Softball girls?
New York Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa was drilled in a 10-4 loss on Monday and he calls the Washington Nationals “softball girls.”
“They were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls,” Figueroa said. “If that’s what a last-place team needs to do to fire themselves up, so be it. They need to show a little more class and professionalism. … They won tonight, but in the long run they are still who they are. Even for the manager and the coaching staff to let that stuff carry on, it’s truly unprofessional.”
Back at ya, Figgy. What a jerk. You throw like a girl to miss a runner at the plate and then call the Nats names?
This means war. Brushback pitches at 60 feet, 6 inches.
The Nats were chanting “Let’s go, Austin” in the third inning before Austin Kearns flied out. Wow, good thing that didn’t lead to gunfire. Talking about rabbit ears. Figueroa must be moonlighting as the Easter Bunny. He sure lays some eggs at 2-3 and two straight shellings.
Naturally, former Mets outfielder Lasting Milledge, who was traded to the Nats over the offseason, was New York’s nemesis. Some Mets didn’t like their then teammate high fiving fans after his first career home run in 2006. How sad? The kid was having some fun and they act like he’s a dumb rookie. Just shows how tainted pro players can be. Milledge can high five everyone in the park after home runs for all I care. Maybe he can do it 50 times.
Milledge didn’t mind jawing back at Figueroa.
“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Milledge told Newsday. “We’re not going to cater to him or anybody else, so whatever. If you don’t like it, you’ve just got to deal with it.
“We didn’t try to rattle him. We tried to get our guys going. We’re not worried about him. We’re not worried about the opposing pitcher and what they’re doing. We’re trying to get ourselves going because we’ve been kind of quiet in the dugout.”
Figueroa blasted Nats manager Manny Acta, a former Mets coach, as truly unprofessional for allowing the cheering. First, Acta is one of the more professional people you’ll ever meet. A solid baseball man and a real man’s man. Second, the Nats have the worst batting average in baseball. What’s Acta supposed to do — tell everyone to act like a funeral? You do what you have to do. A professional ignores chatter from the other dugout.
Finally, the Nats have a true rivalry. Amazingly, the Mets don’t come to Washington until Aug. 12 — an eternity for a division opponent — but Teddy and his rough riders will be waiting. It’s not like Washingtonians need a reason to boo a New York team, but Figueroa will be treated roughly by fans. That is, if he’s still in the majors.
I hope Milledge high fives the crowd after hitting a homer off Figueroa.
Softball girls. Unbelievable.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
