Johan Santana Accused Of Rape

Baseball player Johan Santana takes part in the Johan Santana All-Star Bowling Classic at Lucky Strike to benefit skin cancer on June 21, 2010 in New York City (photo by: Jack Shea/ Meet The Famous) Photo via Newscom

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe face of the Mets franchise was accused of raping a woman on a Ft. Myers, FL golf course last October. Florida prosecutors didn’t press charges because there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that anything that happened wasn’t consensual.

The married father of three has taken a big reputation hit on this one. The Mets only official comment on the situation is that it’s a “family matter”. And Santana’s only comment was that he wasn’t charged with anything and that’s all he could say about it.

This is a PR nightmare for an organization that hates players getting in trouble publicly, whether they’re guilty or not. I doubt that anything will happen. Santana is the highest paid player on the team and one of the only legitimate stars on the team, especially when Carlos Beltran is injured so often. The Mets depend on Santana to generate revenue, so they’re beholden to him.

According to the Daily News, the accuser told this to the police:

The alleged assault happened on the evening of October 27 at a course located near a gated community in Ft. Myers, according to the police report.

The woman claimed she and Santana were strolling together when the pitcher suddenly “began to kiss her and pull up her top, unclasping her bra.” Although she “told Johan no multiple times,” Santana lifted her skirt and thrust his hands into her underpants, the report states.

The accuser claimed Santana then tore her skirt off and raped her while she “continuously told Johan ‘no.'” The Mets hurler responded by bruising her right calf and “grabbed her hair” before he “ejaculated on her upper thigh,” according to the report.

Instead of immediately calling the cops, the woman told detectives she “cleaned her thigh with her underwear.”

She then wandered over to a tennis court “and continued to sit at the tennis courts as Johan played tennis with another person.” Detectives later retrieved the clothes the woman wore.

 

My 2010 MLB All-Star Ballot – John Wenk

NL-1B-Albert Pujols-Cardinals
He is still the most feared hitter in baseball in my mind.

NL-2B-Martin Prado-Braves
Prado is well on his way to a 200 hit season. Impressive.

NL-SS-Jose Reyes-Mets
I refuse to vote for a self-absorbed player like Hanley. Reyes is back to form.

NL-3B-David Wright-Mets
Despite the high K totals, still a great run producer. I really don’t want to see Polanco get the start.

NL-C-Miguel Olivo-Rockies
9 HR’s and a .300+ average, Olivo is warming up to the thin mountain air just fine.

NL-LF-Ryan Braun-Brewers
The Hebrew Hammer continues to mash for the Brew Crew.

NL-CF-Andrew McCutchen-Pirates
The dynamic rising star is a bright spot in a losing organization.

NL-RF-Jayson Werth-Phillies
I’m going against all of my morals with this pick. If Ethier didn’t miss some time perhaps he’d get the nod from me.

NL-SP-Ubaldo Jimenez-Rockies
At this rate, likely MVP and Cy Young award winner. He is on another level.

NL-RP-Brian Wilson-Giants
Wilson pitches with the ideal closer attitude and has the numbers to back it up. Continue reading “My 2010 MLB All-Star Ballot – John Wenk”

My 2010 MLB All-Star Ballot – Dave Doyle

Since All-Star voting is in full swing and the actual game is coming up on July 13 in Anaheim, I thought it was a good time to share my ballot with you. I tried to set aside any team-specific biases that I have, but when I finished writing out my ballot I noticed that I didn’t have any Phillies players on the ballot. So I’m not so sure that I did a great job of being unbiased.

Anyway, my votes are below. Comment on this post if you agree or disagree with my votes.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Aq-jYVDpHV-6dEpyelpWSDJKYS1tNXRxYXFLUnluLWc&hl=en&single=true&gid=0&output=html&widget=true

The Long Lost Yankees Mascot

Apr. 16, 2010 - Bronx, United States - epa02120470 Fans stand in the rain during a weather delay of the game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, USA, 16 April 2010.

Time for an interesting Yankees fact before the second and final Subway Series of 2010.

Very interesting information I found on “Big League Stew” a Yahoo sports blog, and also tweeted by George Steinbrenner on twitter, conveniently before Part 2 of the Subway Series. The Yankees did have a mascot! Blasphemy! Check out the Video.

http://online.wsj.com/media/swf/VideoPlayerMain.swf

How many of you know Yankees Fans? I know quite a few and Yankees fans will all state that the Yankees don’t need a mascot. That’s beneath them. Continue reading “The Long Lost Yankees Mascot”

Mets’ Jason Bay Lack of Power

I’m surprised that I’m not more concerned about Jason Bay. And I’m surprised that I haven’t heard more rumbling and grumbling about Bay from my friends and fellow Mets fans about him too. Bay seems to be likable. He hustles all of the time to the point that you rarely see players do these days. And he plays a much better left field than I expected. He’s not great in the field but he makes all of the plays and doesn’t make any dumb throws. He’s always throwing to the right spot, hitting the cutoff man at the right times.

There’s no denying Bay’s inauspicious start at the plate though. The Mets haven’t gotten the guy that they thought they were getting. His OPS is down about .100 below what you would expect. 4 home runs after playing 65 games is a concern. It’s more than a concern. He was the guy that could pull the ball down the left field line and get it out of Citi Field.

Jack Moore did an analysis for FanGraphs on Bay’s 2010 season to this point. He came to the following conclusion: Continue reading “Mets’ Jason Bay Lack of Power”

Peter Gammons Backs Omar Minaya

NEW YORK - APRIL 10:  General Manager Omar Min...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The roller coaster season continues, but the noose has seemingly disappeared from Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel’s necks (for now). This weekend The Mets did what winning teams are supposed to do: beat bad teams. Philly fans can poo-poo the weekend as we’d expect, but the truth is that is how you stay in contention.

It is crucial for teams to beat up and pad stats on their lessers. This team must put some distance between themselves and the .500 mark in preparation for tougher series’ ahead. Now that we seem to do be doing so, Minaya is getting a much needed pat on the back from one of baseball’s senior voices. In an article for MLB.com, Peter Gammons praises Minaya for his ability to whether the storm in New York.

People up and down the Mets’ organization are fiercely loyal to Minaya, because he accepts the heat and deflects it from those who work for him.

Gammons also continues pointing the finger at the Mets’ leadership around Minaya for perpetrating a “blame game”. Gammons’ isn’t really shedding light on anything Mets fans don’t already know. We are impossible to deal with at times, and ownership needs to block out the sports talk radio hosts as well as the papers. Nowadays, everyone thinks they have the right to play GM, maybe because of the endless access to information/opinion from blogs (ahem). Continue reading “Peter Gammons Backs Omar Minaya”

R.A. Dickey and Jason Bay Over-Under

NEW YORK - JANUARY 05:  (L-R) General Manager ...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The offseason leading into this spring might have been the most stressful I can remember. There was an eery silence coming from Jason Bay and his agent and Bengie Molina was still balking at the one year deal on the table. The holiday season had Mets fans begging for some free agent to sign or for Omar Minaya to pull off a trade with The Reds. Just when the tension became unbearable…it happened. The news hit that Minaya signed R.A. Dickey to a minor league contract.

At that moment, I thought Mike Francesa’s phone lines would burst into flames due to raging Mets fans. We were opening our windows at work and screaming in frustration. I was ready to move to some country that had never heard of baseball. Everyone understood the necessity of acquiring some depth. It just would have been nicer to know Jason Bay was locked down before Alex Cora was counting his millions. Continue reading “R.A. Dickey and Jason Bay Over-Under”