Wednesday, April 18, 2007

I like Carlos a lot, the other Carlos… I don’t know.

Hasn’t been much baseball talk going on here, so I figure I would delve into the conflicting feelings I have towards the Mets’ Carloses. Carlos Delgado makes a lot of money (signed a 5 year, 52 mil deal with the Marlins before the 05’ season) for a below average defensive player in his mid 30’s, but for the past 10 years , you could pretty much pencil him in for batting .275 with at least 35 home runs and 100+ RBI’s.
He’s a peaceful man who stands by his beliefs. He caught some big time flack for quietly protesting the war in Iraq by not standing for God Bless America in 2004. But he certainly wasn’t wrong in his reasoning for it (the Iraq war may very well be, “the stupidest war ever"). And it’s too bad the Mets apparently have a policy against it, because more people in the public eye should be expressing their displeasure with what’s going on.
He’s also an intelligent man who doesn’t appreciate it when he’s not treated that way. When the Mets were trying to sign every available Latino superstar under the sun after the 2004 season, Delgado snubbed them for Florida. What was his reasoning? He didn’t like the way the Mets were trying to persuade him by playing upon his heritage. It takes some top quality cojones to turn away more money over that.
Also, he looks like he’s having fun on the field, and apparently, he’s not a dick off the field.
All in all, he’s a class act with principles and I enjoy rooting for him.

Carlos Beltran makes a ton of money ($119 mil over 7 years signed before 05’ season). He’s a 5-tooler (which is a description that always raises my suspicions) that’s arguably the best all-around outfielder in the game. He can do it all. And one postseason he did. He also did pretty damn good last season too. His legacy may already be set because of it (financially he certainly is).
For all his accolades, I don’t get much enjoyment watching him play. Although a big fan of the team, I don’t pull for him like I do the other guys in the lineup.
With his pretty boy looks (despite the mole), I think he’s got a lot of A-Rod in him, all the way down to striking out looking for the last out in the playoffs. I’m hoping he mixed some curveballs into his ocular pitching machine this off-season.
For someone rolling in dough for playing a game, he seems petulant. Last season he needed Julio Franco’s urging to get him out of the dugout for a curtain call and bitched about how the fans aren’t his friends thru thick and thin afterwards. Guess what buddy? You’re not playing in Kansas City anymore. The fans here don’t just show up and root for the guys wearing the white laundry. They know what you’re capability is and expect you to perform up to it. If you didn’t want to get criticized you should have signed with Houston for less money.
And while his salary may actually be a good value given what happened last off-season, I do begrudge him for having a slimeball agent (Boras) that demanded more money from the Mets while propositioning the Yankees for less money using the Mets offer for leverage.
I hope someone shows him some A-Rod comparison footage from last year to this year to demonstrate how good he could be if he was more aggressive. He’s got an all-time great hitter in Carlos Delgado batting behind him in the lineup. I’m tired of him taking pitches he should be hitting for strikes and then either taking called 3rd strikes or hitting weak groundouts. Jose Reyes may be leading the league in runs scored, but he probably leads the league in getting stranded in scoring position too.
While early returns show Beltran is having a better season thus far than Delgado, it’s going to take a lot more than better numbers for me to show the same reverence towards both of them. Fortunately for Beltran, I can easily be swayed with an MVP season and World Series victory.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You need MORE people in the pulic eye to protest the war?? You blind?

Young James said...

I guess so...
The more the better is the point...

Thanks for the positive feedback anonymous.

IceCold said...

Both Carloses are terribly clutch, but I gotta go with the younger guy. His swing is just so pretty and he is (as you put it ) a five tooler. He may have some at-bats similar to AROD but he does not have the dumba-- mouth of AROD. Who cares tho, I am glad the Mets got both of them!

Go to beersandwiches.blogspot.com!

Anonymous said...

gonna have to disagree with your dismissal of Beltran here. i know the guy played the goat by striking out in Game 7, but Beltran was otherwise ridiculously clutch throughout the 2006 campaign. so he had a frustrating opening year in '05... it happens. i didn't like how he stuck it to the fans w/ Julio-gate, but hey, i can't say i disagreed w/ him there. it's a more human reaction than A-Hole who seems to rise and fall w/ Yankees fans and seems completely oblivious and indifferent to what's going on around him. i'm of the opinion that A-Hole is borderline retarded.

Beltran cares. that's what makes me appeal to him. he has fun playing the game, and he's a human in and out of the game. he's a quiet guy who just isn't comfortable being the focal point of an offense. granted, that's what he was signed to do, but you can't blame him for listening to Scott Whore-as who probably pumped him up from the '04 playoffs onward about how Beltran was THE guy. i may also like Beltran so much b/c i was at that late season game against the Cardinals where he single handedly stole the show from Pujols and hit a walk-off in the 9th, capping off a huge come back. that was my game 7 victory.

Anonymous said...

dyslexic moment... i meant that's what makes Beltran appealing to me.

Rolf von Friedgen said...

People mindlessly showed up to cheer for Beltran in KC? Really? KC has some of the most knowledgeable fans in sports - which is why they stay away from the Royals as much as possible. The fans here will support a team that is deserving of support.

Young James said...

I agree that Beltran's the better player, but I really enjoy having Delgado on my team more.

As for KC, it's universally accepted that KC and other places like St. Louis have some really knowledgeable fans (I guess when there's not much else going on, the community will become more fanatical about their teams). But there were some people showing up at the stadium. And I doubt he ever got booed there. Sorry if I got to your midwestern sensibilities with the comment.

Blue Chevy said...

i can't stand how Beltran says "Holy Moley" after every time he hits a homerun and circles the bases pointing at that monstrosity on his face. It is so self-centered.

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