Last Thursday afternoon Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen was caught by a “hot mic.” Unlike Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brenneman, who was caught in a similar predicament last week and was vilified for uttering an anti-gay slur, Brodie actually wound up looking good for what he said.
Van Wagenen was apparently talking with an unseen associate in the Citi Field press conference room complaining that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred had requested the Mets and Marlins take the field at 7:10 PM and then leave for an hour as away of acknowledging the injustice of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI and return to the field an hour later to play their scheduled game.
“He just doesn’t get it!” Van Wagenen told his associate referring to what appeared to be Manfred’s lack of understanding about why this game needed to be postponed rather than be played given both the prevailing mood of the public and most of the baseball players, especially popular Mets first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith.
It turned out the game was called off after the players took the field and stood on the first and third baselines and then walked back to their respective clubhouses to leave the ballpark.
While there wouldn’t be a game Thursday night, Brodie Van Wagenen’s troubles were just beginning. It turned out the idea of the hour delay to start the game was not Rob Manfred’s idea but rather it was that of Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon who was not happy to hear his general manger thought it was ridiculous.
Jeff Wilpon has only himself to blame. Forget the fact it was a harebrained idea. What is really egregious is his failure to communicate his thoughts to Van Wagenen from the outset which could have saved the Mets organization embarrassment which has long been par for the course.
Things really got ugly however when both Fred and Jeff Wilpon had the Mets media relations department put out separate press releases about this cause celebre. Instead of simply saying there was some miscommunication about the game but everyone in the Mets organization is behind the decision the players made, the two Wilpons chose to publicly humiliate Van Wagenen by emphasizing their anger and disappointment in him by name. Perhaps the Wilpons, realizing their time running the Mets is coming to an end, were just blowing off some steam.
Many Mets fans have not been enthralled with his free agent bust signings (Jed Lowrie, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha, Jeurys Familia, and Dellin Betances) and his trade for failed closer Edwin Diaz. Knowing Van Wagenen, he’s probably agree things haven’t worked out the way he anticipated.
Nonetheless, on this issue, Brodie Van Wagenen was 100% right and should be praised for supporting his players especially since it bothered his tone deaf bosses.
Do you get the feeling the Yankees’ doubleheader sweep of the Mets on Sunday, where the Mets couldn’t hold a five-run lead going into the last frame, is more reflective of our Flushing heroes than their Friday twi-night doubleheader sweep of the Bronx Bombers?
I enjoyed 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and its 1991 sequel, “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves accurately captured two teens from San Dimas, California, who had heavy metal musician dreams and spoke with all of the San Fernando Valley mannerisms you would expect. The time travel phone booth was a fun nod to sci-fi films and TV shows of the past.
Unfortunately the just released “Bill & Ted Face The Music” shows that this franchise should have stopped when President George HW Bush left office.
The premise here is having our two heroes play middle-aged slackers who have saints for both wives .Each has a daughter who idealizes them even though they are failed rock musicians to say the least.
The guys take a trip into the future in a space age egg-shaped pod where they learn they must come up with a song that will unify the world in a few hours or life will cease to exist.
“Face The Music” runs about 90 minutes but it feels padded for most of it as the plot fails to make such sense. The only clever bit is having our heroes use their trusty time machine phone booth to recruit both Jimi Hendirx and Louis Armstrong to join their band in order to save the world.
Speaking of music, “Cousin” Bruce Morrow will return to WABC (770 AM) for the first time since he left in 1974 this coming Saturday evening at 6 PM as he’ll be hosting the three-hour “Cousin Brucie’s Rock & Roll Party.”
It will be fun to hear music on the AM dial again as well as those old school jingles.