If Paul Lo Duca’s marital problems weren’t distraction enough, today’s New York Daily News features claims from anonymous sources that the Mets catcher “had gambling debts, accumulating a big enough tab that Mets management was aware of it.”

MSNBC, attributing the following claim to a portion of the Daily News piece that must’ve disappeared, says these debts have attracted the attention of Major League Baseball.

Speaking as a blog publisher/editor whose bandwidth bills are underwritten by the online gaming industry (see the ad to your right), I would like to remind the lynch mob that what Disco Paul does with his own money on his own time is none of our business, and is far less entertaining than staring at photographs of his estranged wife.

It seems a shame to me that a hard working, misunderstood individual like Captain Red Ass is being persecuted by the media, while the rest of the sports world is overrun with unethical creeps who routinely compromise the integrity of their chosen field. I’m not just writing this because I’m a Mets fan or because Lo Duca’s creditors might break my kneecaps, or even because I’ve got $10 riding on tonight’s San Diego/New York game (plus a side bet that Eddie Trunk will have better seats than David Roth) and I’d like to see Paulie in the lineup. I’m trying to stand up for a good man’s privacy. I beseech all of you, LEAVE CAPTAIN RED ASS ALONE…and don’t let those chess cheats off the hook!