On Kenny

An edited version of an email I sent to Danny Henley, regarding Kenny Rogers:

I won’t be a Kenny Rogers apologist. I will say, though, that I think the media have been assholes to him all season. 24 or fewer hours before the incident, Randy Galloway was on the radio saying something in Rogers had “snapped.” He was saying this because he and the local media presumed the start he missed after he broke the bone in his hand was somehow a ploy to force the Rangers into talking about his contract. The logic there seems a bit iffy to me, but every radio program and newspaper ran with it.

If you keep poking that pit bull with a stick…

And really, the atmosphere down the right field line that night was one of forgiveness, like everyone knows he’s been poked and put under a magnifying glass all season. The media can squawk and publish/broadcast all the conjecture they want, but when push came to shove (GROAN!) Kenny Rogers was not speaking to them. He was neither substantiating nor refuting their claims that he was trying to gain the upper hand in contract (re)negotiations.

It’s an asshole thing to do, and I’m behind the punishment 100%, when/if it ever starts.

So since last September we’ve had:

Frankie Francisco throwing the chair
Barajas/Drese getting into a dugout scuffle
Rogers fighting a water cooler to an apparent draw (though I gather the water cooler didn’t miss any starts)
Rogers blindsiding a camera operator.

It does bring to mind the question of just wtf is going on. Internal causes, external causes? All four guys can’t have the same internal catalysts behind their violent behavior, can they?

So you may be right. Something external is possibly fueling these moments of violence. Is Buck just pissing everyone off that much? Has the dot race finally gotten to them?

I’m just not as upset about this as everyone continues to be. I don’t think the London bombings even got as much press as this locally. It’s a big deal, yes, but in the end he’s a spoiled, rich thug athlete who had a scuffle with the media. Athletes make a mistake when they claim they’re not models—study after study concludes otherwise. But these guys aren’t paid to think or act like monks. They’re paid to be fiery, competitive, self-sacrificing machines. Their judgment is more than a little lacking from the get-go.

Jose Mesa pisses me off more, because he’s a wife beater.

Gary Sheffield pisses me off more because he’s vicious, dumb and egotistical.

Jason Giambi and Bret Boone piss me off more for soiling our game, MY game, with needles. The game is finally returning to what it should be. More reasonable HR totals, good pitching numbers…

Canseco is an imbecile, but perhaps we owe him a hell of a lot.

Have you seen Pudge lately? Shee-IT is that guy small.

I don’t know that I have a clear point, except that I’m not done with Kenny Rogers. As long as he pays the price and gives us a chance to be in the game every fifth day, fine. Most anything an athlete does that’s not between the lines tends to disappoint me anyway.