Shane Victorino: Public Enemy No. 1

Yes, it’s time for my long-awaited return from my school-induced hiatus.

And I bring tidings of war. I want the head of Shane Victorino on a pike.

It seems like every year, the Phillies are bellyaching about the Mets celebrating too much, and showing disrespect to the game, and things of that nature. I, for one, tend to disagree, mostly because I find athletes who celebrate accomplishments to be…well, human, and those who don’t to be robotic and boring. I want heart and spirit from my players.

But I wouldn’t be as upset about the Phillies’ whining if it wasn’t for their complete and total hypocrisy. You see, in the midst of the virtuous and not-at-all insufferable Rollins et al. is the National League’s A.J. Pierzynski. He is Shane Victorino, the worst person in baseball.

Watch this clip from tonight’s Phillies-Mets game. Here, Jose Reyes is called for obstruction. Later, Victorino would score on a home run, which would force the Mets to waste Frankie Rodriguez in a game in which he shouldn’t have had to appear.

I see no obstruction. I see a forearm shiver. If Victorino was a referee and Reyes a quarterback, there would have been an uproar. But since he’s a Phillie, one of baseball’s paladins fighting the dark, celebrating scourge that is the New York Mets, it likely won’t be an issue.

In fact, Jerry Manuel’s going to get the worst of it, since evidently his hat hit Bill Welke’s when he was (rightfully) blowing his top after the blown call.

In a perfect world, two things would happen. First, Welke would be suspended for three days without pay for not having functioning eyes. Honestly, when there’s a rundown play, he should be looking for bullshit like that.

The aforementioned Pierzynski has done it before, and it should be a point of attention for MLB umpires. It’s not a heads-up gritty play, and it’s not good baseball—it’s cheating, it’s dirty, and it should be stopped.

Second, on June 9, in the top of the first inning, Shane Victorino should be hit in the elbow with a pitch. That is how scores are settled in baseball, and the Mets’ pitching staff needs to stand up for Reyes. This Philadelphian assault on Reyes has gone on long enough, and Victorino’s reign of terror has as well.

The Mets have made too many compromises already, too many retreats. The Phillies complain about Reyes’ exuberance, and they fall back. The Phillies charge to the division title in September, and they fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, and no further. The Mets must make Victorino pay for what he has done.