There is nothing like a good player controversey to flush a rat from hiding. Shaughnessy returns from many days away from his column to write about Daisuke Matsuzaka's recent comments about the Red Sox handling of him.
This one (save one thing*) contains all the elements that drive me personally to want to continue this website. *The one surprising element is that it did not end with the line "This must be a case of Dice-K being Dice-K. " Shaughnessy must have realized that he had already written the same piece as Tony Massarotti who did end with the "Being Dice-K" line and realized that perhaps he should try to at least be a little different. As for the standard Shaughnessy fare that he did invoke, we have:
- Painting a picture of things that never really happened in the first place. Shaughnessy talks about what a dream marriage this was in the beginning -- World Series victories, 18-3 records, etc. Except Shaughnessy glosses over the fact that the marriage has never been particularly rosy--high salary, high walks, high pitch counts...high maintenance. Dont think this was ever a "perfect marriage"?
- Contradicting the picture that he paints: Shaughnessy starts his column saying "At the beginning, it was a perfect marriage." and he ends the column with "Since Day 1, Matsuzaka has been a hired gun in the clubhouse." Hmm, which is it Dan?
- Throw in a couple of inappropriate cultural references (which incidentally are also contradictory). He calls this a "hundred-million arranged marriage" after calling it a "perfect marriage"? Why call it an arranged marriage? Was it any more arranged than Texeira signing with the Yankees? It was a mutual business deal - no one forced anyone into anything.
- Failure to allow for the possibility that something is lost in translation: It seems like many of Shaughnessy's targets (Pedro, Manny, and now Dice-K) are ones whose native language is not English. Any chance that something is lost and misunderstood in the cultural and language translations? Do you really think Dice-K purposely upset the retirement ceremony of Jim Rice's number? Was there something taken out of context? Perhaps not but Shaughnessy is not likely to take the time to even consider the other perspective
This is simply another case of Shaughnessy piling on clumsily and lazily--tripping over himself along the way. Pathetic.
Yeah!
ReplyDeleteHe's back.
The last few weeks must have been trying on the Shank.
First the buildup to Rice's induction. Wasn't Dan one of those on the early bandwagon to "block" Rice from getting in?
And then Manny hits a slam into Mannywood on Manny's Bobble Night. What a crime! And America loved it!
I can just picture how the Shank was steaming at how two HOF left fielders were getting so much positive media time. Shank must have visited Old Teddy Ballgame's grave a few times.
And Dave I do not agree with you that the Shank loses anything something in the "translation" when dealing with foreigners.
As the famous line from Cool Hand Like states - What we have hear is a failure to communicate!" and then the bullet pierces the figurative throat of the athlete's voice.
What a typist.
Yeah! He's back.
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"Shank must have visited Old Teddy Ballgame's grave a few times."
ReplyDeleteHe visited the cryogenic freezing lab? Kinda weird.
I did find it odd that Shank didn't have anything to say about he induction of a Red Sox player into the HoF. That's big baseball news, no?
How can you say something is lost in translation with Dice-K? He has a translator! If something's lost in translation the blame has to be put on Masa Hoshino. Manny and Pedro both learned English and were (more or less) fluent in it.
y reference to the Cool Hand Luke movie was to demonstrate how futile it is for athletes to communicate with the Typist.
ReplyDeleteHe (The Shank) just shoots at the “throat” anyway because that’s what the Boss Man wants.
The “This is getting dicey” article is just another example of the Shank being a tool for the boss man.
Why can’t Dice-K have an opinion? Instead he gets “Dice-K did his best to get his butt shipped out of town”
Why did Rice get so much grief from the Shank? Rice claims he just wanted to defend his teammates, what is so bad about that?
Why did Manny get the “Adios Amigo” treatment from the Typist? Manny just wanted a longer term deal. What is so bad about having an opinion?
In this town, if isn’t the Shank’s way then it’s going to have to be the highway!
How Singular!
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Dice-K, Rice, Manny ... why stop there?
ReplyDeleteYou could add Pedro, Carl Everett, and legions of others.
What do they all have in common?
They aren't white.
"'To hear him say that is disappointing,' said Francona, who would rather quit chewing tobacco than criticize a player."
ReplyDeleteNot necessary. Shank needs to stop relying on low blows to make his skewed points. Why does he feel the need to insert this tid bit about Francona when Lucchino also refuses to criticize Daisuke?