five years ago and fifteen injuries ago.
Hanging onto washed-up players like they were gold because they caught lightning in a bottle for a brief period or… because they’re good when they’re healthy but they’re never healthy anymore.
Castillo. El Duque. Not coming up with any back-up plan for Alou because he was going to magically stay healthy. Green. Not coming up with any kind of back-up play for Delgado because he was somehow going to “bounce back”.
Everything that’s happened since… crystallized… in that one completely bat-crap insane roster move and that one painfully inept at-bat.
All of Willie’s overdevotion to veterans.
All of Minaya’s big-name-chasing escapades.
Right there in that at-bat that took the World Series from the Mets fans.
Of course, to bring a third thread, y’know, there is who the last bat off the bench should’ve logically been in that NLCS if they had admitted that Floyd was done for the year.
Who was later traded for a catcher who can’t hit and a corner outfielder who’s playing SO hard trying to prove that he’s not the platoon player he most-likely actually is that he just keeps getting injured.
Y’know.
Just to tie a bow on that.
Mike C: WOW
Now what can you tell me about the grassy knoll and hanging chads ?
You think Milledge would have done any better than Cliffy for that at bat? Three curve balls and the ‘Edge would have been sitting on the bench…
Come on, Delcos. You’ve got a thread about a guy whose concussion calls for him to stay out of the sunlight, and I throw you an Exile on Main Street reference—sunshine bores the daylights out of me—and I get nothing. No love. Nothing. Whassup with that? Is it the allergy meds again?
Scott from Pelham – Here’s the Times article – with the Koskie quote:
Doctors See Danger in Letting Church Play
By ALAN SCHWARZ
Published: May 28, 2008
Experts in the field of concussion management strongly criticized the Mets on Tuesday for their handling of Ryan Church, saying that he has been put at significant medical risk by continuing to play through dizziness, lethargy and headaches.
The Mets Church sustained what the team called a mild concussion on May 20 against the Braves. While sliding into second base, his head slammed into the knee of an opponent and then fell hard onto the dirt. He missed the next game, but volunteered to pinch-hit four times since.
On Tuesday, after seeing a neurologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, Church complained of continued dizziness. Rather than report to Shea Stadium for the Mets’ game against the Florida Marlins, he stayed at his Manhattan apartment. Mets General Manager Omar Minaya said Church was day to day and would be evaluated at the ballpark Wednesday, and perhaps cleared to play in the series finale.
Several experts in sports-related concussions, however, said that Church — who has told reporters that he has had a headache and has felt dizzy and tired almost every day since his injury — should not have been allowed to play at all because his symptoms had not cleared.
The experts said common guidelines for concussion management require that athletes be free of symptoms — sometimes for several days — both before and after physical exertion before they can return to competition. They also said that because Church had sustained a more severe concussion in spring training that cost him a week, the risks for him were greater.
“That’s a situation that could be very dangerous,†said Dr. Mickey Collins, assistant director of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Sports Medicine’s concussion program. “I haven’t examined this player personally, but if there were a second trauma to a person still experiencing symptoms, the risk could be much higher to a player’s health because he hasn’t healed from the first concussion.â€
Dr. Robert Cantu of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of the nation’s leading experts in concussion management, said: “You’re playing roulette with your patient. You know the chances of him having another concussion are low, but you’re running the risk of exacerbating the symptoms that he does have. Now a person who would be asymptomatic in a week or two can have those symptoms go on for many months.â€
Church was unavailable for comment Tuesday night, and members of the Mets’ medical staff were unavailable because of team policy; a Mets spokesman referred all questions to Minaya. “We’ve been cautious, and we will continue to be cautious†in the team’s handling of Church, Minaya said.
Minaya emphasized that a CT scan of Church the night of his injury showed no damage, and that a magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday was also negative. Minaya and Manager Willie Randolph said the club had relied principally upon Church’s reports to trainers about how he felt before each game, and sometimes during it, in deciding if he was available to play.
“It’s his call,†Randolph said. He added: “He’s been feeling a little bit groggy, and most of what he feels is that uneasiness with his total, you know, mind. It’s kind of weird because he feels like he’s kind of foggy. He says he can hit, he can do that. But in the outfield, he’s unstable out there.â€
Randolph added: “When you’re talking about head injuries, I’m pretty lame on that. I don’t even know how to respond to, you know, when we can put him out there.â€
Church has gone 1 for 4 as a pinch-hitter since the concussion. Before almost every game, he has told reporters of symptoms. At one point he said, “I’m just sick of feeling like this.â€
Minaya said Tuesday that Church had told Mets trainers before each game that he was symptom-free. Minaya added that Church had not seen a neurologist between his exam after the injury and Tuesday’s visit.
Last year, the National Football League faced criticism for its handling of concussions, but this is the first time since then that a Major League Baseball team has been in a similar position. The Mets began having players take baseline neuropsychological tests in spring training so that they could be tested against them after an injury; however, Church did not take a test, Minaya said, because of time restrictions.
“My understanding is that it’s a long test,†he said. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s about a half-hour or more.â€
Cantu said that a player experiencing Church’s symptoms would almost certainly have his reaction time impaired, leaving him at greater risk of being hit by a pitch. He said that Church, 29, would not be at risk of second-impact syndrome, which has killed or seriously injured dozens of high school football players in the last 10 years, because that result is almost unheard of outside of teenagers.
“Many people have dramatically worsened their symptoms by going from just walking around to making the jump back to sprinting or jogging,†Cantu said. “This guy didn’t run the risk of long-term brain damage by going up to bat, assuming he wouldn’t be hit in the head. But he did run the risk of having to run out a double or a triple and exacerbating his symptoms to the point where he’d be out a month or a lot more.â€
Corey Koskie can testify to that. After sustaining a concussion in July 2006 while playing for the Brewers, Koskie attempted to come back despite symptoms including headaches, dizziness and nausea. He experienced far more severe symptoms for six months, and eventually had to retire.
“That’s pretty much the reason I’m here today — thinking I could play through it,†Koskie said in a telephone interview from his home in Minnesota.
Regarding Church, he added: “I think he’s nuts. He doesn’t want to get to the point where he’s not going to get better. Tell him to call me. It’s not worth it.â€
“Yeah, some guys can still perform at 75%-80%, but other times you should DL them for 15 days and get them back at 95%-100% longterm.”
But Brian that would destroy the illusion that baseball is a sport of blood and guts (rather than skill) and make many baseball fans feel inferior to football fans because football players always ‘play through pain’ blah blah. Never mind that it usually HURTS the team when they try to do it.
Also it would destroy the ‘mind over matter’ illusion. Never mind that structurally damaged body parts simply can’t perform as well as healthy healed body parts. The brain is no exception to that.
In fact it seems to me that allowing baserunners to slide into fielders is a weak attempt to contrive physical contact in a non-contact sport for the purpose of allowing baseball fans to defend their sport against football fans by pointing out such plays.
Well, Mike C is right. Milledge wouldn’t have cracked his head against Escobar’s knee like Church did.
Of course, that’s because “Bleeding Potential” would have struck out on a slider out of the zone.
But that’s just part of the learning process.
“I don’t go into a relationship thinking someone is going to lie.â€
Isn’t there an ex-wife joke waiting to come out of that line?
I agree that the Mets appear to frequently mishandle medical evaluations and Church is the most recent example. After SNY showed that slow motion video over and over again, you’d think the team would have disabled Church earlier since it’s their footage. Then again, you asking the questions you did wasn’t exactly in good taste either, Delcos. Bottom line, a person is injured and both an organization and a writer are utilizing it to their advantage. You should be just as ashamed of yourself as Omar…
We all know anyway that Glavine should have been up in that situation to sacrifice the runners to 2nd and 3rd. The worst bonehead move of Willie’s managerial career.
But if Glavine had failed to bunt them over, would he have been devastated?
/sarcasm
JD – You are spot on with this. Omar needs to be raked over this. Church is one of the big acquisitions in the offseason and he jeapordizes his career over a few pinch hits.
Mike C—I agree with some of your points, but sometimes you come up with pure fiction which is mind boggling like:
**the dude was playing so vastly over his actual talent level that I’m not surprised that both the team and the player are recklessly trying to keep that lightning in a bottle.
Huh? He may have been playing over his head, but I believe most think not much over. He’s played at similar levels the previous two years. And no one’s “recklessly trying to keep that lighting in a bottle.” They simply didn’t want to lose him for an extended period of time. Which is the case for all players doing well. Especially when the team’s struggling.
**the more Church has to face that the beginning of this season was a fluke.
No fluke. Hot start maybe. But no fluke.
**on this day, he’s playing better than the both of them
Are you serious? LOL, the only way he can play better than both of them is if Church is out of the lineup. Certainly no accomplishment for Milledge.
Sometimes I think there’s no way you can believe some of this wild stuff yourself … but you just say it to try to get a rise out of those who support Church.
Tiffany: Sorry for not responding sooner. I read your Rocks Off reference on my Blackberry at a red light on the way to the park. Since I’ve gotten here, ``I’m zipping through the day with lightning speed.’’
Church, by the way, played catch this afternoon. He said he feels fine now, but he still hasn’t run. That will be tomorrow. He said neither he nor his agent sought a second opinion. He’s putting his faith in what the Mets are telling him.-JD
Douglas: Are you serious? I take it you’re on this blog and watch SNY because you want to find out about the Mets. You seek information, and information comes from guys like me asking questions. My agenda is to get answers from guys like Minaya who don’t want to tell, or use doublespeak, or flat out mislead reporters. No advantage to me in the Church situation.-JD
Thanks Annie
Church and his agent need to get a second opinion and be cautious. Of course maybe he wants to sit on the beach the rest of his life.
Sometimes I think Omar gets his medical advise from the same magic 8 ball I use to make my football picks.
Good answer to douglas. This guy (Minaya) wants to be accountable for nothing. He turned a 97 win team into a 500 ball club in no time flat and he makes believe he didn’t know two concussions were serious to a person, and this Douglas guy is upset at the questions asked. Its not like guys asking the players if they thought their boss should have been fired, knowing full well any straight answer is going to start more turmoil.
I have a bad feeling about Church and his agent not getting a second opinion. Sometimes the Mets just turn gold into straw and this could be one.
Scott – You’re welcome – I’m a daily Times reader and a sometimes contributor and it was easy to copy and paste. I knew that was where that ominous quote came from.
Mike C. gotts say you are absolutely wrong. This is not the American League. Nobody here in the NL has hitting as his primary job. The jobs for all 9 players in half defense/half offense. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it. You are flat out wrong. So please don’t say that Reyes gets a pass on his defense. And please don’t act like Church is a scrub. He is a good Nady type complimentary player. And Milledge/ Good riddance to bad rubbish. Just another in a long line of kids that can’t keep it straight.
And that’s from a guy that wasn’t happy about the trade at first and thought Milledge was going to be good. But he’s late and benched again this year.
clm did you ewver hear of Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder. Fielding is an afterthought at most with both of those guys.
TheGuv obviously knows little about baseball when he foolishly compares the easiest position on the diamond to the most difficult to make an erroneous point.
Uhhh: You may think first base is the easiest, but if you would have ever watched a real first baseman like Keith Hernandez or Gil hodges you wouldn’t write these ignorant and useless comments. I won’t try to educate you further but if you have a brain any larger than your name indicates you can try to check it out. I know you’ll fail because you don’t have the intellectual capacity to do otherwise but maybe your friends can try to help you.
I love how the concussions are now Church’s fault. This guy was playing his heart out when no one else was.
“infinite potential”? that’s not what the nationals fans think of milledge.
Guv –
I saw Keith Hernandez play in person a lot during the mid ‘80s. He was the quintessential Playing Captain and led the team to several winning seasons. He is definitely Managerial material, but has also earned the retirement he is now enjoying.
Ron Darling is also capable of more than just broadcasting – he should be in the Commissioner’s office.
This is the way things should be, get off what we are on now