LET'S GET CANO TWO TICKETS TO THE LASER SHOW

I cringed typing out the title of this post. It is not at all my intention to disrespect Robinson Cano. This piece is merely tough love for the power hitting, slick fielding Second baseman with the million-dollar smile…or is it a 310 million dollar smile?

Robinson Cano is truly one of the most naturally gifted baseball players I have ever seen play the game. He has Rod Carew-like poetry to his swing. He glides to the baseball as if he is playing in The Matrix and slows the game down…only to immediately speed it up again with a bullwhip SNAP of his wrist, and then in a blink POP! The ball is safely tucked away in the first baseman’s mitt. Cano makes it look all too easy. But Robbie doesn’t hustle. That is a fact and it makes us all crazy.

Mickey Mantle would say he wished he had taken better care of himself. Imagine if he had? Imagine The Mick on two solid knees? Talk about natural ability, Mantle was born to play baseball. My fear for Cano is that he will one day leave the game regretting that he didn’t hustle…but then I think about it. Robbie just isn’t built that way. Cano isn’t like Mantle. He isn’t like Jeter, O’Neill or Bernie. But you know what really gets me? Robinson Cano isn’t at all like Red Sox second baseman, Dustin Pedroia.

Now both men play the game at a very high level. They are super stars of the sport. In my opinion Pedy isn’t in the same class with Cano in terms of physical ability. Robbie looks every bit a Major League Baseball player…Dustin looks like a kid with posters of Major Leaguers on his bedroom wall…aside from the beard, which just helps him get into R rated movies.

But in the category of “Heart”, the pint sized Red Sox towers over Cano. I know, “So it ain’t so, Mikey. Say it ain’t so.” I’m sorry, folks, that’s my call. You don’t have to agree with it, and I wish I didn’t feel this way…trust me.

I have a younger brother who is a die hard, card-carrying member of the Red Sox Nation…long story and we are trying to get him help. But he told me when Pedy first came up that he was going to be an MVP. I didn’t see it. Instead I made well-placed Frodo Baggins jokes at his expense. I would tweet, “Now, Dusty, Santa doesn’t come to little boys who throw temper tantrums” when he would flip out in the dugout. In “short” I picked on Pedy like it was my job…and as a Yankee fan it kinda is.

But the bottom line is Pedroia is more like my favorite all-time player, The Warrior Paul O’Neill, than most of the guys playing today. He gives all he has. He leads by example. Big Papi may grab headlines, but make no mistake. Boston is Pedroia’s F****** town. He is the heart of that club. He is everything that is good about ballplayers today. Look how he handled his contract. It made me stand up and tip my cap. It was about staying with the team and city that gave him a shot. It was about winning…the money was second.

Yes, Pedroia’s contract is hardly peanuts, but in a world where players make crazy salaries, I feel Pedy earns every cent. I applaud him for how he handles himself on and off the field. He is a gamer and dare I say, a Warrior. I may not like him, but like Wes Mantooth to Ron Burgundy, I respect him.

Robinson Cano will not handle his free agency well in my opinion. Yep, he has earned the right to test the market. Sure, he is one of the best in the game. And should he be paid a contract that reflects that? Absolutely. Does Robbie look at the game the way his counterpart in Boston does? No, no he doesn’t.

Cano taking Jay Z as his new rep was strike one. Sorry Sean, you’re not an agent…and DID NOT make the Yankee Cap more famous than a Yankee can. Strike two was seeing how awfully ARod’s big deal worked out and then asking for 300 million. It’s 0 and 2, Robbie. Don’t swing at the ball in the dirt, which is wait too long and hang the Yankees out to dry. They will punch you out of town if you do and you will be left to ask Jay Z, “Wha happen?”

Take a page out of Pedroia’s book…or look to the guy wearing # 2 in the Yankee clubhouse. It is clear that Pedy did. Ask for what you are really worth and know that doing the right thing by the team that gave you your shot will benefit you in the long run more than you can measure. I like to think Cano wants what Mariano got this past season…but again, I don’t think Robbie is wired like that. I think hanging with celebrities and commercial deals may shine more than a World Championship ring. And it gives me no joy to say it.

I really do hope Cano comes to his senses and comes back to the Yankees. I hope he sees that the fans get on him about hustling because we want him to be all we know he can be. I hope this off-season he takes the two tickets to The Laser Show and sees how a super star should act and play the game…oh the other ticket is for Jay Z.  And they aren’t behind the dugout, Sean. Your celebrity don’t hold water this time. Go sit courtside and trip a referee at a Nets game.


 

--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
   Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."

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