Usually, I Come Out on Top

"Unbelievable offensive talent."

Words used to describe Lastings Milledge by former and current teammate, Paul Lo Duca. It's hard to shake the feeling that if TOAST! were still a Met, he'd be echoing the sentiments of Country Time and When There's Trouble, Call DW. But still.

I've always been humble. I don't ever say, 'I'm the best guy on the team.' I just go out there and play to the best of my ability," Milledge said. "And usually, I come out on top.

We like that. He says one thing, utters a baseball cliché, and then turns it on its head. That's genius.

But what's this?

"Good Bye and Good Riddance."

Wally, is that you? Marty? Tell us, Mike Silva.

Today I am going to amend my statement so “10,000 maniacs” can put this topic to bed: Milledge will never live up to his potential here, in Washington, or anywhere else he lands throughout his career.

Does anyone else smell that? It smells like a prop bet. Nice alt-rock reference, by the way.

I originally wrote back on February 25th, 2007, for a now defunct website, that the Mets should sell Lastings Milledge because he was “like a tech stock in the late nineties just before the bubble burst”.

Because you're a dummy. You wrote it because you don't understand how to evaluate prospects. It's all right; most guys have this problem. Girls too. But here's where you went wrong: When you wrote that, Lastings had already hit 277/.388/.440 as a 21-year old at AAA. He was not and is not a nebulous "tools" player. He can hit, has done so at every level of professional baseball and will continue do so at the major league level. He is not Alex Escobar. He is not Carlos Gomez. His "misguided ego and attitude" have clearly not hindered his performance as a baseball player. But you want to say something?

Fortunately for the Mets, they did heed the advice and sold Milledge minutes before the” bubble bursted” and landed two pieces that should help in 2008.

Oh we get it now. This is a joke! Because surely you cannot be defending the deal that sent Milledge to Washington for Ryan "go to" Church and Brian Schneider, can you? That kind of silliness is for the Marty Nobles of the world.

Injuries to key players like Xavier Nady, Shawn Green, and Moises Alou allowed him the opportunity to play more than a rookie should on a team with championship aspirations.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh.... sorry. We're making fun of a 12-year old kid here. Boy are we embarrassed. Because no one but a dumb little kid would think of Xavier Nady and Shawn Green as anything but pieces of flotsam cobbled together to stand in the outfield and hit pitchers from the opposite side. No one but infants and Marty Noble would characterize them as "key players." And no one else but Marty Noble, diaper-donning toddlers and mainstream sportswriters would ever assert that rookies shouldn't play on winning teams. We guess we won't be making that prop bet. It would be like taking candy from a baby.