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I remember way back in... 2003? I was @ my usual Expos/Cubs fare, and prior to one of the arctic-climate games (it was the opening day series @ wrigley... and the opener was pushed back a day due to snow) I waddled down to the expos dugout and hung out with a sharpie marker hoping to get REAL LIVE EXPOS to sign my cooperstown collection '83 powder blue expos road jersey. indeed, I ended up getting orlando cabrera, tony armas jr, and michael barrett.
Barrett was easily the most personable out of the bunch... in fact he seemed to spend a whole lot of time talking with the fans assembled there and therefore immediately struck you as a quality guy, much like John Lackey did when I bullshitted with him about Britney Spears during pregame warmups for a LAA/CLE game played @ miller park. Naturally, as fate would have it both guys turned out to be proper turds... Lackey was actually considered one of the best guys in the game in terms of being personable and accessible with wanton fans, but as time wore on you eventually found out that he's just another dude in the big picture.... ask his cancer-ridden soon-to-be-ex-wife.
In Barrett's case, I'm pretty sure his rep ended up being that of the "clubhouse politician" in that he always strove to be on the "right side" of any issue. His hellbent desire to do this would cause him to "flip flop" or "waffle" on things, and ended up pissing off just about every single one of his teammates because they were able to see through his act and realize that he was just a self-centered turd who only cared about doing whats best for #1, even tho he'd have you believe that he was ALL ABOUT HIS TEAMMATES and etc etc.
so even tho he was an expo, which means he'll always have a special place in my heart... and even tho he was cool enough to sign my jersey and talk to me like a normal human being, in the end, i gotta say that it felt pretty good to see carlos zambrano go off on the dude. i'm a huge fan of "chuckles" zambrano and think that in his own convoluted way he means well (a wise man once told me that the road to hell is paved with good intentions) and while he's likely guilty of looking out for #1 first and foremost more often than not, still, it's not like he sat there and schemed out these ways of alienating his teammates... he was just so inherently chuckles zambrano that eventually his FIRE AND PASHIN mandated that he ended up acting the fool and doing comparatively-odd things that caused his teammates to say "fuck that guy, he's a big baby who isn't there for us" -- ask derrek lee.
maybe zambrano and barrett were cosmically attracted to each other in that their own unique blends of raging douchebaggery had an inherent magnetism that eventually drew them together in the dugout that one fateful day? i like to think that the world works this way.... especially when one of the participants is such a raging douche that he actually managed to make AJ pierzynski seem more human and likable after he decided to up and punch the guy. sure, it's something that many people around chicago would love to do (punching AJ, i mean) but in the end, barrett managed to fuck even that up by coming off as the heel whilst AJ rode the publicity to an all-star-game appearance, thanks to the girth of the "punch AJ" campaign.
and now, michael barrett is long gone... he's off to that retirement home for old expos who no longer have what it takes to be even a backup MLB catcher. it's kind of rare to have a backup catcher whose specialty is offense... even tho the white sox have enjoyed some backup-catcher production from raul castro over the last few years, i think that they'd tell you that they had him there cuz he's a competent catcher who can defend the position and call a solid ballgame... and whatever offense you get is tits. with barrett, he was so god-awful at being a catcher that you only had him rostered for his offensive abilities. once the cubs got rid of barrett in the middle of the 2007 season, he never hit again... and his averages quickly dropped to .208 and then .167 and then t-t-t-t-t-t-that's all folks.
so in the end, you only remember the shithead from incidents that involved pugilism, whether he was on the giving or receiving end. so like, when you've got a ballplayer who went from being the GM's darling to a guy who was remembered for things that fall outside of the typical realm of being a ballplayer, well then, you end up like michael barrett.... with ~344 friends on facebook or whatever.
is this acutally his profile/page, or is it some sort of a fanmade digi-effigy meant to give people their much-needed place to discuss all things michael barrett??!
holler if you hear me!
/me listens to the silence and smiles
_________________ Curious Hair wrote: Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?
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