12/18/10

My Last Fernando Martinez Post

First of all… never met him… never saw him play… passed him in the locker room two years ago and was surprised how small he was… this is the extend of my transparency. By the way, when did the word “transparent” become a good word? Joann Castellano called me transparent in the six grade, which cost me a hand job behind the 104th Street handball courts on Atlantic Avenue.


I read that F-Mart was diagnosed as a 22-year old with arthritis. It also said he was feeling better. That’s really funny. An arthritic that is feeling better. That’s called a person with pain on pain pills.


Do you have arthritis? I do. So does my wife. So does David Rubin. So does around15% of your friends and relatives. Go sit down with them and ask thm the last time they knew someone with arthritis that eventually “felt better” and wound up a star in major league baseball?



This isn’t a groin pull.There’s no cure for arthritis. 22-years olds with only become 23-year olds with more of this. By the time they’re 30, they are 40.



Oh, and by the way… what’s the chances of some other major league baseball team with a zillion medical experts associated with them recommending that their team trade for a 22-year old with arthritis? None, less than none, or what’s are you talking about, Willis? Pick one.



This is over, Mets fans. Your number one outfield prospect is Cesar Puello (ETA 2013) because of his speed. Number two goes to Darrell Cecilliani (ETA 2013) based on potential. And third, Gilbert Gomez (ETA 2014), on raw tools.


There is no more F-Mart. The dream outfield. Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, and Lastings Milledge. Sigh.

12 comments:

grandmazter3 said...

Interesting read.

I really don't want to give up on him but some good points were made. Sad really.

Love The Mets said...

I guarantee you will see F-Mart on the big team at some point this year.

Love The Mets said...

I guarantee you will see F-MART on the big league team sometime this year.

Anonymous said...

You're insane. Arthritis is a garbage can term. Any dr. Will tell u that. Intermittent pain could be anything. Giving up on 22 years olds ain't good for business. You said yourself, we can't get shit for him, let him play. Not everyone pans out, arthritis won't be the reason. Baseball is played in the summer, arthritis is exacerbated by cold wet weather. Let him sit during the world series. We won't be there til he's 52 anyway, by then he'll really have arthritis.

SparBZ said...

I've had it since I was 13, I'm now a month from 20. I was on serious anti-inflammatorys from 13-18: a morning pill cocktail, and injections that ranged from once a week to twice a day. Yesterday I put up 1.5x my body weight on the bench press and I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm also not taking ANY rheumatologist-prescribed medication and found by just staying in shape and keeping a healthy diet, my inflammation stays down. Granted, 225+ lbs on a bar puts some wear-and-tear on my joints at times, but, with some concentrated effort, it shouldn't prevent F-Mart from catching and throwing a baseball, gripping a bat, and running 90 feet.

Mack Ade said...

good for you, D'zjon...

keep up the good work

Charlie said...

The rigorous marathon that is a 162 game schedule in baseball would wreak havoc on someone with an arthritic condition...depending on where the pain originates. Competing at a professional level day after day will break you down much more than just staying in good physical. For D'zjon to say how proud he is at 20 to be doing so well is good but at 20 it shouldn't even be on his mind. That is why the arthritis is so serious.

noahmets said...

How is Kirk Niewenhuis rated so low. Cesar Puello might be better, but Kirk Niewenhuis is better than Darell Ceciciliani. BTW, I still think that Niewenhuis is better than Puello.

Mack Ade said...

Noah:

I like Captain Kirk a lot, but I have to grade these without emotion.

Most of the better scouts grade him out as a backup outfielder...

The good news is everybody has been wrong at least once before...

Unknown said...

Have you ever heard of Mickey Mantle? He had osteoarthritic knees and played (in pain, and wrapping his knees every day) until he was 37. And there were few medications like we have today. Arthritis isn't only treated with pain killers; there are such medications as Celebrex and other NSAIDs.

Mack Ade said...

Jeff;

Mickey Mantle?

Mickey Mantle... oh, yeah, I heard of him. Was one of the greatest hitters of all time who's career was shortened by...

BTW, you are right. There were few medications like we have today. Today we have Celebrex which can cause a heart attack. Back then, all you had were bennies, cortizone shots and plenty of bourbon.

Look, I wish F-Mart a long and successful career in major league baseball. I just don't believe it is going to happen and I choose to not write about it again until it does.

David Rubin said...

Regarding Mantle- he had one of THE highest thresholds for pain that the game ever saw. His arthritic condition was brought on by the DiMaggio incident, but Mantle was too polite publicly to chastise the Yankee Clipper for it. I suggest reading about Mantle in Jane Leavy's new book, "The Last Boy" for some real insight into just how hard it was for Mantle. As someone who has arthritis, in the "onset" portion of the illness, even with medications (which are hit-and-miss, at best) there are days - regardless of the weather- where your bodyparts are just too painful to be able to handle the simplest of duties, let alone play on the hard surface of a ballpark. It's true that F-Mart can perhaps take a combo of drugs that may make him able to perform at a major league level. It's also true that he now has an even bigger canyon to cross in order to get there. I think that a lot of people have missed the point of Mack's post- he's saying that, until F-Mart actually DOES something, he's not going to speculate about him anymore. Like Alex Escobar, Alex Ochoa, Kirk Presley, Gregg Jeffries and so many Met prospects before him, until he actually achieves something, the longer he's a "prospect" the more "suspect" he becomes...