SSI on the Montero/Baccala Incident
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Mt Grizzly sez,
We should probably wait to pass judgement until all the facts come out.
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That'll do for us too. It is point A, and it is point B, and it is point C. The recent Michael Brown situation should be more than enough reminder on that...
On a rather less serious scale, we have the ongoing Jesus Montero melodrama.
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CS sez,
An M's cross-checker screams vaguely racist taunts at a player and then sends him an ice cream: A) This isn't some nobody, he oversees a region of the US and chances are we've heard of this guy. B) ...Fire that guy immediately. I think Montero is justified. C) How low is morale in this organization right now that a staff member is actively rooting against his player? If this is how the organization is run, it's no wonder that the team has developed so few hitters.
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And Gordon merely points out, "This situation is baaaaaad. Somebody's getting fired over it." ... Yeah, the General Manager doesn't appreciate seeing his scouts leading off the ESPN gossip segment. It doesn't reflect real well on his hires.
Having sniffed over the need to wait for facts ... Dr. D will indulge his own speculation as to one of the likely scenarios here.... whether this will be his OWN "fail," we'll see :- )
Baseball people can be as crotchety and gossipy as Thorn Birds tea circles full of maiden aunts. If you get on their down side, they thoroughly enjoy gathering into little clutches and snickering at you 24/7/365. Scouts, who travel constantly and who live very tough lives, can be especially prone to this "release" of pent-up frustration.
If you gossip, as opposed to calmly talking through your issues with the target, you can become grossly out of contact with reality. Gossip and backbiting is a spiral down into delusion, the ends of which are never visible.
Let's suppose that the scout got so much into snickering that he --- > lost contact with reality and thought that "the logical next step" in his frustration with Montero was to TAUNT him. If this be the case, then in the gladiatorial world of men's pro sports, a physical confrontation is (almost) the appropriate response. As Billy Connolly says, there are way too many lawsuits in the world, and way too few people getting punched in the teeth.
Not with a bat in your hand! What?! So a 25-year-old pro athlete needs a weapon to confront a doddering old codger (like Dr. D is)?!
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Had it happened away from the cameras, and Montero punched the scout, and they'd both thrown hands for a second before it got broken up, then maybe we'd be done.
But that's life. You air dirty laundry, an issue becomes public, then you've got 100x the damage control. You are forced to come up with a resolution that is accepted by people who have no business caring in the first place.
In other words, as Gordon says, somebody's getting fired, now.
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That's how I have it pictured. Your mileage may vary. Jesus Montero got mad at the scout for some reason. Why did Montero even become aware of that individual scout's presence?! Why would a player ever begin interacting with a scout up in the stands? I can't imagine what scenario is favorable to the scout here.
But if some scenario emerges and Butch Baccala comes out smelling like a rose, good for him. You hate to see a hard-earned career wrecked by one incident.
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As for Montero's future, if and when he can hit .300 with 30 homers, he'll make some money. I agree with y'all: t'ain't likely to be in Seattle any more. Zduriencik had him as a writeoff a while ago, and apparently he was right.
Be afraid,
Jeff