I See No Dispute Here
Posted by ubelmann on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
A brief summary of recent events:
1) Carl Crawford tells St. Petersburg Times reporters that he's glad Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes are gone because they caused distractions and made it difficult for him to focus on playing baseball:
"I just feel like it's going to be a little more peaceful this year," Crawford said. "I think it will be more at ease. Not so much crazy stuff. You just get the feeling it's about everybody just wanting to come out and play good baseball this year. I'm done, you know I'm not really a drama person, so I'm kind of glad that stuff just seems a little smoother right now."
The distractions got to the point last season, Crawford said, that "it was kind of hard to focus" on playing the game. "With so much stuff happening, it was kind of really tough," he said.
I'm not sure if Crawford means that he doesn't like clubhouse drama or that he's not a Shakespearean actor, but apparently he's "not really a drama person."
2) Joe Christensen asks Delmon about Crawford's comments and Delmon said:
Young said he didn't see Carl Crawford's recent comments, saying the Rays are better off without him and Elijah Dukes.
"I'm not worried about anyone else's comments," Young said. "They've got their own stuff in [Rays camp] and we've got our own stuff down here. All I can worry about is these 25 guys and the front office over here."
He added: "If they're trying to blame us for the way they weren't winning -- if it was us two, we weren't there from '98 to '06, so..."
3) Carl "Not Really A Drama Person" Crawford has now responded:
“Nobody ever said he was the reason why we lost games. We know that. We said it was a more at-ease environment, which is true. And second of all, I have no problem with coming directly to his face and telling him whatever it is he needs to know. Nobody’s waiting till he leaves. Nobody cares about him leaving. For him to say we want to act like Toby Hall and leave, nobody’s doing that. Trust me. Me personally? Tell him this is a direct statement from me; I will come say it directly to his face. If he wants to know, if he is not sure about anything, I’ll say it directly to his face. I’d be more than happy to say it to his face. Make sure he gets that.'’
Summary
If Crawford is trying to blame Young for why the Rays were losing, then Delmon thinks that is silly because the franchise was losing before they got there. But Crawford, while he does say the Rays are better off without Delmon, didn't exactly say that. So Delmon has no problem with Crawford and as far as on-the-record stuff goes, doesn't care what Crawford says.
If Young has anything that he wants to know from Crawford, then Crawford is willing to say it to his face. Except that Delmon was pretty specific that he's not worried about Crawford's comments and there's nothing he wants to know from Carl.
Therefore, no dispute actually exists between Crawford and Young.
I can't wait until games start. Then instead of trying to fill column inches by reading each other's columns to players and trying to get them to talk to each other through the media, reporters can report on baseball. (Actually, Phil Miller is doing a pretty good job of this already.)
(For the record, based on everything I've read, it's pretty unfair to lump Delmon together with Elijah Dukes, who could very well find his way into prison before he finishes his career.)
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I agree this is much ado about nothing. I really thought Crawford's original comments were more damning to the Rays management than to Young and Dukes. So far, Young seems to be saying all the right things. Hopefully, it is more than lip service.
Oh gawd. Their banter sounds like notes passed by girls in homeroom.
That's soooo mid-90s, Beau. Now girls pass notes on MySpace and Facebook, and when the backstabbing and rumors escalate, they get in a big fight and post it to YouTube.
Only the girls though, the boys don't have the patience to set up MySpace and Facebook sites.
+... aw, forget it... i don't have the patience to figure out how many points to give.