A Mini of Me

Hi, all... many thanks to Mack and his team of writers for the opportunity to blog with the best of them.  

My hope is you'll enjoy my work, and become a more informed reader along the way.

But let me clarify some of Mack's intro about me, which through no fault of his own, I was not entirely clear on:

1.  "Rey is an attorney."  True.  I am an attorney, and I also run a business, which is another way of saying that I am either accused of being a liar or lying to get a deal done-- neither of which is true for me.  It reminds me of a time I tried responding to my 7th grade students' (I am also a former teacher) collective guffaw at the ole "you spell 'lawyer' l-i-a-r" joke by explaining that liars are found in every profession, in every walk of life.  However, attorneys are held to a much higher standard than most.  

One student then raised her had and defiantly asked, "If that's true, Mr. P, then what about Watergate?" (sigh)...  there IS something to be said about educating our youth TOO much about our history.  

Except baseball history, that is.

2.  "(He) once represented minor league (Mets) players"  I was Executive Director of a small company that represented professional athletes, specifically targeting Dominican players who played in the Mets minor league farm system.  As Mack can tell you, you can provide all the sabermetrics you want on someone, but if it hits like a duck, runs like a duck, and fields like a duck, then it isn't the next Ducky Medwick.  That pretty sums up the talent pool we represented... except for the one who got away, and is playing in the majors right now.  

I will say no more on this other than to confirm that, yes... there ARE clear conflicts of interest with agents representing multiple players; and, yes... players DON'T see how the conflict affects their potential earning power because so much money, perks, etc. are thrown at them by runners (backed by powerful agents), they just don't care.  But I'll leave the rest as the subject of a later blog... 

But I'm not bitter, am I? :-)

3.  "(He) ran a Rotisserie league for 10 years"  As my friends who are still in the same league I started back in 1993 (but no longer run) will attest: I spent countless Sunday evenings doing the league and team stats, standings, etc. -- by hand -- all while seated in the kitchen in my College Point apartment while my ex went on to bed.  

Upon reflection, I can finally see why I now have an ex.  And the pathetic story continues with...

4.  "(He) played semipro ball"  Let's be honest here: playing semipro ball is like playing rhythm guitar for a Rolling Stones cover band.  Perhaps Dr. Evil put the feeling best in explaining to Scott his shortcomings:  "You're semi-evil. You're quasi-evil. You're the margarine of evil. You're the Diet Coke of evil. 

Just one calorie, not evil enough."

5.  "(He) made SJU JV"  No, this is not an acronym.  It stand for "See Rey try out for St. John's.  See Rey take Wayne Rosenthal deep in a scrimmage!  See Rey get images of playing in Shea!!!  See Rey make JV!!  See Rey get told there are no JV funds (what the?).  See Rey's hopes of playing 1B for the Mets... 

CRRRRRUSHED!!!"

Again... not bitter.  Not bitter at all.



6.  "(He) wrote Mets articles for NYFansOnly"  Finally, something genuinely "Mets," no less to be proud of too!  Hey... how many times do we get to use the word "Mets" and "proud" in the same sentence these days?  But you're welcome to read some of my articles from the links below... expect more, but (hopefully) better.

The Fault Lies Not Within Our Mets...
What a Fine Mets You've Gotten Us Into, Stevie
Freddie’s (Mets Are) Dead

Until next time...

RPP