OC Register: Angels’ Anthony Rendon ‘loves’ the opportunity to hit leadoff

[Inside Pitch]

19 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I disagree. Most of the BS he has saddled upon himself doing stupid shit like starting a bench clearing brawl with a cast on getting coaches and teammates suspended and fined, getting into a fight with a fan in the stands and getting suspended, being unable to take the field, while injuries were out of his control, the narrative he created in the media is his to own.

So, Rendon went into the Mariners dugout?  Don't talk about others creating narratives if you're going to create fiction to push yours.

Look, you can disagree, but few outside of Anaheim were paying much attention to Rendon, it was all Ohtani this, Trout that.  He became the subject of hate outside of Anaheim when Blum went on his crusade and then that interview hit. I agree that he's not done himself any favors but mostly I find the self righteous pap spouted by fans and media types about "loving the game" to be just that -- pap.  The dude has been the same guy since coming into the league and nobody gave a shit until he got hurt and wasn't able to produce.

19 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Rendon created the guy people think he is. Four years is a damn long time to wait for him to actually play a full season and change that narrative. Fans of any team lose their faith in a player after that who didn't give them much to cheer for and drags the team down.

Most fans, not Stradling, but most fans.

There you go..  You're upset he's been hurt and unproductive, I am too.  I'm more mad the Angels didn't see it coming. 

BTW -- his going after the dink in Seattle made me like him more, I was always pretty indifferent about him. The no hablo Ingles comment made me chuckle.  I'm also pretty indifferent about the situation in Oakland with the fan.  But I loved it when Chili Davis went after the racist scumbag in Milwaukee that felt his being a fan meant he could drop N-bombs on him, and if by chance that guy in Oakland called him a "lazy wetback" as I heard A's fans call opposing players during the "bash brothers" era then more power to Rendon.

They can't all be Jackie and turn the other cheek.

Oh yeah.  I hope his legs aren't shot.

[T.G.]

21 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

The dude has been the same guy since coming into the league and nobody gave a shit until he got hurt and wasn't able to produce.

This ^^

[Taylor]

It wasn't Sam Blum who gave Rendon an attitude problem. And apparently there are others around the league who feel the same way about him.

The brawl with the fan isn't something to gloss over. IMO that showed his true colors, and 90% of MLB players (just like the rest of the Angels dugout) would have been able to control themselves and not act like a toddler.

[ettin]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

There you go..  You're upset he's been hurt and unproductive, I am too.  I'm more mad the Angels didn't see it coming. 

This in particular.

Rendon already had a predisposition to injury during his time with the Nationals. The pivot by Arte from wanting a frontline starter to locking in on Rendon to play 3B, felt more like an Arte-based "splash" decision, rather than a front office one from my perspective and I think the huge salary outlay for him was more unnecessarily needful, than insightful. Rendon at that moment in time, definitely had on-base skills and good defense to back up a star-level storyline, but I always felt that the decision was not as fact-based as it should have been. Injuries since then cloud the issue immensely, but I really think the Angels need to just focus on their farm system and not go after most of these free agency signings that overtly impact payroll long-term, we just haven't had a great track record of success the last 10 years in Major League free agency.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, ettin said:

This in particular.

Rendon already had a predisposition to injury during his time with the Nationals. The pivot by Arte from wanting a frontline starter to locking in on Rendon to play 3B, felt more like an Arte-based "splash" decision, rather than a front office one from my perspective and I think the huge salary outlay for him was more unnecessarily needful, than insightful. Rendon at that moment in time, definitely had on-base skills and good defense to back up a star-level storyline, but I always felt that the decision was not as fact-based as it should have been. Injuries since then cloud the issue immensely

It was annoying.  Everyone knew he viewed baseball as a job, and everyone was aware of his struggles with injuries all the way back to his time at Rice.  I can't say that it made me want to hurl the way the Matt Harvey or Cody Allen deals did because at least Rendon was good at the game still but the red flags were there.

1 hour ago, ettin said:

but I really think the Angels need to just focus on their farm system and not go after most of these free agency signings that overtly impact payroll long-term, we just haven't had a great track record of success the last 10 years in Major League free agency.

Yep... As much as I would have liked to see them add someone capable of playing SS and another SP, I'm glad they avoided losing draft picks to add a name.

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

The brawl with the fan

LOL at "brawl."

[Taylor]

Just now, T.G. said:

LOL at "brawl."

Whatever it was. He called the fan a motherfucker and then tried to punch him.

[T.G.]

2 minutes ago, Taylor said:

tried to punch him.

Showing your true colors in continuing to push a false narrative 

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

It wasn't Sam Blum who gave Rendon an attitude problem. And apparently there are others around the league who feel the same way about him.

By attitude problem I'm assuming you mean his surly relationship with the press and yeah, he's always been that way. He does himself no favors.

But all I need to know about Blum is he tried to do the same BS he had done last year at ST, only this time there was video of him being a cowardly little shit who backed down and admitted Rendon had in fact answered his question when he tried to ask the same question in a different way. His tweet describing the back and forth made it seem much more curt, even adversarial, but the video made it clear the interaction had actually rather jovial and you could hear Blum laughing nervously.  Likewise his attempt to twist Mike Trout's comments about asking for a trade tells me what his game is. In both cases the only thing that kept his spin from becoming THE narrative was video proof of what was actually said.

Look, you like him and that's fine but don't pretend he's not above trying to pick at people or chasing clicks -- it's his job.

He knew who Rendon was, he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere by asking him but he did it every day and then reported those interactions as if they had any impact on the situation.  He made the interactions the story. For most people "No comment" would have been enough but Blum had a narrative to push and clicks to chase.  

And absolutely nobody in MLB or maybe anywhere gives a flying shit what Jonathan Papelbon thinks -- pretty sure even his parents can't stand him. 

What I do give a shit about is Rendon's at bats produced exit velocities of 87.4, 97,6, and 97.6. Hopefully he keeps that up.

[Stradling]

He tried to slap the fan. 

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, Stradling said:

He tried to slap the fan. 

Correct:

https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/1641877105477574664?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1641877105477574664|twgr^33df7bfc4f6cbe9e19615d9300e45b23f1aa03f4|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fmlb%2Fangels%2Fnews%2Fangels-news-anthony-rendon-caught-on-camera-confronting-rude-fan-ns2002

[Taylor]

3 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Showing your true colors in continuing to push a false narrative 

Did he not take a swing at the guy? Maybe I'm misremembering.

[Taylor]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

He tried to slap the fan. 

Still atrocious behavior from a grown man.

[Inside Pitch]

Just now, Stradling said:

He tried to slap the fan. 

He let him go and swiped in his general direction.  Anyone that thinks he swung and missed is kidding themselves. 

Also, there was video taken by a Japanese fan that showed the same guy jawing at Rengifo and others ahead of Rendon.  And there's a video of someone who saw the entire thing and said Rendon came back out and was looking for the fan -- I believe he used the word "gracious"  in describing how Rendon treated all the remaining fans in that area.

 

[T.G.]

Just now, Taylor said:

Did he not take a swing at the guy? Maybe I'm misremembering.

You've obviously never thrown a punch.

[Stradling]

Lots of fans called it assault but I haven’t found a single guy that if that happened to them they would have felt assaulted. Granted I’ve only asked a handful of people here and on Twitter that question and none of them said they’d feel threatened or assaulted. 

[Taylor]

1 minute ago, T.G. said:

You've obviously never thrown a punch.

I haven't ever needed to. If I ever do, it won't be because some random asshole calls me a mean name.

[Inside Pitch]

3 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Did he not take a swing at the guy? Maybe I'm misremembering.

Nah, he totally swiped at him.

[Taylor]

Just now, Inside Pitch said:

Nah, he totally swiped at him.

After grabbing his jersey and pulling him toward his face.

Is it the worst thing anyone has ever done? No, not even close. But it's indicative of a douchebag personality.

[Taylor]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Lots of fans called it assault but I haven’t found a single guy that if that happened to them they would have felt assaulted. Granted I’ve only asked a handful of people here and on Twitter that question and none of them said they’d feel threatened or assaulted. 

Where were fans calling it assault? On Twitter? I don't think I saw that language here.

[T.G.]

1 minute ago, Taylor said:

I haven't ever needed to. If I ever do, it won't be because some random asshole calls me a mean name.

Or...

You're more likely to get punched for being one.

[Taylor]

Just now, T.G. said:

Or...

You're more likely to get punched for being one.

Sorry, never been in a scenario like that. I don't remember ever having any kind of kerfuffle with a stranger. Sometimes I get pissed at stupid drivers.

[Inside Pitch]

Just now, Stradling said:

Lots of fans called it assault but I haven’t found a single guy that if that happened to them they would have felt assaulted. Granted I’ve only asked a handful of people here and on Twitter that question and none of them said they’d feel threatened or assaulted. 

MLB and the Oakland PD investigated as an case of assault..   I'm sure the arrest is pending.

Here's the view from the Japanese fan

Ohtani's WTF is happening expression is the best thing about this IMO

[T.G.]

Definitely a "brawl. "

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Where were fans calling it assault? On Twitter? I don't think I saw that language here.

They say he “assaulted the fan”