(pic culled from Larry Brown Sports)
Albeit, a crazy talented, wildly productive Valdespin. OK, that’s not exactly what Arizona C Miguel Montero had to say about Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig, but it does seem the outfielder’s alleged violations of baseball etiquette have rubbed at least one deeply envious opponent. Hey, if you want humble, Colin Cowgill’s probably available. From MLB.com’s Tyler Emrick :
“If he’s my teammate, I probably try to teach him how to behave in the big leagues,” Montero said. “He’s creating a bad reputation around the league, and it’s unfortunate because the talent that he has is to be one of the greatest players in the big leagues.
“Right now, I’m not going to say he’s the best because he hasn’t proved anything yet. Does he have talent? Of course. Does he have the tools? Of course. He’s got so much talent, it’d be really bad if he wasted it doing the stupid things that he’s doing. You have to respect to earn respect. If you don’t respect anybody, you aren’t going to earn respect.”
On Tuesday, Puig was thrown out easily at the plate in the fifth inning but not before he collided with Montero and then stared down the catcher as he walked back to the dugout. Replays showed Montero waving his finger at the rookie, a la former NBA big man Dikembe Mutombo.
“I don’t blame him running me over, it’s part of the game,” Montero said. “The only thing I really don’t appreciate is why you have to look back at me. I really don’t appreciate that.”
Based on my almost nightly viewing of Dodgers games, I’d like to express that Montero is totally full of shit. Puig doesn’t chirp at umpires, doesn’t showboat, and is generally fun to watch.
Does anyone else notice that players calling out other players for “unwritten rules” BS are almost always forgettable nobodies, and the players they’re calling out are media magnets?
I think Billy Wagner was a very memorable nobody.