IBANEZ DESERVES PRAISE, NOT MADE-UP CRITICISM

What the hell happened to Yahoo Sports guy Jeff Passan? I usually enjoy his stuff, but writing a piece insinuating that Raul Ibanez cares more about baseball than the birth of his child may in fact be a new low. Now you're looking at my post thinking, "That's not what his piece is about."  Look, I'm telling you, if Passan didn't want to start a mini-controversy, he wouldn't have written a piece titled Raul Ibanez's heroics improve Yankees' playoff push but may keep him from birth of his child.  COME ON.

Here's my favorite line where he's speaking of Raul and how no one would have a bad thing to say about him, but "When Ibanez arrived home, on the other hand, he wouldn't have been surprised to hear a cross word or two. He may miss the birth of his child because of it", the "it" is his great playing ability as of late.

Raul's a baseball guy, he has been for years, yet, any dad knows their obligations. Why would his personal life be part of a piece like this? I was a bit aggravated when I read it. I'll tell what the story could be... if Raul Ibanez blew off his child's birth, sure, then maybe I can see Passan calling him out.  But better yet, how about we wait to see what Raul Ibanez actually DOES in his private life before we start "insinuating" that he may not be around for the birth of his kid. That title is pretty charged and by the way, whatever Raul does is kind of his own personal life anyway. Why are journalists writing stuff like this?

Now, if you read through Passan's piece, there is nothing totally outrageous about it, in fact, he get's us in the door with that charged headline, but then there's not a lot of "there" there. And then we go back to Raul and his balancing act for a moment...Who in there right mind really thinks Raul wouldn't make every effort to be home when he needs to be? Plus, his wife was going to have a scheduled C-section, not exactly minor surgery. It's Raul's wife, of course... he's not blowing it off, even I could tell you that.  It seems pretty obvious to me. Plus, don't the Yankees understand? Come on? What the hell kind of crap is this?

Now it's funny, everything happens for a reason and in this case, it's a great thing. It turns out that moments after the New York Yankees won the American League East Championship, Raul's wife went into labor.  Raul had to leave the celebration to be with her.  Hmm, it doesn't sound like a deadbeat dad to me, does it?
I was reading Passan tonight and writing my post and suddenly, like magic, news broke that Ibanez made a mad dash to get to his wife.  I love that.  Sometimes there's karma in the world and things just fall into place. It turns out that this post is now probably all for naught, a higher power righted the wrong of criticizing a guy like Raul Ibanez.

So now I feel better. I am not a fan of guy who like to delve into a player's private life. I don't feel like it serves any purpose, especially if nothing happened yet. That Yahoo piece was a guess and kind of silly if you ask me.  Maybe I misunderstood what Passan was trying to say, I don't think so, but it's possible. 

Bottom line, I'm thrilled Raul is going to be a dad again and the best to the Ibanez family!  Positive vibes going your way!

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