En route to mentioning everybody under the sun in his “encouragement paragraph,” Noah Syndergaard failed to mention one name: Jay Horwitz.
He’s electric, charismatic, personable, dynamite, brilliant, talented, even perfect. He’s everything you want and more in a star and face of a professional baseball organization.Fortunately for the New York Mets, the Toronto Blue Jays thought too much of R.A. Dickey. Also, fortunately for the Mets, Noah Syndergaard will be a staple of this franchise for many years to come, and for good reason and on good authority.
Popularity fully evident and his baseball star still at an all-time level, the man the kids call Thor still need to be called out.
Not publicly apologizing to Mets PR man Jay Horwitz has forced Syndergaard’s first black mark as a Met to flow at us in full force.
Frustration runs amuck at times. This much is certain. Competitors at the level of Syndergaard will feel this frustration at certain times over the course of a long career. To not experience such a testing moment is to put an athlete’s “will” in question.
This past Sunday, Thor went down. It was the first such occasion we saw the almighty superhero in a vulnerable position on the mound:
https://twitter.com/EliteSportsNY/status/858750860226166784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Felitesportsny.com%2F2017%2F05%2F01%2Freal-new-york-mets-injury-problems-ongoing-plauge-years%2F
Whether he “refused” an MRI last week or not is irrelevant. This part of the conversation lies on the shoulders of the team doctors and training staff, an area this club has looked inept in for close to a decade.
The important part of Thor’s journey this past week is what happened after Sunday.
Feeling the frustration after the game, he was visibly upset and acted like a 12-year-old who just struck out in his major league all-star game with the bases loaded.
First, he blew off reporters, hardly a misdemeanor around these parts. More importantly, he treated long-time Mets public relations may Jay Horwitz terribly, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Syndergaard just blew off reporters at his locker inquiring about his shoulder.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) April 27, 2017
Syndergaard now ripping Jay Horwitz because reporters approached.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) April 27, 2017
Poor Jay Horwitz. This man simply cannot catch a break.
Rewind to June of 2016. The Mets were mired in one of their tougher stretches. Manager Terry Collins was forced to face the music. With the local media attentive, T.C. buried Horwitz while calling him a “puppy dog.”
In proper fashion, Collins publicly apologized.
Terry Collins apologized to Jay Horwitz today for his behavior at the end of yesterday's press conference. Called it "unprofessional." #Mets
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 23, 2016
After that happened, the apology, life went on. The 2016 New York Mets marched on through the injuries and with help from the ReplaceMets, took a spot in the NL Wild Card Game that allowed Thor’s splendid locks to flow through the Citi Field crisp Autumn air.
This Horwitz-version would turn out the same if Syndergaard came out with a quick “my bad, Jay.”
On Sunday night, Thor’s famed Twitter account ramped up. Perhaps some thought apologies were in the air:
LGM pic.twitter.com/7j2kk7gf9L
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) May 2, 2017
Nope.
Noah mentioned how difficult it was to watch the Mets while sidelined, apologized to his fans, and even provided a rah-rah, wave the pom-poms section relating to this club’s 2017 future.
Overall, the words reflected the sentiment of a tremendous and hard-working athlete who doesn’t accept anything less that perfection.
Shortly after, Thor then reminded all of us why we especially love the man. He put aside his “fear of mascots” and rivalry with Mr. Met:
….and yes…..I might have even welcomed a hug today from a not to be mentioned, huge headed, baseball looking mascot. #weakmoment
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) May 2, 2017
But where’s Jay Horwitz?
Through the awesome words and rallying the troops cry, a Horwitz apology was in the category of “appropriate things to mention.”
Even SNY’s Ron Darling mentioned his behavior towards Horwitz live on the air:
Ron Darling is not happy with Syndergaard "belittling" Jay Horwitz pic.twitter.com/TkFoROk1kW
— Good Fundies is short for Good Fundamentals (@goodfundies) April 30, 2017
In fact, these Monday night tweets make his mistreatment of reporters and Mets officials on Sunday look even worse.
For all we know, Syndergaard has already publicly apologized to Horwitz behind the scenes. Maybe he bought him a shiny new Benz. To be fair, it’s not as though he publicly humiliated Horwitz in a similar fashion to Collins a year ago. This is all coming from a Mike Puma report.
Having said that, Syndergaard not getting it done in a transparent way with the Mets PR man directly defies his character. It flies in the face of why we all love Thor.
I love Thor. You love Thor. We all love Thor. He’ll return in a few weeks and go about his business. But knowing the young man, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’d want us to rip him in this regard.
That’s exactly what makes this guy so legendary at such a young age.
For such an incredible athlete who’s always above reproach, not quickly “apologizing” to those who deserve it in a rare moment of frustration, it’s shocking.
