That: Time For Junior To Grow Up by Denise Winter, Mets Merized Online
This: Here’s the problem with Wright/Reyes and White/Black comparison in a nutshell, from a Mets fan, mind you. I know Denise through blogging and the like, but I have to take issue with this article.
Wright gets tossed, with an empty bench, and he “reacted.” Reyes gets tossed, and he has “to grow up.”
Why are these situations different and why is Wright getting off scot-free?
This, as I’ve learned in my oh-so-many sports studies classes at Quinnipiac, is what we’ve come to know as veiled racism. If a white player does something wrong, it’s reacting, an outlier to the norm and shocking. If a black, or in this case Latino, player does the same, it’s immature, childish and a bad attitude.
Frankly, whether you like it or not, Wright’s ejection was worse. Knowing the bench was empty, the Mets would have had to use a pitcher in the field if the game continued. When Reyes got tossed, at least there were players on the bench who could come in and fill his role.
It’s like when a black player excels, it’s due to “natural skill” or something along those lines, but a white player “had to work hard to get to this level.” Bull. Both players had to work equally hard and long to refine their skills to play at such a high level.
Wright and Reyes were both wrong for getting tossed, but in the grand scheme of things, Wright’s could of and would have hurt the team more. If you want to fault someone, fault them both.
Reyes is playing the game just like everyone else – and should be treated as such.