Trying to destroy a narrative

6 Responses to Trying to destroy a narrative

1. William J. says:

   April 21, 2011 at 1:32 pm

   In this particular case, the narrative might be fiction, but there is something to removing distractions from a clubhouse. Blaming one player for another’s behavior might be making excuses, but not everyone is strong willed. Peer pressure can lead to bad influences, even in a major league clubhouse.

   I don’t know if Melky was a distraction to Cano (it could have been vice versa, but the star gets benefit of the doubt), but I can’t say he wasn’t. The only people who know that are the ones who were able to witness their relationship on a daily basis.

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2. Moshe Mandel says:

   April 21, 2011 at 2:36 pm

   Great post. There never was any evidence that this was ever an issue, it was just an assumption made by many. Again, I’m curious whether the same assumption would have been made if it was two white players. Honestly, I doubt it.

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   • Esteban says:

     April 21, 2011 at 4:30 pm

     I never saw a racial component to this particular issue, and I’m surprised that so many people do. As two young professional athletes living in NY, it’s not inconceivable that they might enjoy the nightlife . That some people asked questions about what could have caused them not to perform to standards they (really only Cano) had set is more of mark of lazy reporting (disregarding that Melky and Cano had been teammates even when Cano had good seasons) and ignorance of more advanced statistics (such as babip) that would have helped to explain that Cano’s 2008 was fluky.

     People never questioned Jeter’s personal life because he performed every year, and Jeter’s certainly not white. I think there are plenty of cases where sports media use lazy racialized thinking, but don’ see it in this Cano and Melky situation

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   • William J. says:

     April 21, 2011 at 5:50 pm

     I am usually very sensitive to such issues, but in this case, I don’t think Melky and Cano being hispanic played a role because teams seem to want to pair fellow spanish speakers together. Also, there are examples of white players being bad influences. It isn’t recent, but Billy Martin comes immediately to mind.

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     • T.O. Chris says:

       April 21, 2011 at 8:49 pm

       Well if you want to talk about party guys who were of different races you have to look no further than Daryl Strawberry and David Cone on the Mets. The stories in Straws book about the two of them going out to bars until the same came up and heading straight from a stool to the field was classic. He told a story about being half drunk, with a huge headache having to run the bases to leg out a triple and looking in the dugout seeing Coney ducked down in his coat laughing his ass off because he knew why Straw looked like he was about to throw up.

       Cano and Melky partying would have much more to do with being young, celebs, with money, and no matter what your race that usually leads to a few roudy nights.

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3. Trying to destroy a narrative | New York Yankees blog, Yankees … | Yankees News Source says:

   April 21, 2011 at 3:04 pm

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