I was blinded by the feelings in my heart

Kyle Snyder at Spring Training 2007. Photo taken by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net Used with permission.

When Bronson Arroyo was traded back in 2006, I made the decision to start following the Cincinnati Reds as closely as possible. Not just Bronson’s games, but the team as a whole. I learned who their announcers were, I live-blogged some Reds games, I could tell you about each of the starters on the team. I really paid attention. I also followed the media coverage and was pleased that I was able to find a blogger or two as well as a couple of columnists who really enjoyed covering the team. The Reds have some passionate and faithful fans and it was a lot of fun finding that out. I still follow the Reds, although not as closely as I did Bronson’s first couple of years with them, but enough to keep up with the team and, especially, with Bronson.

Thanks to the Internet, and ESPN (and now MLBN!) and the Extra Innings package, it’s fairly easy to keep tabs on all of baseball if you want (which I try to). I like knowing the teams and the players even if it’s just a little bit. The New York Mets are one of those teams I have followed (relatively) closely over the past few years. Kyle Snyder signing with them made my job a little easier since he signed with a team I already had a handle on. I know who writes about them and I think I understand the fan base as well. So ever since pitchers and catchers reported, I’ve been looking for any bit of news on Kyle. Anything. And I’ve found, pretty much, nothing.

It’s been a little disheartening, but the more I read the more I think I get it. As much as I thought I knew about the Mets and their fanbase, I obviously didn’t. Being a Red Sox fan has certainly warped my view of what the media should cover. I sometimes like to blame the Boston sports media for being too eager to attack these guys for a story, but it’s what we like. We don’t like the attacks that sometimes come, but we love the look inside the players. One of the reasons I started reading Rob Bradford (long before my gig here at weei.com) was because he often gave insight to the players that no other writer did. (His current stories about Justin Masterson and his car and Dusty Brown and his time in the Dominican Winter League are just two examples.) So because the Boston sports media has spoiled me, I expect it everywhere.

In the MLB Notes section of the New York Post today, I read an interesting blurb about Frankie Rodriguez. Actually, it was about the contacts that he showed up at camp wearing. It seems K-Rod is wearing contacts that create “bright red circle(s) around his irises”. It’s “MLB Notes”. Writer Bart Hubbuch also wrote about the Hernandez brothers working out together in Miami. So far there are only two comments on the page. One lamenting that the Post doesn’t have anything better to write about (“Tomorrow Exclusively In The Post: K-Rod, Boxers Or Briefs?“) and the other (in all caps) complaining that the players have little privacy (“I GUESS IT IS TOUGH TO PLAY IN THIS CITY. GIMME A BREAK.“)

My first thought was “Hey, that’s pretty cool! I wonder if any other players use those contacts?” They seem to be a little different than the amber contacts Mike Timlin and other players used. See? Just the fact that I know that Mike Timlin used to wear amber contacts tells you I might know a little too much about the players. But, for me, that’s half the fun. I don’t see reporting on K-Rod’s contacts as either too trivial to take up the space nor too private to discuss. I’m not sure any Red Sox fans would. And I’m not judging all Mets fans by these two who decided to comment, it just struck me interesting because I believe if Alex Speier or Rob Bradford had posted this on their blog, the first couple of comments would have been more like my initial reaction.

I write all of the above so I can write the following: I want some info on the rest of the Mets camp. I know K-Rod and Santana are the guys who draw, but I want to know how the rest of the team is doing. Especially Kyle. (Yes, I know that goes without saying!) Someone in Port St. Lucie throw me a damn bone and let me know how the non-roster invitees are doing. You all aren’t making it any easier to follow your team by not giving us more coverage.

Man, this all makes me appreciate being a Red Sox fan even more. Four hours, this past weekend, of Spring Training coverage on NESN (with more coming up this Wednesday and Friday!)…half the beat writers in Boston sitting in Ft Myers and blogging daily about what’s going on…this is the stuff we want, folks. Mets fans – demand more from your coverage! (And someone send me a damn Kyle Snyder update!)

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