Yesterday, I compared Mike Francesa to the late Senator Joe McCarthy. Well today, our Joseph Welch showed up. There have already been good comments on what mike from Montclair said to Mike, so I won't rehash them. But Mike From Montclair came on and basically said, 'Have you no decency, sir.' I'm not saying this is the turning point which will lead to Mike's downfall. That probably happened with his screed against the critics a few weeks ago. But this is a sign that support for Mike is eroding. Mike from Montclair, who is usually a yes man who calls in to hear his voice up against Mike and Chris, threw down against the big man. It was inspired stuff. And it totally affected Mike. After the call, Mike went into condescending attack mode and disparaged Mike from Montclair as being 'frustrated'. Here's a bit of the call:
Mike from Montclair: my brother and sister are buying me a one year subscription to SIRIUS satellite for my 50th...that’s not meant as a threat Mike...
Francesa: I’m not worried about your threat Mike. And if you don’t want to call or listen anymore, that’s your prerogative. And if you have a problem with the show, that’s also your prerogative. And if you want to listen to satellite, that’s your prerogative too...Okay, maybe you can get the stock over 40 cents a share too...
And then he kept up the bitter theme when in the middle of 100 compliments of Tom Seaver as a player, threw in the 'I don't like him personally, he's um...well you know.'
I must admit this is great theater. Or great cinema. He reminds me of Eric Bogosian in the movie Talk Radio. The second half of the movie, Bogosian playing real-life shock talk host Alan Berg, descends into madness. Eventually, he is put out of his misery when he is shot in the parking lot. Of course, I don't wish that on Mike, but the symbolism of it is relevant.
And to honor Mike from Montclair, I'll borrow from another movie, MMD favorite A Few Good Men:
RUSSO
Did I ever tell you that I heard you on an internet
podcast once?
MIKE FROM MONTCLAIR
Yeah?
RUSSO
It was one of the best podcasts ever on the 1993 Mets.
MIKE FROM MONTCLAIR
Yes it was.
RUSSO
And if I were any listener and I had
a choice between you or Francesa to
listen to, I'd take you any day of the
week and twice on Sunday.
You should have seen yourself thunder away
at Mike.
MIKE FROM MONTCLAIR
Should I call in again?
RUSSO
No.
MIKE FROM MONTCLAIR
You think Jerome would've?
RUSSO
With the ratings Mike is getting? Not in a
million years. But here's the thing-and
there's really no way of getting around
this--neither Jerome nor Ira
is the man who took down Francesa.
So there's only one question what
would you do?
And Now, A Note From Brian Powell
14 years ago
7 comments:
Mike's lost his mind. He reminds me of some strange old paranoid actor. Mike: "I was number 1, not you, I was" I know David Wright you don't.
There was a young caller about 3:00 that just shot Mike down. Mike just freaked out on the kid.
Caller: Mike baseball players on average don't peak until age 27 or 28.
Mike: that's dumb, whatta you talkin about.
Caller: On ava...
Mike: What do you mean average?? what are you talkin about. Who's an average player? that's dumb.
Caller: no mike on average not an average player.
Mike: don't say average cause you don't know what your talkin about. Average doesn't mean anything.
Caller: Mike how many players have started their careers with 4 consecutive plus .900 ops seasons.
Mike: Don't give me numbaaas, I don't go for numbaaaas.
Mike: Were Back.
Francessa has been intolerable these last few days with Joe & Evan. Why did he have them on if all he was gonna do was belittle them, their ideas and, and their teams. Was that his reason??? What was upper management's role in all of this and what will they ultimately do? This is his worst day yet. The look on his face all day...so smug.....just INTOLERABLE. I have beem on Sirus, 1050 ESPN, CNBC more and more
I repeat my post.........Francessa has been intolerable these last few days with Joe & Evan. Why did he have them on if all he was gonna do was belittle them, their ideas and, and their teams. Was that his reason??? What was upper management's role in all of this and what will they ultimately do? This is his worst day yet. The look on his face all day...so smug.....just INTOLERABLE. I have beem on Sirus, 1050 ESPN, CNBC more and more
You know, I caught that call by Mike from Montclair, and when he said "Is this what we as listeners can expect on this 'prime real estate' radio slot" I honestly thought it was one of you guys calling in posing as Mike from Montclair. Does he read this blog? Because it seemed too perfect.
But Mike is getting worse and worse. He's like a drug addict, only his addiction is his irrationality and his ego, and his slip is really starting to show. Evan broke the barrier big time.
Mike says he doesn't want to talk about Wright's stats, but then he immediately said he wants to talk about the measure of Wright's intangibles. Mike, you can't measure intangibles! And from what I can see, if you want to talk intangibles, I see Wright always standing up in front of the camera and taking the blame for any of the team's failures, while most of the other guys run and hide. He may not be a 5 tool player (the only weakness you mentioned was his lack of throwing arm, yet he won a gold glove as a third baseman), but he clearly is a leader on the field.
Mike, you mention how everyone wants Wright traded when you said Wright or Reyes, but clearly you got all the talk turned to Wright. Personally, as an objective observer, I would trade Reyes, as he has more value, and I'd look for a Halladay in return. Can you imagine Santana and Halladay in the same rotation? The Mets would be unbeatable.
And Mikey boy, 30 homers and 100 RBI may not carry the same value it once did, but then again we may be headed back in that direction, seeing as offense was down overall in baseball this year as the league moves to clean up the PEDs and greenies. 30 homers and 100 RBIs is a pretty important bat in the middle of the lineup. When you consider that production is coming from your third baseman...maybe Wright isn't a top 10 player in baseball or tops at his position, but he's not exactly garbage by any means.
You want to dismiss Wright, but then you talk about Longoria like he is a future hall of fame player. How many times have I heard you dismiss young, talented players because you haven't seen enough of them? Why is Longoria an exemption? If I were to make an assumption like that on Robinson Cano or Jacoby Ellsbury based on last year, I'd look like a fool this year. The league will catch up to Longoria. How he adjusts in return will determine how good he really is (and I happen to think he will be pretty damn good, but let's calm down!). Tell me, in what way is Longoria better than Wright? Wright has been consistent over several years in the bigs already. He's becoming a proven player. Don't give me his clutch numbers, that can change in an instant. Longoria is a Cloud 9 player right now, but let's give him a few years to see what he really is.
And then you said something along the lines of, "I don't know who the Mets would trade Wright for, I'd have to ask them." There you go trying to trump your ego again and act like you're so important, as though you have the Mets on speed dial and they're dying to hear from you. Go ahead and ask, Mike, I'll wait. Go march into Citifield and shout up to the owner's box, see if you get a response. I'm sure they'll give you a completely honest answer, and it'll probably annoy you when you learn Wright isn't going anywhere...not because he is homegrown, but because he is important to the team. Mike, you are pathetic.
And that's coming from a Yankee fan...
Eh, Gold Gloves are almost meaningless. Once you win one, unless someone else really has an outstanding season, you keep winning them. Wright is yet another overhyped NY athlete. That said, Mike needs to cool it with his Rays worship. He was kissing the Red Sox's asses until Manny left, now he's switched sides.
I agree that the gold glove is overrated, I feel that way about most of the writers' awards, but he must have done something well in the field to be considered for it. His arm isn't good, but based on what I've seen of him, you could do much worse with the glove...
Also, the gold glove argument would work on Mike's level of debates over meaningless stats. That sits right up there with 30 homers and 100 RBI, which he's been close to or over every season. Those stats by themselves are fair and all, but couple it with a career .921 OPS and Wright really stands out at his position. For a guy who plays every day, he has a career .389 OBP, which includes .390 this year and .416 last year. That's a pretty important bat.
Reyes, on the other hand, has more perceived value for what he does as a SS, but his OBP, as a leadoff hitter mind you, is nowhere close to Wright. But he has blazing speed and some pop (16 homers this year)...ok, he stole 56 times out of 71 attempts this year. He had 200 hits, bat close to .300 avg. Good player by all means, but if you had to choose between keeping one or the other, I know I'd keep Wright, especially when Reyes has more value on the trade market, as I mentioned.
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