I had a long conversation toward the end of the season with Wright about essentially the same subject. Actually, it was more me talking and Wright saying he was interested and to keep talking. The subject was this: I wish I could transport Wright out of the Mets clubhouse to a more professional team such as the Yankees or Red Sox so he could see how different that atmosphere was in those places.
What I told Wright was that I looked at him and a few others in the Mets’ clubhouse as an oasis around too much unprofessionalism. And I suggested that he had been at the party so long –- a lifetime Met –- that he was losing the ability to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable. I pointed out various elements both in front of us about how cavalierly players were preparing for that day’s game; the lack of structure, discipline, seriousness.
OK, I should start by saying that for all I know, Wright does have a problem with the way the Mets’ clubhouse has been run the past couple of seasons. From what little Wright demonstrates of his personality to the public, we know that he is an extremely hard worker and very, very dedicated player.
But him coming out and saying on the record that his teammates need to take their preparation more seriously would be very different from him just maybe nodding as Sherman told him that his teammates need to take their preparation more seriously. And I find it difficult to put too much stock in second-hand quotes from Wright via Larry Bowa, for that matter.
I’ve been through this about a billion times before and I’m not all that eager to revisit it, but problems in the clubhouse — at least the type reporters see — are almost entirely based on confirmation bias (and I don’t think players are immune to that).
The first example I can think of is the one I mentioned here: When the 2007 Rockies played video games in the Dodgers’ clubhouse before a game during their miracle run, they were praised for their loose, fun-loving unity. When Oliver Perez did the same thing the next year, he should have been watching video or something. The 2010 Mets themselves were celebrated for their attitude when they were winning; it was “toward the end of the season” when Sherman voiced to Wright his concerns about their unprofessionalism.
I think I can add a little context here, too. Since the Mets moved to Citi Field, it has become way harder for reporters to get a sense of what players do before games. In the locker room before most Mets’ home games, you’ll usually see at most four or five Mets sitting by their lockers listening to music or texting, and somewhere between 20 and 40 members of the media standing in the middle of the room, just kind of waiting to see if something interesting happens.
The other players will pass through — they’ll quickly throw on their uniforms on their way to the batting cage, or out to the field for warmups and batting practice. But they tend to spend most of the time before games — at least the time that the locker room is open to the media — in back rooms of the clubhouse where reporters can’t go, doing something that is presumably way more awesome than standing around listening to Joel Sherman tell you that your team lacks discipline.
The beat reporters who travel with the team might get a better sense of it because the players don’t have nearly as much space in visiting clubhouses, but I’m not sure anyone besides the players and coaches themselves is qualified to weigh in on the full breadth of preparation that Major Leaguers — even the Mets — endeavor to get ready for games.
And though it’s impossible to argue that the Mets were structured, disciplined and serious in 2010 — they were not a winning team, after all — it doesn’t seem fair to put those words in Wright’s mouth simply because he was too polite to walk away from them.
Tedquarters 