Am I about to defend Bengie Molina?
Oh my God, I think I am.
We’ll start with the obvious, that even Bengie himself admits: Bengie Molina is one of the slowest human beings to ever be paid to run. Granted, this is not his primary duty, but it’s part of the job description. Giants fans do poke fun at him, but it’s usually harmless stuff, and most certainly not broadcast on the largest sports network in the world.
Enter SportsCenter:
I know the quality isn’t great, but you can clearly hear Chariots of Fire playing, and the sound of ESPN execs peeing themselves between paroxysms of laughter (maybe I’m the only one that can hear that.)
I’m certainly not the first to come to Bengie’s defense. Says Henry Schulman:
You, as a Giants fan, have a right to think what you will of Molina’s speed, and maybe you threw your hands up in frustration when he couldn’t score on a play that results in a run 99.5 percent of the time. That said, for a network that considers itself the worldwide leader, that is a partner of Major League Baseball, such a showing was inexcusable.
I agree strongly with Schulman’s take on ESPN, considering this was the only highlight from a game that concluded a 3-game sweep in Florida, giving the Giants the best record in the NL. Oh, and Matt Cain had a no-hitter through 6 innings.
To his credit, Bengie fired back from his own blog (though to some, this may not be surprising; Bengie has notoriously thin skin). To wit:
I know I’m a public figure and I just have to take my lumps. But I would like those people at ESPN who, from a safe distance, make fun of players for a cheap laugh, to remember that players are actual people. With wives and mothers and fathers and children and brothers and sisters. My mother saw the clip. She doesn’t speak English so she asked Yadier’s wife (Yadier is Bengie’s brother) what the announcer was saying. Yadier’s wife didn’t want to tell her. My mom was pretty upset. She didn’t understand why they were making fun of my running when there are so many other things I do every day to help the team win. I told her I didn’t understand it, either.
This is pretty much the cherry on top of the “ESPN is a mockery of itself” layer cake (the previous two layers are ESPN New York and ESPN Boston, which seems redundant, since they only give two shits about NY and Boston on the “Motherstation” as is.)
It’s sad to see; I remember getting to my babysitter’s house before school in elementary school and being so excited to watch SportCenter. There was never a worry about whether the Giants or A’s would be buried behind 45 minutes of talking about whether or not the Yankees will win 103 games or (gasp!) 102, or devoting an entire hour to the upcoming BoSox Yanks series (spoiler alert: Boston sucks this year!). We were guaranteed to get highlights and analysis of *every game* the night before. I wonder if any of the kids I sat in that living room with even watch SportCenter anymore. I know I don’t.
So Bengie, despite my reaction to you re-signing with the Giants:
I am going to kill myself RT @mccoveychron: http://sbnation.com/e/1024624 2:50 PM Jan 19th via web
And despite the questionable decision to play through an injury once Buster Posey was recalled last year (and ONLY once he was recalled), and the fact that I know you won’t hit .340 all year while actually taking bad pitches, in this instance, this one monumental occasion, on May 13th, 2010, I, Michael Albert, have your back.
Lower your shoulder and jar their balls loose, Bengie.
