Joe Posnanski on Carlos Beltran

Mr. Posnanski comes to the defense of the great Mr. Beltran.

6 months ago SQUAD 17 comments 1 recs |

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Posnanski has a pretty big man-crush on Beltran from his days with the Royals

No shame in that though, since Beltran is, you know, phenomenally good at baseball.

by JoshNY on May 22, 2009 11:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I read that.

Joe Pos is great.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on May 22, 2009 11:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

"The definition of edge is going out there and getting a few wins, and then all of a sudden you don’t have to worry about anyone talking about edge anymore," Wright said. "That's a thing in the past. Go ask Omar about that."

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on May 22, 2009 12:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Beyond the awesome numbers

I always go back to Beltran limping around and playing (really well) on two bad legs during the Great Collapse of ‘07. I never understood why that didn’t earn him 1000 grission points.

by Mount17 on May 22, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Because he went out and did it without making a big stink about it

If someone like LoDuca had done that, you know every postgame interview he’d be going on and on about how much pain he was in, and grimacing and limping around while on the field.

by James Kannengieser on May 22, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and because the Mets didn't make the playoffs

and therefore nothing they did that whole season counts for anything, even though Wright was the best player in the league

by JoshNY on May 22, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know

If Marlon isn’t called for interference in Philly, or Wagner doesn’t get back spasms in Florida, or a bunch of other things, maybe the Mets make the playoffs, Wright wins MVP, and for some reason he would be looked at in a whole different light.

by Mount17 on May 22, 2009 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh god, effing lo duca

i havent thought about big pud in a while.

remember when people wanted the mets to resign him and then they didnt and then he got outed as a steroid user and then the nats signed him and he sucked and then retired and no one cared?

lease favorite met of all time. behind even david newhan.

All of the mets fans hope that we will not see the bad news mets ever again.

by kendynamo on May 22, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really don't get it

People get on Reyes for being too enthusiastic and not caring enough. People get on Beltran for being too unenthusiastic and not caring enough. People get on Wright for caring too much. What the hell do people want? Apparently you have to care exactly the same amount as Jimmy Rollins or Derek Jeter – a little more or a little less and you’re a failure who can’t win.

Also, all I’ve ever heard about Joe DiMaggio is that he made everything look so easy. He glided to the ball, he never had to dive, etc. Joe DiMaggio was so beloved that it drove Mickey Mantle (a far better player by just about every measure) to drinking, b/c he could never measure up the first few years. Now compare that to Beltran, who you could say the same things about as DiMaggio, and he’s hated. I just don’t understand it.

by cjmulrain on May 22, 2009 1:24 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs

thats because Beltran is not a yankee.

by meigs1414 on May 22, 2009 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was a different era

Not to sound like a Depends-donning dinosaur, but that was when great baseball players were gods. Yankee legends like Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle could do no wrong. DiMaggio was suspected of cheating on and beating his wives, but this was largely shrugged off by the media. Mantle’s character was never questioned despite his insistence on going out until the wee hours of the morning every night. Nowadays, great players like Pujols (and, of course, A-Rod) are by no means immune to ridiculous criticism. This applies to their actions on and off the field.

Great article, BTW!

Really, Jerry?

by Prince on May 22, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Indeed.

You can also thank talk radio and even the internet as well. You can only talk about actual performance for so long. Eventually you need to make things up.

I would also like to add the fact that Beltran played through two pretty debilitating injuries in his first season on the team (nagging quad issues and a broken face) that people should never question his toughness ever again.

One more thing, because talking about Beltran gets me fired up, just the other day I heard Darling say, when a Met player took a nasty pitch, “the only thing you can do on a pitch like that is take it and hope it is a ball.” No one gives Wainwright enough credit for throwing, what was it, 3 nasty hooks? Beltran has shown time and again that he is “clutch,” which is simply a byproduct of him being, to quote JoshNY: “phenomenally good at baseball.”

by SQUAD on May 22, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wasn't around for their careers

but from what I’ve read and heard, Mantle/Martin/Whitey were quite the party animals. Imagine them pulling the same shenanigans today, with cell phone cameras, Twitter, With Leather, TMZ, and Page Six around?

by James Kannengieser on May 22, 2009 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by JoshNY on May 22, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the answer is:

Most people are idiots.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on May 22, 2009 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is my question.

If people choose one or the other, fine. Fine. I’d at least comprehend what their argument was (not that I’d agree). But this is just hypocrisy at its core.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on May 22, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's simple

If you don’t win, people assume there’s something wrong with you. When you do win, it’s a “team effort” even though someone inevitably sucks on the team, and when you lose, they always look to blame certain people.

"I was so frustrated [Saturday], I [could have said] anything," ~Oliver Perez

by Lance Johnson on May 22, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs