Reitsma understands upset fans
In case you were wondering, Reitsma knows he sucks.
A few days ago, he was walking in his Newnan neighborhood with his two daughters, ages 4 and 2, who were on their bikes.
“A guy pulls up in his truck,” Reitsma said, “rolls down his window and yells, ‘You suck!’ ”
Reitsma said he doesn’t disagree with that assessment of his performance, but hates to have his family exposed to his harshest critics.
One way to avoid this, Chris, is to never go outside without a disguise. Or stop sucking.
No, I don’t own a truck. That is classic! If I were him I think I would move to Peach Tree City.
Best. Drive By. Ever.
Smitty, I wish it was you or someone else on BravesJournal, because I would like to know whwre I should mail my Thank You card and flowers.
I did catch TIm McCarver, but I am sorry to say I didn’t do this one.
Oh man, that takes a pair. I don’t think I could do that, heck I’m not entirely sure I’d know 100% that is was really Reitsma.
Dan,
There’s an easy way to spot Chris…look for a tall, oafish looking Canadien with a hang dog expression looking sad a lot.
So, Alex, during the game last night, I wondered to myself if you were watching when LaRoche made that nice play ranging to his right, and making the throw to 2nd to end an inning. He seems to be hustling just a bit more these days, and his defense seems pretty solid.
Of course, he’s on a string of like 1 for 15 at the plate, including a GiDP last night. 🙂
The booth guys were saying they’d take his “on pace for” stats, which are currently projected at 28 HR and 90 or so RBI. Since his OPS is over 800, I guess I’d have to agree, particularly if he keeps his 1100+ with RISP. But those double plays are damn frustrating.
Heh, I just looked at his line with runners on 1st only, and it’s not good at all – 182/308/318. Maybe he’s trying too hard to pull the ball through the hole.
Alex, you are right about the hangdog expression. It’s one of the most annoying things about Reitsma to me: it’s hard to hate a guy who perpetually looks like he just found out his wife was cheating on him. So he loses games every chance he gets–and then he cuts off my ability to hate him.
What a douche.
I would hope that we can all agree that that kind of behavior is over the line. If it’s at the ballpark that’s one thing, but in front of his kids or even out in public, to me, that’s quite another. Reitsma knows how bad he’s been. Reminding him serves very little purpose.
A Completely Wacky Analogy: When I was a kid & teenager in Columbus, Ga., I occasionally got an upfront look at a guy who was genuinely villified, William Calley, the man held legally responsible for the massacre of many civilians in Viet Nam. I’d see him coming in and out of the jewelry store where he worked. (It was near my high school.) I knew exactly what he was convicted of, knew that whole sordid story, but moreover I knew that HE KNEW what he did. He knew that EVERYONE ELSE knew what he did, and that’s what used to strike me the most whenever I’d see him. He always looked like a guy who just wanted to hide. We’d make eye contact, but that was as far as it went. The idea of saying anything to him seemed completely ridiculous to me.
Bizarre analogy, perhaps, but let’s not forget that Reitsma is just a ballplayer. There’s no reason to berate him outside the ballpark. Leave him alone. Ultimately, it’s not that big of a deal.
Well I think it would be easier to tell CR he sucked than a guy who has killed people that he sucks.
I guess my point was, in an admittedly roundabout way, if the murderer guy isn’t bothered in public, why should we bother a baseball player?
I agree with ubbaba here. Let the man know just how awful he has been in the ballpark. Let him hear it as he’s coming off the field after blowing another lead. Hell, let him know as he’s leaving the ballpark to go to his car.
But common, guys, it’s not personal. To make it so is to step WAY over the line. There’s no need to get his family involved or make him not want to walk around the neighborhood. He plays because he’s asked to and paid to, and as long as he’s giving his best effort, he shouldn’t be ridiculed outside the park. I mean, at some level it’s not really his fault that he stinks. 😀
I agree with ububba as well. What does it accomplish to humiliate the man in front of his children? That guy has no class. This is not Dan Kolb who was a stubborn guy and not well-liked in the clubhouse. Reitsma admits he has sucked and is looking everywhere for answers. I can respect that. I really think he can be effective in less stressful situations. He is definitely not closer material, however by putting him in less stressful situations, it can build his confidence back up so he can be an effective middle reliver or setup guy.
On this blog, however, we can ridicule him all we want … and we will …
It isn’t Reitsma fault that he sucks. We have to blame both Bobby Cox and the other dude. They continue to put CR in close games and we all know that can’t pitch with pressure. Reitsma would be great as a setup man. But I ain’t no manager so the only thing we can do is continue to ridicule him.
Thank you for reading this. ;-D
I know for a fact that Reitsma doesn’t sucks. I mean I saw him two days ago BITING a lollipop not sucking it. He is a real man. Give him a break or at least three more innings.
A truly classless act, no matter how badly someone is playing. OK on the board, classless in front of the guy’s kids.
It will be easier for him to don a disguise than to stop sucking…
This isn’t re: Reitsma, but I didn’t know where else to put it. Did anyone see Peter Gammons’ latest column about the Royals? I sure hope Moore knows what he’s getting himself into. I read how David Glass treated Allard Baird and I was just totally appalled. Appalled that he could be such a dick and appalled that Baird would stay on the job after all that. Apparently Glass fired Baird about a month ago but never really said anything to him, then interviewed other people for 2 weeks, then hired Moore, then told Baird he was fired while he was on his way to scout Luke Hochevar. This is after 3+ years of not giving Baird any money to sign draft picks and apparently making him sign a bunch of Mientkiewicz types this offseason so Glass could save face, then using the firing of Baird to make himself look better when he’s really the problem. Just really, really disgusting. They had quotes from other GMs saying how disgusting this was and how they’d been watching this go on for years, so Dayton Moore must know about it. Why would he go there if that’s how the last guy was treated? He did say he didn’t go to Boston because he’d heard Theo was coming back and he didn’t know how he could top anything Theo had done, but still, this makes sense. There’s jumping at an opportunity and then there’s whoring yourself.