When the Mets finally made the announcement that they were releasing Oliver Perez last week. One of the things that didn’t get much attention was how smoothly the whole ordeal went. Oliver Perez upon getting the news said,
“When they told me, I almost knew what they were going to tell me,” Perez said inside the clubhouse at the team’s spring training complex after shaking hands with teammates. “It’s one of those times you don’t feel great, but I don’t want to quit.”
“I think they gave me an opportunity,” he said. “They were fair with me when I came here. ‘We’re going to give you an opportunity to be a starter.’ I didn’t do anything great. They moved me to the bullpen trying to be a lefty specialist. And the last game, that was a real horrible job.”
This when compared to how things have gotten ugly with the Cubs release of Carlos Silva makes you appreciate how the Mets and Oliver Perez handled things.
Here is what Carlos Silva had to say after finding out he had been released.
“Riggs came to me and said, ‘What a day, and now go out there and do your workout and continue pitching the way you’re doing,… A half-hour later, he called me into the hall and started talking to me. I’m like, if you have to say something, be straight. He has to learn he’s in the big leagues now, know what I mean? There’s no kids around here anymore.”
This of course was met with a rather strong response from the Cubs organization. 1st here is what Cubs GM Jim Hendry had to say courtesy of ESPNChicago.com.
“Obviously we’re dealing with a man at this stage of his career who’s not willing to face the facts,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. “What he’s done for the last few years in his career, except for a two-month period, is way below major league standards. And he seems to have the continual problem [of] blaming everybody but himself.”
“Basically, he wasn’t good enough to make the team,” Hendry said. “You factor in not only spring training, but you try to go back and factor in the second half of last year, looking at a guy who had a 14-something ERA from July 11 and came to camp with a notion that he already had a spot in the rotation. Obviously, the first three, four outings, quite poor.”
“His comments about Mark Riggins were totally inappropriate and unacceptable. Once again, it’s a weakness for somebody that doesn’t perform well and chooses to blame somebody else on the way out.”
Then here is what Cubs manager Mike Quade had to say.
“I was really disappointed when I heard [Silva's comments]. First of all, he’s dead f—ing wrong, OK, about my pitching coach. And I have no f—ing time for that.”
“Respect is a two-way street,” he said. “I don’t want to hear anything about respect. If you ain’t giving it, you ain’t getting it.”
In NY an exchange like this would be Front Page news. Makes one appreciate how smoothly Ollie’s release went.
52 comments
stickguy
3/28/2011-3:35pm at 3:35 pm (UTC -4)
speaking of behavior, here is something for Knog. MF will appreciate it too.
And i live among these people. Now you know why I am like I am!
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/03/philadelphia-sports-fans-at-their-worst.html
saltygary
3/28/2011-4:07pm at 4:07 pm (UTC -4)
Was at an Eagles game at the Vet when they only had 3 wins and it was pretty late in the season. The stadium was half filled everyone was wasted. There was probably 10 fights on my level alone and it was all between Eagles fans.They were just bored, pissed off and drunk. Koi Detmer got knocked out of the game and that was the only time there was a cheer.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-4:17pm at 4:17 pm (UTC -4)
Philadelphia fans can be disgusting.
As can NY fans.
How many Met and Yankee games have you been to in the last few decades?
My one game last year I was about 15 rows back of the Met dugout, in my Dad’s ex-firm’s great seats.
Three rows behind us were four loud, drunk, obnoxious college kids. Loudly and profanely cheering for the Nationals and upsetting the family right in front of them and the insane-looking rapper-type guys right behind us.
At about the 6th inning, they spilled beers on the teenage girls and their Dad right in front of them, and then threw a beer which hit the insane-looking guys behind me and a few drops of beer landed on my 3-year-old niece. I am 6′ 1″ and pretty big, and pretty psychotic when my family is threatened.
Me and the two insane-looking rapper types and the teenage girls’ Dad charged at the guys, and got there one minute before security. One of the college drunks threw a punch and was pummeled by one of the insane- looking guys behind me. The first time an incident like this occured involving me, but I have seen it again and again at Met and Yankee and Giant and Jet games.
In Seattle, the fans REALLY know how to behave like people.
NY fans NEVER act like loud, drunken, bully animals.
I have seen drunk guys threaten women, I had a metal piece of a seat hit me on the head in a game at Shea in the 1980s, I saw batteries thrown on the field at Yankee Stadium.
The anti-Phillie stuff on here is approaching mental illness.
TRS86
3/28/2011-4:23pm at 4:23 pm (UTC -4)
da da na na da ta…. puppy power….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzkLSUsWuhg
Here I come to save the day…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYpBoYa4pno
tkfj2
3/28/2011-4:42pm at 4:42 pm (UTC -4)
More hyperbole, New York fans are not saints, but if you want to talk about documented incidents and all around douchebaggery all signs point to Philly.
I don’t come to a Mets blog to speak highly about a rival like Philadelphia, if I wanted to read someone blow the Phillies, I’d read Beerleaguer.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-5:14pm at 5:14 pm (UTC -4)
If you want to talk about real-world events, fans at Met, Yankee, Giant and Jet games can–without a doubt–conduct themselves every bit as horridly as folks in Philly.
TRS86
3/28/2011-5:46pm at 5:46 pm (UTC -4)
Sure they can and on any given night Pelfrey can out pitch Halladay. However, neither are the more likely norm. Of course Mets fans can be as bad as Philly fans yet on average Philly fans are known to be the worst. Not just Mets fans say that.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-5:57pm at 5:57 pm (UTC -4)
How many games have you attended in New York and Philly? Met, Yankee, Jet, Giant, Phillie, and Eagle.
Rough estimate is fine.
TRS86
3/28/2011-6:00pm at 6:00 pm (UTC -4)
0.
But I have attended some in Washington. However, I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and I can read.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-6:54pm at 6:54 pm (UTC -4)
LOL!
Good answer!
I have seen things at Met/Yankee/Jet/Giant games over the last 35 years that certainly would give the Philly ogres a run for their money.
TRS86
3/28/2011-6:55pm at 6:55 pm (UTC -4)
Why is it then Kingman, that the Philly area has the reputation around the country in all sports of being obnoxious?
kingman 26
3/28/2011-7:00pm at 7:00 pm (UTC -4)
I NEVER said they weren’t!
They ARE!
But, New Yorkers are too!!
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:02pm at 7:02 pm (UTC -4)
Rephrasing….
Why are the Philly fans considered all over the country to be the worst fans in all major sports?
kingman 26
3/28/2011-7:10pm at 7:10 pm (UTC -4)
Because they are?
OK, rephrasing–who would be considered the second-worst, in terms of violent, boorish behavior?
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:13pm at 7:13 pm (UTC -4)
Hmmm, good question. I am sure you are thinking NY but honestly I would have no idea. Based on my research West Charlotte High School. LOL.
hazmet
3/28/2011-7:14pm at 7:14 pm (UTC -4)
Trenton Fans since they probably attend Philly sporting events.
Just remember, Philly fans were ranked the best most passionate fans in a nationwide poll a couple of weeks ago. I almost gagged when I saw that.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-7:20pm at 7:20 pm (UTC -4)
How about Providence Day School?
Does that still exist?
I went to 3rd grade there in 1973-1974!
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:21pm at 7:21 pm (UTC -4)
Actually yeah Kingman. We lost to them in a pretty good game early in the season.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-7:25pm at 7:25 pm (UTC -4)
Ha!
Yeah, and as I suspect you know Charlotte history, I was there during a VERY high-tension time for Charlotte public schools in the early 1970s. I had zero issues in public school in 1972-1973, but my parents sent me to private school the next year, then we moved back to NJ in summer 1974.
hazmet
3/28/2011-7:29pm at 7:29 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks knog, now I have this visual of your parent dressing you up like Angus Young and sending you off to private school.
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:29pm at 7:29 pm (UTC -4)
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), as a guy who has had to teach Civics I know it very well. Actually the system I teach in has had similar laws passed.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-7:32pm at 7:32 pm (UTC -4)
HAHA Haz!! That is too much. No, that would not have gone over too well in Charlotte NC in 1972!
And TRS, you got it. It was VERY confusing for a 6 year old who was color-blind to race since birth, but I vividly remember adults yelling about it and getting really stressed about it all the time….I think it is one of the experiences that has made me such a non-racial person.
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:37pm at 7:37 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah Charlotte still has it’s own issues dealing with race. The schools are still very segregated.
hazmet
3/28/2011-7:39pm at 7:39 pm (UTC -4)
My memory of South of the Mason Dixon line was as a 5year old in 1968 having a redneck pickup truck throw a cinder block through our car window with NY plates and yelling “get the hell outta here you n**** loving Yankee’s”. My father didn’t stop driving for 100 miles and I rode with schards of glass in my hair and wasn’t allowed to open my eyes. Needless to say, I didn’t go south of DC until my 30′s.
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:43pm at 7:43 pm (UTC -4)
Wow, Haz, where was that?
kingman 26
3/28/2011-7:45pm at 7:45 pm (UTC -4)
Wow, TRS, that’s kind of shocking; people were working so hard to integrate them when I was there from 1973–1975.
Haz, that is a hell of a story. My Dad told me how when vacationing in Virginia as a kid in the 1940s he did not understand what “colored” meant at water fountains…he asked my grandparents if it meant chocolate water. That’s pretty horrible. I go to South Carolina every summer, and the way it has changed is truly inspiring. Yeah, it’s not perfect, but the majority there have left that stuff WAY behind them.
hazmet
3/28/2011-7:52pm at 7:52 pm (UTC -4)
Georgia-FLA Border. We were doing a loop to look at colleges for my sister. It was also a pouring thunderstorm so it was just charming. Definitely shaped my point of views in a lot of ways. As in jeez, I’m white and they hate us just for being from the north how do people of color overcome such blind hatred. My father was raised on the Rio Grande river during the depression and grew up in a very racially diverse community of mexican-americans where borders really didn’t exist. Fortunately, his color blindness was passed down to me and my siblings as I can’t imagine living with such animosity based on skin color.
TRS86
3/28/2011-7:56pm at 7:56 pm (UTC -4)
Really changed since then.
hazmet
3/28/2011-7:59pm at 7:59 pm (UTC -4)
Oh for sure. Savannah and Charleston may actually be my 2 favorite cities in the country. Savannah is super funky and being a short drive to Tybee Island and the Crab Shack along the way is just an awesome area.
TRS86
3/28/2011-8:05pm at 8:05 pm (UTC -4)
Tybee Island is incredible and I know and have eaten at that very Crab Shack.
As for our comments earlier Kingman, for example West Charlotte High School has less than 5 white kids per grade out of 1600 kids.
metsfan4decades
3/28/2011-8:49pm at 8:49 pm (UTC -4)
Sorry if this response isn’t quite nesting right….Tried to find the last reply button.
trs…can’t believe what you’re saying about segregation still going on today. Not to say I don’t believe you – just saying I can’t believe it’s still going on.
And Haz….that’s just well….completely ignorant. What an awful experience.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-8:46pm at 8:46 pm (UTC -4)
WOW TRS. The activists in the early 1970s would be sick.
And Haz, Charleston and the surrounding area is one of my favorite places on the planet. The beaches, the history, the palm trees, and the food. Oh I love the food down there.
hazmet
3/28/2011-8:55pm at 8:55 pm (UTC -4)
Knog – My one regret last year was I was in Savannah twice on business at Gulfstream while the Sand Gnats were at home and I couldn’t break free to go check out Flores.
Charleston is awesome – totally put some pounds on there.
4D – Yeah it was something. But hey ya know thankfully I was none the worse for wear and it was a good lesson to learn at a very young age. Albeit I could have done without it but it could have been worse.
metsfan4decades
3/28/2011-4:44pm at 4:44 pm (UTC -4)
Wait…those were National fans, in NY?
Or New Yorkers that just happened to be Nat fans?
Either way, they weren’t Met fans, right?
kingman 26
3/28/2011-5:13pm at 5:13 pm (UTC -4)
Holy cow, good point!!
Still, I have seen it all at Shea/Yankee/Giants Stadiums.
metsfan4decades
3/28/2011-4:42pm at 4:42 pm (UTC -4)
hahaha – too funny.
Stay classy, Philly fans.
saltygary
3/28/2011-4:00pm at 4:00 pm (UTC -4)
The Ollie situation was pretty downright ugly last year. I think Ollie and the organization where pretty over it this spring.
Mr North Jersey
3/28/2011-4:04pm at 4:04 pm (UTC -4)
Yet still in my opinion for all that happened last year it never got to the point where the verbal barrage was this ugly.
saltygary
3/28/2011-4:09pm at 4:09 pm (UTC -4)
I think that is what actually annoyed me more about the whole thing…
With everything that is going on with the team right now it’s really nice to have some cohesion between the players, the manager and the FO. This is the tightest it’s been for a long time. I know it’s only been a couple months but these guys bleed accountability, which is awesome.
kingman 26
3/28/2011-4:10pm at 4:10 pm (UTC -4)
Well, true perhaps, but it’s also because Ollie is a spineless, prideless moron.
If he had any pride or any spine, he would never have acted as he did for the last 2.5 years.
The inside of his head is populated by luke warm air and not much else.
TRS86
3/28/2011-4:09pm at 4:09 pm (UTC -4)
Cubs actually sound like tools. Why get so heated about what a former player said? Take the high road. Unless maybe what Silva said is true.
Prismo
3/28/2011-4:14pm at 4:14 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed, they completely overreacted.
Just say, “What Carlos said is 100% false, but we’re moving on.” The end.
saltygary
3/28/2011-4:15pm at 4:15 pm (UTC -4)
Yea Silva’s comment didn’t seem like he needed to get torched by the FO and manager, something else must of been going on.
If Omar was over there it would probably go something like “we need to investigate Mr. Silva’s comments. We will investigate and get back to you with a response. We need to investigate with Riggins and then investigate what the appropriate response will be. Once we conclude our investigation we will let you know what the investigation uncovered but until we conclude the investigation…”
So nice to have a GM that knows how to address questions appropriately.
Mr North Jersey
3/28/2011-4:16pm at 4:16 pm (UTC -4)
LoL
metsfan4decades
3/28/2011-4:47pm at 4:47 pm (UTC -4)
Exactly.
Maybe the difference between our FO and theirs?
I haven’t read anything on this yet other than the snippits here but what caught my eye was: Riggs called him into the hall and started talking to him’.
Don’t know how true this is but if it is, somehow or other I can’t see Terry/Sandy informing a player they’re being released in the hallway.
hazmet
3/28/2011-7:06pm at 7:06 pm (UTC -4)
Unless they knew the player was volatile and they thought he’d trash their office. Who know’s, only reason I could think of.
Mr North Jersey
3/28/2011-4:21pm at 4:21 pm (UTC -4)
In my opinion I think what SaltGary said about something else must of been going on is probably correct. In retrospect the Cubs may admit this outburst was probably not the best course of action to take and maybe would of been better served to take the high road like the pitching coach Riggins chose to do when he said,
“I’ve been through quite a few releases [of other players] at the minor league level,” he said. “With everybody it’s different. I wish him the best, and if I can help him in any way, the door is always open.”
TRS86
3/28/2011-4:24pm at 4:24 pm (UTC -4)
Bingo.
oleosmirf
3/28/2011-5:34pm at 5:34 pm (UTC -4)
terrible news folks, Luis Hernandez is on waivers…
TRS86
3/28/2011-5:49pm at 5:49 pm (UTC -4)
Dang, no one desperate enough to trade for him I guess.
metsfan4decades
3/28/2011-5:40pm at 5:40 pm (UTC -4)
Per Rubin:
The Mets placed Nick Evans, Luis Hernandez and Pat Misch on waivers Monday, according to a baseball official who was not authorized to speak publicly because the process is secretive.
The results of the waiver process should be known Wednesday.
TRS86
3/28/2011-5:49pm at 5:49 pm (UTC -4)
As expected. We now get to see if anyone claims Evans and if they pull him back. Doing it now assures time to make other moves if claimed.
Also, what makes me wonder if Evans is so desirable to other teams then why wasn’t a trade worked out? Yes I know if they wait they have a CHANCE to get him for free. But you would have to hope that no one ahead of you claimed him. Thus if it were an AL team that had title hopes they would have to wait a long time to have that chance.