The more things change, the more they stay the same. This famous phrase was coined by a French journalist more than 170 years ago, but it's never seemed more timely than right now. First, I read a piece by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich in The Athletic, puncturing the small amount of optimism I was clinging to regarding MLB baseball being played. Then I came across an Andy Martino column for SNY pondering why "so many fans dislike Robinson Cano." As soon as I saw the title, I thought to myself, "let me guess — could it be racism?"
A decade ago, while he was still with the Daily News, Andy penned a piece questioning whether the intense dislike that many Mets fans at the time felt for second baseman Luis Castillo was due to his brown skin and Dominican heritage. That piece is gone from the internet, but an excellent follow-up by Craig Calcaterra still exists if you're interested. Now he's asking the same question about Robinson Cano.
Before I get into this, let me state that I understand very well that racism is still a big deal in this country. I'm 63 years old and became aware very early in my life that racism was a very real thing. My family was working-class Italian-American, and my neighborhood was full of blue-collar Italians, Irish, and other white families. Overt and covert racism was very much a part of that culture.
In my own family, my Grandfather enthusiastically practiced a repulsive form of racism. He was such a rotten son of a bitch that I came to reject his beliefs. He was sort of a reverse role model for me. It all clarified for me one day when we were watching tv and got the news that Dr. Martin Luther King had been killed. My Grandfather made a couple of ugly jokes that were so offensive that my 9-year-old self knew that I could never allow myself to embrace that nasty thinking.
But other family members and folks from the neighborhood who were better people than my Grandfather shared very similar opinions about race, if not quite so obnoxiously voiced. The parents of most of my friends, who were, by and large, really good people, were, with few exceptions, undoubtedly quite racist. It was harder there to separate my respect and love for those profoundly decent people with the views they held that were just plain wrong. But that was an important life lesson: things are very seldomly all good or bad. On the other hand, I've known since those years that racism still exists, even if it's less socially acceptable in most circles. And racism is always a bad thing that I certainly will never defend.
But just as, back a decade ago, I felt Andy Martino's racism explanation for antipathy towards Luis Castillo was more exploitive than profound, Andy's piece about Cano feels like Martino going to the same old well to get some clicks. It must be hard to find interesting topics to write about while the game of baseball remains in a dreary holding pattern with almost no news generated. I guess Martino would defend the choice of subject by claiming that he's asking an important question. But throwing around accusations of racism when there are plenty of other reasons some Mets fans dislike Cano is just going to outrage some folks without changing anyone's mind on the subject.
For some context, I remember the brouhaha surrounding Luis Castillo very well. Castillo came to the Mets in a deadline deal with the Twins in July 2007 for OF Dustin Martin and C Drew Butera. Martin never made it to the majors, while Butera played in 553 games over 12 seasons as a light-hitting backup. Castillo performed pretty well as a Met down the stretch, slashing .296/.371/.372 over the final 50 games of the season, but the team endured an epic collapse that devastated the fanbase.
While Castillo was hardly to blame for the way the 2007 season played out, it seemed pretty evident that the 31-year-old was on the downside of his career — a career that had been built on slapping singles, stealing bases, and strong defense. Luis' aging legs sapped away at both his offensive usefulness and defensive viability. Omar Minaya's decision to sign the declining ballplayer to a 4-year deal after the season seemed quite insane. Castillo's skill set was a bad mix for the steroid era. Even in his prime, he only produced an ERA+ over league average 3 times. And that prime was long over by 2008.
Castillo only played about half of the 2008 season thanks to injuries and wasn't great when he did play, slashing .245/.355/.305 with below-average defense. He bounced back in 2009, playing in 142 games and slashing .302/.387/.346. It was a dead cat bounce. Luis was hurt and awful again in 2010, playing in only 86 games and slashing .237/.337/.267.
Even in the one good year in his Mets contract, Luis dropped an A-Rod popup that would have been the final out in a game against the Yankees, ensuring the undying rancor of a good percentage of fans. As Castillo's injuries took their toll on his body, it looked to some fans as if he wasn't playing hard. I doubt that was really the case. I understand only too well personally how leg injuries can sap your athleticism and make you look bad.
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4 comments:
He can't help himself.
He was born under a bad... ya know.
Sometimes, there is a defining moment. Castillo dropping THAT pop up, at that time, was a crusher. His place in Mets infamy was secured.
I never had any racist thoughts about Luis. I just wished we had a guy with more power than he had. I always looked at the Yankees and thought, why are we getting the short end of the stick?
Cano? He gets beaten up in one sense far too much. I think his 2019 would have been terrific. His getting hand injuries screwed up his year, though, and ignorant fans made him a target of their wrath.
On the other side, a team plans its roster, and those plans are heavily disrupted when a key guy loses a full year due to 2nd-time-caught PEDs. It was his second time, and I cannot help but hold that against him. I'd feel the same way if his name was Tom Brennan. Nothing to do with race.
I had older relatives in construction unions who were very concerned with losing work from blacks being added to the unions they were in. It was understandable, because work was scarce quite a bit. I was a steamfitters' apprentice while I was in college. It was a 4 year program. Normally, an apprentice would work most of those 4 years. I worked just 9 months. I did not mind, as I got some time on unemployment while going to school at night. But other apprentices and A book guys had it very rough.
Not having enough work is a real concern for your relatives, when they are trying to raise a family. It's easier to look back in hindsight - but in the moment, back then the threat of lost work (and wages) to them was real. And they weren't happy about that prospect.
It is truly a complex and touchy topic. Real, current issues like Baltimore inner city high schools, 60 years after King, having only 2% of students achieving grade level in reading and math, and having 4,500 shootings in Chicago in 2021, shows that something remains sorely and chronically broken. Not sure if it is getting better - or worse. Not sure how to fix it. Not sure enough people want to do the hard work needed to fix it.
Thanks be, that we have baseball as a great distraction.
Sadly, mainstream media in 2022 is all about garnering attention, which translates to $$$ (ads, web hits, etc). Sometimes, that includes fabricating a story to get everyone riled up, which is what the Cano article is all about IMO. You are right that baseball has ground to a halt, so producing news articles is difficult right now, but it’s sad that Martino has to stoop to that level.
I don’t like Cano’s training methods (100% his fault), his contract or that he loosely represents losing a top prospect (not his fault), but his ethnicity is irrelevant and I suspect most fans feel the same way.
To imply otherwise is a baseless allegation towards the fan base and offensive to those folks who truly deal with racism.
To keep out of trouble, I will close by saying that I don’t care for Martino’s work and leave it at that.
I agree with Mike Freire’s comment 100%. Cano was known for dogging it in Seattle; then he cost us a top prospect; then he sucked on the Mets…
Mike Stephanos, I applaud you for taking on an emotional and difficult topic. But, Andy Martino is a sham that SNY tries to give credibility to by calling him a “MLB Insider”. Oh please! SNY probably appreciates someone using his article as a reference in order to make some of us actually click on it.
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