“I don’t know what to say anymore.”

Then don't say anything?

If only the Mets had a roster full of Lo Ducas....... I wouldn't be a Met fan.

The Mets are not playing well. There's no getting around that. But it's not because they aren't trying or aren't focused less than other teams. Carlos Beltran is running into walls trying to keep the Mets in games. Alou's quad is definitely hurting him but he continues to hit line drives all over the place and has made some nice plays in the field.

The problem with the Mets is that their bullpen has had three reliable arms the entire season: Wagner, Heilman, and Feliciano. That was fine when the Mets were getting 6 or 7 innings from their starters. It's not fine now because their starting pitching is struggling, Wags has barely pitched the last 10 days, and Heilman and Feliciano are struggling a little bit.

One thing I can't stand is a player who wants everyone to know he is a gamer. Lo Duca mentioning how he hasn't slept in weeks is lame.

Lo Duca sucks.

Can the Mets trade him for Brad Penny?

If only the Mets had a roster full of Lo Ducas, instead of being intent on getting rid of the only one they have, maybe then they’d have clinched the division by now and not holding on for dear life.

#### off! YEAH, BLOWDUCA IS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION AND STRENGTH. LET'S ALL GO OUT AND RAPE LITTLE GIRLS, BECAUSE THAT MAKES ME A GOOD BALLPLAYER AND EVEN A BETTER PERSON. LET'S GET THROWN OUT OF GAMES BECAUSE I HAVE THE TEMPER OF AN ADOLESCENT AND I AM WHITE, BECAUSE OTHERWISE I'D BE CALLED "LASTINGS MILLEDGE" AND ROUNDLY CRITICIZED.

#### you, Blowduca and all that you stand for.

If Blowduca was so ####### awesome, why did he end the game last night with the tying run on third? Oh wait, I know the answer to that... BECAUSE IN REALITY, HE SUCKS. BUT BECAUSE HE GIVES VERBAL BLOWJOBS TO THE WRITERS, HE'S A SAINT. JUST LIKE MANY BEFORE HIM AND MANY YET TO COME.

It wouldn't piss me off so much if people didn't believe this garbage.

If the Mets had a roster full of LoDucas, they'd have the worst offense in the league. They'd also really struggle defensively at four or more positions.

So, can Paulie pitch?

Paul LoDuca: GM killer.

Lo Duca sucks at baseball, is an idiot and now we find out that his super awesome intangible leadership powers only apply to himself. #### him. Bring back Mike.

If the Mets had even average pitching articles like this would never see the light of day.

If only Geffner could report what I know about LoDuca...

To be a leader on a team, don't you have to be good yourself?

So is the MLB Axis of Evil, Players Division, Bonds, LoDuca and Dukes?

So is the MLB Axis of Evil, Players Division, Bonds, LoDuca and Dukes?

Isn't Brett Myers more evil than Bonds?

So is the MLB Axis of Evil, Players Division, Bonds, LoDuca and Dukes?

Ahem

KNOW YOUR PLACE #########

The way writers and talk show hosts kiss up to Lo Duca is embarrassing. Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on the WFAN midday show practically beg the Mets to bring back Lo Duca after every weekly interview spot they do with him. Their reason? "Because he cares."

All this talk about the Mets not caring, or not having gamers, or coming out flat is ridiculous. It's simply hard to win when your pitching stinks. The Mets offense has scored at least 7 runs in 6 of their last 7 games. And yet Lo Duca on his radio spot yesterday is talking about how they have to move runners over to win. What a joke.

It's simply hard to win when your pitching stinks.

Then, of course, there are the Phillies...

Isn't Brett Myers more evil than Bonds?

I was thinking steroids + abuse > abuse (> in an Axis of Evil kind of way, not meaning he's better)

EDIT: added parenthetical remarks

I was thinking steroids + abuse > abuse

Has Bonds been arrested for domestic violence? I honestly haven't heard this, but I might have missed it with all the steroids/perjury/mean to writers/mean to clubhouse guys accusations.

If only the Mets had a roster full of Lo Ducas, instead of being intent on getting rid of the only one they have, maybe then they’d have clinched the division by now and not holding on for dear life.

I'm guessing last place personally.

Just what is it with writers and LoDuca? This is getting really bizarre- I thought the whole LoDuca Heart and soul crap was made up simply to attack Depo - especially after I got to see him play every day with the Mets.

He's not that good, he's a pain in the a$$ his jawing with the umps doesn't help, his self promotion doesn't help, my guess is that if these writer who are so eager to fellate LoDuca worked with someone like him in the newsroom- they'd think Captain redass was a jackass

What really pisses me off about an article like this (and the 4,038,571 that preceded it) is not the point that LoDuca is some kind of leader for his rah-rah "intensity" and tough guy personna. Old hat, no big deal, BS, yada yada. And truth be told, LoDuca DOES have some admirable qualities -- ones he tends to share with almost every veteran catcher: he plays hurt, he tries hard, he is candid, and he usually has a pretty accurate perception of a lot of issues with the team, the pitchers in particular.

So give him all the credit for those things you can muster, and call it a wash for his his crapola. (That's being incredibly generous, but what the hell.) What then puts him back huge into the negative column -- and what really ticks me off -- is the implication that his teammates, the ones he is trying to "lead," lack these qualities in such abundant measure that he, Mr. Teammate, must rip them with such statements as,

“I’ve been like a broken record,” he said. “I don’t know what to say anymore. I don’t even know if I’m getting through to these guys, but I just want them to know that this is real.”

Because they don't know it, Paulie. Because they don't try like you do. Because Alou and Beltran aren't playing tough (and, by the way, better, though that's not your fault . . . they're just much better than you are). Because the pitchers (though Lord knows they've sucked) aren't trying their hearts out. Because Delgado didn't do his damndest do get back in the line-up. Because Milledge doesn't care, the way he erupted at that ump (yeah, it was dumb, but rookies do dumb things with the intensity).

Maybe -- just maybe -- the fact that you say crap like that is the very reason you don't get through to them. Maybe they've tuned you out because you have nothing to say they want to hear, nothing they respect. They respect what you do on the field, in its way, and just want you to go do it and shut the hell up about them. Can you do that, Paul? Can you shut the hell up about your teammates, unless you have the wisdom and the insight and the class to just talk about how they are giving all they have and they want this as much as you do and that just because it isn't going right doesn't mean anything at all about their heart and effort? Maybe that would ease the pressure on them .05% and help them do a bit better. Probably not, but you never know. Can you maybe, just maybe, man up for them, lend them a little of the "tough guy" credibility you seem to have (Lord knows why) with the bozos in the MSM. Hey, it might even earn some of your teammates' respect! Maybe then you might get through to them a little bit the next time you have something to say to them. Nah . . . .

Geffner: Lo Duca Speaks Truth

Beavis: My Bunghole Speaks Loud!

Geffner: 0-for-2

Lo Duca will keep on taking his hacks, trying to make something happen on the field

Maybe if he stopped hacking and took a pitch occasionally, he could make something happen on the field.

Shaggy: now let's see who this Michael Geffner really is! [Tears off mask] Bill Plaschke!

Plaschke: and I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids!

Lo Duca speaks truth...he won't stop until the teens are in their birthday suits.

The were writing the exact same thing about him in Los Angeles. It's amazing how much credibility a little dirt on your uniform buys you.

Has Bonds been arrested for domestic violence? I honestly haven't heard this, but I might have missed it with all the steroids/perjury/mean to writers/mean to clubhouse guys accusations.

I thought that prior to the child support hearings he had been arrested or his wife had called 911 on him. I did a quick google and found some references to past spousal abuse but nothing that looked like an unimpeachable source.

I thought that prior to the child support hearings he had been arrested or his wife had called 911 on him. I did a quick google and found some references to past spousal abuse but nothing that looked like an unimpeachable source.

Until we know for certain, I'm still putting Myers ahead of Bonds on the evil index, though I reserve the right to replace Myers with Bonds in the future.

And yet Lo Duca on his radio spot yesterday is talking about how they have to move runners over to win.

I think he's trying to say that the runners need to move over so he can get a better look at the winning smiles of those lovely ladies in the front row.

It's not only what you say, but how you say it. My guess is that Lo Duca turns people off as a result of his tone and manner.

Until we know for certain, I'm still putting Myers ahead of Bonds on the evil index, though I reserve the right to replace Myers with Bonds in the future.

Here's some smoke, if not an actual fire:
Yahoo does a little better than Google:

a 911 call

Her story in the divorce proceedings
His story

They respect what you do on the field, in its way, and just want you to go do it and shut the hell up about them. Can you do that, Paul? Can you shut the hell up about your teammates, unless you have the wisdom and the insight and the class to just talk about how they are giving all they have and they want this as much as you do and that just because it isn't going right doesn't mean anything at all about their heart and effort?

You know what would be really awesome? If somebody like Alou or Beltran beat the crap out of LoDuca in the clubhouse before tonight's game, and then the Mets went ahead and won out and stormed all the way through the playoffs. I'd pay good money to read those "turning point" stories.

Here's some smoke, if not an actual fire:
Yahoo does a little better than Google:

I'm not sure what to think of that, Edmundo. It sounds like she may be trying to get around the pre-nup and that they really only had the one fight and even that doesn't sound awful. I hate to condemn a man as a wife beater based on that evidence as I think wife beaters are incredibly loathesome. Brett Myers on the other hand...

Let young players take note. Slide into the dugout to catch a foul fly, and the press will be on your side forever, through trades, scandal, and crappy play.

This would really piss me off if I were a Mets fan.

Where was his leadership when the tying run was on third in the ninth last night? Oh yeah, it was in a weak fly ball to the outfield. Maybe he should have given himself a pep talk.

Re: 14, I looked at the link, and my immediate response was "Wait, why would anyone say Roberto Clemente is evil?"

I always thought articles like this were simply payback from a journalist to a "clubhouse" source. Some people have a talent for self-promotion - getting people to believe your excrement smells better than it does. And while a lot of people turn their nose up at drivel like this, there are quite a few people who will parrot the copy - LoDuca is the heart and soul of the team.

Thank your preferred religious deity that he's white.

Gary Carter is spinning in his grave.

The myth of Lo Duca should have been killed in August, when he started losing playing time to Ramon Castro, who was knocking homeruns left and right. Lo Duca was placed on the DL even though his injury was of questionable severity. It really appeared that they were DLing him so they had a good excuse to start Castro every day. Lo Duca complained. This was discussed then, and somebody (I think Harvey's Wallbangers) made an outstanding observation: Lo Duca is a great teammate if things are going well for him personally. But if he thinks that he is being ill-treated, he becomes pure clubhouse poison. He's not a cheerleader - he's just a very loud egotist.

Lo Duca is like the perfect combination of things for posters here to hate. He,

1. Sucks and
2. is overrated by the mainstream media as a player and
3. He is a bad teammate, but
4. Given credit for being a good teammate and
5. He cheated on his wife, with
6. Teenagers.

If only he took steroids too.

I'd put LoDuca high on the list of suspected PED users.

As for players not caring, my antipathy toward the Mets started changing after the 1999 NLCS, which made me very, very happy. I was ecstatic seeing that ball sail high and away to Andruw. Jumping around my apartment, toasting Kenny Rogers and his sucktastic pitching. A few months later I read an article about Mike Piazza. Seems he had rented a car in Atlanta and just driven around the south for weeks. His quotes revealed great suffering and disappointment in the season. Now I really never had anything against Piazza and admired his talent, but that was quite a wake up call for me. Here is a guy who had more money than many minor deities, good looks, profession I'd kill for and the loss of a game laid him out. His quotes reminded me a lot of how I felt after my last high school basketball game, eliminated in overtime in the game to qualify for the state tournament. I think the MSM and most fans make way too many assumptions about how money and fame affect players' desire to win. I'm sure there are a few players who don't really care that much (Kent, I'm lookin' at you) but for almost all of them I think the desire to win is overwhelming. Criticize them all you want for performance, dumb quotes and silly appearance, but it will take a lot for me to ever say that a player didn't care about winning.

7. Hasn't had his children taken away.

I'd put LoDuca high on the list of suspected PED users.

Given how ineffectual and unsuccessful most of the reprimanded PED users have proven to be of late (Marvin Benard notwithstanding), I wouldn't be surprised. It would also explain why he gets his panties in a twist so often. And why that girl from Long Island said what he was packing wasn't all that impressive.

And Mike Crudale, obviously.

I was in the stands for first game of the most recent Phillies series. Paul LoDuca struck out to end the ninth with the bases loaded in a tie game (I may be wrong about the bases being loaded - but that's how I remember it). This was fine, happens all the time. The thing was, he immediately turned around and started to scream at the umpire. About 30 seconds into it, I stood up and started yelling "Sit down! You struck out!". A minute or two into it I was screaming, "Run him!!!". Somebody came out to get him, and 3 minutes later he was back - behind the plate. After that, Heilman came out, allowed a baserunner and then threw the ball into the outfield on a bunt attempt/comebacker to get the lead runner at 2nd. It lost the game.

The point is, crappy hitting aside - lots of bad hitting catchers out there - is that this guy is half of the battery. I would think that part of that would be having an ability to settle your pitchers down, as opposed to winding them up and freaking them out, particularly if they are already prone to that. I'm not saying that this guy is the reason our pitching has fallen apart in the way that it has, but it certainly can't help when your battery-mate is an intimidating, rampaging lout in tight spots. How is screaming your head off at an umpire, moments before you have to get behind the plate and sell strikes to him anything but stupid? I'm sure this kind of thing extends to the many other parts of the team dynamic, and I don't understand how guys like Geffner don't get this.

Joe,

He did get run that night. It was the Friday before last, he went all ballistic on the ump on a called 3rd strike and Mike DeFelice replaced him.

It was DeFelice who missed the foul pop behind him and on the next pitch, Heilman scaled it into CF.

Charlie,

My bad. I was in the upper deck, and I could have sworn it was LoDuca. My point still stands. The tantrum can't have helped.

The point is, crappy hitting aside - lots of bad hitting catchers out there - is that this guy is half of the battery. I would think that part of that would be having an ability to settle your pitchers down, as opposed to winding them up and freaking them out, particularly if they are already prone to that.

He does that a lot, once he even filed a protest claiming an ump had admitted to him that he was squeezing the plate on the Mets pitchers-

Think about that for a second- LoDuca was probably complaining to the ump, "hey what are ya doing, squeezing us" and the ump probably said, "yes that's right, we are"
and LoDuca goes to the league, boy that's going to endear him and the team to the umps now isn't it.

He's actually not a bad ballplayer, a catcher who OPS+s 84 in his worst year is not a bad player, it's just that EVERYTHING else he brings is a negative (and the apparent belief many writers have that everything else he brings to the table is a positive is juts an extra bit of infuriating nonsense.