Keith Hernandez Not Only Defended His Take About Ronald Acuna Jr. Deserving To Get Plunked, But He Went After Vic Black For Saying Nolan Ryan Would Never Do Such A Thing
Keith Hernandez to all the haters out there:
Talk that shit Mex! Talk that shit! Like I said yesterday, I don’t necessarily agree with all of what Keith said about the whole Acuna beanball incident. But I’m happy he didn’t sugarcoat it or back down when hordes of angry people let him know that they were mad online. The best part about Keith Hernandez in the booth is that you are getting the real Keith Hernandez. The guy that won an MVP, a World Series champion, smoked butts in the dugout, and rounded home with Elaine Benes. Keith may be a lot of things, but he’s not some phony that tells what people what they want to hear because being PC is cool in 2018. He is Keith Hernandez and refuses to be anyone else. If there is a funny sexual innuendo during a broadcast, he will laugh and maybe even sprinkle in his own joke on top. If he has to stay and announce a putrid Mets game that is going into extra innings, he will sigh and complain about how Hadji needs to be fed before he goes to his late night dinner reservation in Sag Harbor. And if something that happens on the field pisses people off, Keith is going to say it. Him, Gary, and Ron are the reasons the Mets are watchable long after their season goes up in flames. Keith’s insight about what it was like playing back in the day is great for the fans watching because he explains what players deal with in the game or how things have changed. And based on the reaction to his take, things have really changed a lot. Just because Bob Gibson or Nolan Ryan would hit you because of a slight or retaliation, it doesn’t mean it should always be the case today. But it was when Keith was a player. If you disagree with him, that’s fine. And if you come at him on Twitter, he just may land an overhand right exactly like Nolan Ryan once did after plunking Robin Ventura.
Anyway, I think/hope we can finally end all the outrage from Ronald Acuna Jr. getting hit by a pitch and move on. Acuna played last night, Jose Urena got suspended for 6 games, and the #debate about purpose pitches will likely take its place among hot topics like Hall of Fame voting, All-Star game snubs, and MJ vs. LeBron. Baseball is about to hit the Super Upgrade button and go from the dog days to the pennant race days and the return of football will consume the rest of our attention. September is a fucking awesome sports month and October is probably the best of the dozen. Can’t fucking wait.
P.S. I still can’t believe Vic Black didn’t become a decent bullpen arm just because he had such a good baseball name. Vic Black sounds exactly like a player that would be a decent young bullpen arm for the Padres for years, get moved to setup man, then become closer after they shipped off their previous stud at the deadline before being shipped off to some big market team and becoming an above average 7th inning guy for the rest of his days.