Newsday’s David Lennon with a story that should do wonders for the trade value of Lastings Milledge.
WASHINGTON – KNOW YOUR PLACE, ROOK!
The hand-scrawled message hung above Lastings Milledge’s locker after Friday’s 4-3 victory over the Nationals. At the bottom of the two sheets of paper was written, “Your Teammates.”
Milledge, as usual, ate dinner alone seated at his locker, facing inward, as the rest of the Mets crowded the clubhouse cafeteria. Someone had hidden Milledge’s street clothes, and one player thought they had been replaced by a dress.
The reason? According to one person familiar with the situation, Milledge – whose reputation is deteriorating quickly – mouthed off to a veteran teammate in Atlanta. Friday’s rebuke followed. Apparently, his teammates are becoming more and more annoyed by Milledge’s attitude.
“How much does it take to finally wake up?” the person said. “How long before you realize the way you’re acting is the opposite of how you should be acting? Fine. Stay asleep, then.”
Milledge shrugged when reporters asked him about the sign. When the questions continued, Orlando Hernandez waved them away in an effort to protect the rookie outfielder.
Though I’ve defended Da Edge in the past, I’ve just about had enough. For one thing, I’d like to blame the player for Omar Minaya’s inability to wave a magic wand and turn him into Barry Zito. For another, if he’s not gonna approve my MySpace friend request, fuck him. If Milledge is going to guard his MySpace friend list like so much cultural capital, he’s no real friend of mine.
The New York Times’ Michael S. Schmidt reports Saturday on various Yankee and Mets players taking the 4 and 7 trains to and from their respective respective offices.
After regular-season games at Shea, Bell waits for fans to clear out of the stadium before he heads for the elevated platform above Roosevelt Avenue. If the fans are still around, he puts on a shirt and hat given to him by security personnel at Shea so he looks more like a security worker and less like Heath Bell ” not that Heath Bell is all that recognizable. He heads to the front of the station™s platform and boards the first car, aiming to avoid the crowd.
I, for one, would welcome any attempt by the player to “look less like Heath Bell” when he takes the mound for the Metropolitans. That said, this was a funny article, and I look forward to future tales of Mike DeFelice’s offseason plastic surgery. It might sound extreme, but I’m sure he’d like to be able to go to the mall or the post office without being mobbed.