Wonder if he was stoned when he said this stuff? He is at the very least delusional if he thinks the Mets would even want him back!

From ESPN.com:

[quote]Mets fans might need to prepare themselves for seeing a new face at shortstop.

The player currently at that position, Rey Ordonez, went off on New York fans Friday, and proclaimed that next season will be his last as a Met.

According to a report in the New York Post, Ordonez said "I don't want to play here no more," just before the Braves swept the Mets in a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.

"The fans here are too stupid," Ordonez told The Post. "You have to play perfect every game. You can't make an error. You can't go 0-for-4. Are we like (expletive) machines?"

With the 3-1 and 7-4 losses Friday, the Mets clinched last place in the NL East (74-85).

Ordonez's four-year, $19 million deal ends after the 2003 season, and the Mets might not include him after that regardless of his comments. Prospect Jose Reyes, who is just 19, is waiting in the wings. Ordonez is 31.

Ordonez, who will make $6.25 million next season, didn't take the replacement talk lightly, since he endured the Mets' past luring of Alex Rodriguez.

"A-Rod don't play here," Ordonez told the newspaper. "Reyes don't play here. I've got one more year on my contract."

And the Mets might have to stick with Ordonez for that final season, since few teams would be unable to add on his salary. Ordonez said he would like to eventually go to a team where there is less pressure.

"I want something more relaxed," Ordonez told The Post. "I'll probably play two or three more years (after next season), then I'm gone. After next year, I'm looking for something else. Maybe close to Florida."

According to the report, Ordonez's public lashing of Mets fans isn't a result of the team's demise this season.

"They boo all the time," Ordonez told The Post. "Why don't they play baseball? Because it's hard, right? It's hard."

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Gee Rey, maybe the fans want something a little better than a .969 fielding percentage (9th among NL shortstops for the suppossed second coming of Ozzie Smith) with 19 errors. And that hefty .254 BA! Hey Rey, its not 1975 anymore. Shortstops are allowed to hit for average and power now!

[ September 28, 2002: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

Um, that's just dumb on his part. So, he wants to leave AFTER next season for a less pressurized situation. Did it not occur to him that the fans will have 81 games to boo the crap out of him next year?

Where can I get some of the weed he's obviously been smoking? I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the Mets locker room; it must be like an insane asylum in there.

The Mets should trade him to St. Louis. He'll be happy there. Everyone's happy there.

I think Edgar Renteria would have something to say about that. Possibly the best offensive shortstop in the NL this year.

Ordonez has now issued an "apology" in which he says "It's not like every fan is stupid. It's just SOME of them." .....huh? you call this an apology Rey?....talk about digging a bigger hole for yourself every time you open your mouth....(see entire column linked below).

At least Mets manager Bobby Valentine didn't try to defend his player's (soon to be ex-player's?) idiotic comments (as if they were defensible) when Valentine said, "There's absolutely no reason to take any of the frustration out on the fans" pointing to the hundreds of fans who were gathered behind the dugout looking for autographs before the game.

Even GM Steve Phillips, who didn't rule out that Ordonez' outburst would be a factor in whether or not the Mets traded him during the offseason said, "Most players understand that boos come with the territory. Boos are the fans' way of communicating. The way we've played this year we deserve it. The fans have been waiting to cheer all year. We haven't given them a reason to do it."

In this day and age when so many team execs are concerned with saying what is PC in order to "protect" their players, it's refreshing to see the brutal honesty displayed by both Valentine and Phillips....I suggest Ordonez not sign any long-term leases in Queens this winter.

Ordonez now says only SOME fans are stupid

[ September 28, 2002: Message edited by: gamecock ]

What's stupid is hanging on to an overrated acrobat SS who's always been one of the 5 worst batsmen in the game...

[quote]Hey Rey, its not 1975 anymore. Shortstops are allowed to hit for average and power now!

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[JA gets all misty-eyed and nostalgic] Ahh, for the days of Mark Belanger!!

In the Los Angeles Times yesterday, they were speculating on which managers and GM's are going to get fired in the off-season. They seemed to think that a big broom was going to be coming through Shea and that Valentine and Phillips will be goners. Time for a total re-think of the direction the Mets are going in, I think.

BTW, speaking of Met's players who are dogs with fleas, at the Angels game yesterday, a young kid was walking around the upper deck with a sign that simply said "Mo Who?".

Exactly.

[ September 30, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]