The New York Mets have thrown themselves right into the midst of the sports-wide protest on social injustice, and in so doing have created their own controversy after a video leaked of General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen criticizing Commissioner Rob Manfred for his supposed handling of the crisis.
In a 50-second video leaked online from the Mets press room, that was somehow discovered online by 20-year old Nick Albicocco, features a masked Van Wagenen rocking a chair back and forth while talking to someone in the background about the Mets and Miami Marlins potentially protesting Thursday night’s finale of a four-game series.
In the video, Van Wagnenen indicates that Manfred wanted to Mets to take the field at 7:10, protest, and then come off the field for one-hour only to play the game at 8:10.
“At the leadership level he doesn’t get it. He just doesn’t get it,” a frustrated Van Wagenen states.
Turns out that was not the case. The idea to come of the field for one hour and play ball at 8:10 was actually Jeff Wilpon’s idea. In order to do a major mea culpa Van Wagenen issued a statement saying,
“Jeff Wilpon called Commissioner Manfred this afternoon to notify him that our players voted not to play. They discussed the challenges of rescheduling the game. Jeff proposed the idea of playing the game an hour later. I misunderstood that this was the Commissioner’s idea. In actually, this was Jeff’s suggestion. The players had already made their decision so I felt the suggestion was not helpful. My frustration with the Commissioner was wrong and unfounded. I apologize to the Commissioner for my disrespectful comments and poor judgment in inaccurately describing the contents of his private conversation with Jeff Wilpon.”
Chalk it up as another infamous moment under Van Wagenen’s watch as Mets General Manager. Not only was the criticism a mistake, but the fact that his complaint actually got on video is inexplicable.
On top of that both Fred and Jeff Wilpon both tossed their General Manager under the bus in a statement that sounded more like a death nail on Van Wagenen's tenure as GM:
Fred Wilpon: " I am very stressed and disapointed to learn tonight that our General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen made disrespectful and inaccurate comments about our Commissioner, a long time close friedn of mine. I hold Rob in the highest regard and in no way are Brodie's remarks reflective of my views or this organizations. Rob continues to be a great leader of Major League Baseball. I apoligize for any harm this incident has caused Rob."
Jeff Wilpon: "To clear up any misunderstanding, it was my suggestion to potentially look into playing the game later because of scheduling issues. Brodie's misunderstanding of a private conversation was and is inexcusable."
Adios Brodie?
Meanwhile the Mets followed through with their protest in a surreal moment at Citi Field, as both teams took the field as if a game was about to be played. With Michael Wacha on the mound, he didn’t throw a warm-up pitch, as he waited for the remaining Mets and Marlins players to hop out of their dugouts for what would be a 42 second moment of silence.
Once the moment of silence ended, both teams left the field not to play a single inning of a game they were dressed to play in.
For many it was a moment to not only stand for social injustice, but it was a moment to support outfielder/DH Dominic Smith who was in tears after Wednesday’s game in discussing the issue with the media. Smith was the only player to kneel during the National Anthem Wednesday when word started to get around the sports world about the NBA’s decision to not play at all.
The Mets have now joined numerous baseball teams across Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL, the WNBA, and the NBA who have decided not play at all after the police involved shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times with his back toward officers. Some reports have claimed that Blake had a warrant out for his arrest, and brandished a knife during the attack. Reuters however posted that there is no arrest warrant. The investigation is reportedly ongoing.
The NBA and NHL are both expected to resume the playoffs this weekend. The Mets are scheduled to play the Yankees in a double-header on Friday. It is not known if the game against Miami will ever get made up.
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