Yasiel Puig was scratched from the Dodgers-Giants game on Friday because he was late to the park. Puig was under the impression that he needed to be at Dodger Stadium by 10:00 AM, when in reality, he was supposed to be there at 9:40 AM. It’s a common mistake – these things happen.
But of course, since Puig was involved, this was a disastrous, life-altering event.
Jill Painter of the LA Daily News said that Puig is “the very thing that stands to undo the Dodgers’ World Series championship hopes.” All of that doom and gloom because he was 20 minutes late. Plenty of national writers, from Jon Heyman to Bob Nightengale to Buster Olney, all got their licks in as well. Where were their tweets of horror when Matt Adams of the Cardinals shoved a fan yesterday? Nowhere to be seen on their timelines of course.
Keep in mind – it’s not as if Puig was nowhere to be found. He was in the clubhouse getting changed when the team started their 9:40 stretching. Local LA writer Ramona Shelburne brought the whole “logic” thing to the table, saying that you’re screwed in traffic if you’re not at the park by 9, and that the controversies surrounding Puig seem tame compared to the nonsense that has gone on with the Lakers over the past 15 years.
This was Puig’s first Opening Day with the Dodgers. Remember, he was called up in June last year. While he obviously made a critical mistake in showing up late on Friday, it’s not the end of the world. And how much of this backlash can be blamed on Don Mattingly? Mattingly came right out and said that he pulled Puig from the lineup because he was late, inserting newly-activated Matt Kemp in his place. He could have spun the news differently, replacing Puig with Kemp and explained it was because of a heart to heart with Kemp (who wasn’t pleased about being on the bench in his first game off the DL).
The media in-fighting over control over the Yasiel Puig narrative was bad enough before the season started, now it’s just getting worse. If people are this crazed over him being 20 minutes late, imagine what will happen when a real controversy arises.
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