You know exactly what happened between Frankie Rodriguez and his father-in-law…what exactly provoked the Mets’ closer into a situation from which he’s to be charged with third-degree assault [1]?
Neither do I.
Thus, I’ll leave the amateur psychology to experts like SNY’s doctors of uneducated guessing and conjecture, Bobby Ojeda and Chris Carlin. Any event that involves the police and ambulances qualifies as an unfortunate incident, to say the very least. To say the most would be irresponsible…which didn’t slow Ojeda (once arrested in the middle of a baseball season [2] himself), Carlin or anybody else from inferring whatever fit the narrative of the moment as they attempted to definitively analyze the breaking news that fell into their laps. “Not at all good on any level whatsoever” will have to suffice until the details emerge or are burrowed out.
As for the game the preceded Rodriguez’s arrest, that can be boiled down to its essential details easily enough:
Angel Pagan launched a two-run homer in the first inning.
The Mets did nothing offensively after that.
Jon Niese pitched beautifully for seven innings.
Jerry Manuel went with Hisanori Takahashi, his new setup man [3], in the eighth until he panicked and pulled him with two on and two out, bringing in Manny Acosta, who threw a wild pitch, was ordered to issue an intentional walk and gave up — to Melvin Mora — the Met staff’s ninth grand slam of the season.
Knowing the details doesn’t necessarily make them any more palatable, but it’s helpful to know them before deciding what happened. I know what happened during the game Wednesday night: the Mets lost [4]. I don’t know all that happened after the game Wednesday night. I’m sure we’ll hear more.
Maybe even exactly what happened.