Public Apology to Fadedash...and a Little Fan Philosophy
by nodaclu on Jun 5, 2007 9:40 PM PDT
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Print(I posted this in my last Dan Meyer thread, but it's buried now....and I want to make sure this is read by the party I wronged.)
Been a few days, so this probably won't get read, but it's important to me, so here it is.
I need to apologize for two things. 1) To fadedash for telling him to go to hell. That wasn't right. It's not me or what I'm about. I haven't been myself lately and have been snapping as everyone, but that doesn't excuse it. So I apologize for that. 2) For my original response to fadedash. He called it "snippy". It wasn't meant that way (tone is so hard to convey in text), but after re-reading it a few days later, it definitely read that way.
Others here did a far better job then I did later in the thread of conveying my thoughts. I don't imagine Meyer would be a world-beater if he was called up late in the year. But if the choice is between Komine or Windsor (who look like AAAA guys to me), or Meyer, I give Meyer a shot based purely on the upside he may still yet bring.
I also agree that his velocity needs to be above 85-87 (although the same thing was said about Duke, and he's at least made an 86-88 mph fastball work in a setup role).
I should also point out that I wasn't looking at just one start. I was looking at the fact that he'd made 9 consecutive starts, was reportedly pain-free, and had topped 100 pitches in each of the last 4 (now 5) starts. His WHIP is way too high still. But after the horror of his past 2 seasons, the overall picture, while not completely there yet, is encouraging and on an upward curve.
Last, I'll admit to having difficulty with being criticized, but that wasn't what set me off here. I guess I have a different view of being a fan then most. I tend toward the optimistic - eagerly looking forward to each new game no matter what the current win-loss record is (the first A's season I really remember was the 1979 club that went 54-108). I can't imagine what this place would look like if this team was that bad. The attendance at one of the games I went to that season was 762!!
It just doesn't get any worse then that club, so to me, it's mostly good most of the time. :-)
I just don't get the venom that is spewed here by so many "fans" towards so many players of the team that they supposedly love. Yes, I get frustrated with Chavez too, but I don't rant on about how he "sucks", how he's "worthless" and so forth. I just can't believe that the people who write these things would ever have the courage to say these things to a players face, and if they do....well, then the world's in a whole lot more trouble then I thought. :)
Sooner or later, maybe I'll finally begin to realize that even though I'm only 37, my mind functions in a completely different era - one where common courtesy, decency, and respect reigned supreme. I write as if the person I'm talking about will absolutely read what I'm saying, so I'm mindful to try and be as balanced as I can be, and still respectful even when I'm critical.
Yes, I didn't show much of any of those things toward fadedash in the Meyer diary, so that's why I'm writing this now, to remind myself of what I'm all about, and what I believe in - even if I'm the only man on earth standing on that platform in 2007.
Thanks for listening....
~Mike
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Gracious apology.
And I do somewhat agree that the world need more grace and civility - it's hard to give it to others when it feels like nobody gives you any.
(But don't kid yourself that civility & respect were so much more common back in the day. They just hid it a bit better.)
Well, at least they cared enough to hide it.
Ash seems like a good guy, but he comes across as hyper sensitive on occassion, especially with the front pager writers. It's like he almost expects to be attacked for his opinions and immidiatley goes on the offensive to thwart an attack on his positions. I would imagine that in person he's just a guy who lives and loves to argue baseball without malice. It's just hard to convey that sentiment in typeface I suppose. Funny thing is, his arguments interest me even if I don't agree.
I do my part by
Is that you, Father Nico?
by BlameChannel53 on Jun 5, 2007 10:40 PM PDT up reply actions
in parochial school sports you got
your half nelson, full nelson and the father nelson. (need pantomime for full effect)
Absolutely!
People's thoughts haven't necessarily changed, but their willingness to speak those thoughts have. Some will say we simply aren't as repressed as we used to be. I tend to feel that we just aren't as polite and civil to each other as we once were. :)
LET'S GO A-N!
See, isn't that better?
You suck too.
Glad to have you back
I always feel sad when someone self-exiles because of bad feelings from a dispute.
I think my style of being a fan is a lot more "sour" than yours. In the privacy of my living room, I say all kinds of foul things to Chavez, to use one of your examples. I like Chavez as a person, and I really want to like him as much as I used to as a ballplayer, but I yell anyway. Of course I wouldn't say those same things to him in person - not because of a lack of courage, but because it would be terribly rude. And I don't really mean most of it anyway. I'm just venting my frustration: the team means more to me than it probably should, I have absolutely no power to affect its results even though those results affect how good or bad I feel about my evening, so I bitch at my TV. No harm done.
Actually, although I allow myself some "venom" at the players in private, I pretty much restrain myself from such venting on this site. But I think a lot of people who share my frustration - and who, like me, wouldn't find it appropriate to say harsh things to a player's face - nevertheless think this is an appropriate middle ground to express their frustrations. I agree that the rampant negativity can be tiresome.
As for civility in discussions on a website like this one, it's hard. We humans have some built-in restraints when it comes to face-to-face interactions - we don't usually go around calling each other idiots, morons, sellouts, what have you. We evolved in the context of face-to-face interactions, so we needed to develop that restraint. But we didn't evolve using websites (or automobiles), so civility in these more distant interactions is less natural and much more a learned skill. Worth pursuing, though.
Anyway, I enjoyed your diary. And like you, I'm unable to keep from feeling a lot of hope that Dan Meyer may have resurrected himself from prospect near-oblivion to being something close to the stud pitcher Billy thought he was getting. It's a great story if it happens, and velocity reports in the more recent Dan Meyer diary are very encouraging.
Somtimes civility is not correct anyhow
If somebody is lying to your face, you don't have to ignore it. The people in the world who take advantage of civility to further their own ends (sociopaths, con men, high minded pundits) have not earned the civility due to the civilized among us.
The 'South' was famed for it's gentility, but that didn't stop them from lynching uppity n***s.
That sort of thing is why I try to teach & model a deeper civility, not just a surface version. (And sometimes I fail, usually with an intemperate joke that only I laugh at.)
I'm absolutely with you there
But here, in a venue that legitimately purports to be a kind of community, a somewhat different ethic should apply. That's what I was getting at. The situations you're talking about, I agree with you completely.
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