A tremendous amount of opinion and conjecture has surfaced over the past few days regarding the New York Mets’ uber-talented and already ultra-controversial Young star, Lastings Milledge. From his ostentatious getup in his initial game in the bigs, to his pseudo victory lap after his game-TYING homerun Sunday afternoon, the actions of the young 21 year-old have captured the attention of those not only in the metropolitan area but throughout the baseball and sports world.

Most, if not all of the opinions of Lastings Milledge to this point in his career regarding his on the field talents have come back with glowing returns. Unfortunately for Milledge, in the same breath critics use to point out Milledge’s five tool talents and uncanny poise in the clutch for a youngster, they also raise questions surrounding his character. I believe they do so unfairly.

Lastings Milledge is 21 years-old---a kid---playing a kid’s game. His homerun Sunday off Armando Benitez that tied the game in extra innings was a moment every child conjures up in his head growing up in the back yard. Milledge lived that dream at Shea on Sunday and upon waking up and shaking off the goose bumps he decided to show the fans some appreciation for the love they were showing him. High fives were issued….everyone involved was having fun…smiling…you know actually enjoying themselves at the ballpark as grown men played a kid’s game for an exorbitant amount of compensation.

Now everyone, starting with Milledge’s manager Willie Randolph, to the San Francisco Giants’ organization to the conservative tight assed members of the media, wish to crucify this kid, throwing him under the bus and unfairly labeling him as a showboat and a head case.


Can everyone just calm down?

He just gave some high fives.

He was just having some….ahem…excuse me…gasp.....fun.

People are so carried away with themselves nowadays, overly preoccupied with worrying about young stars disrespecting the game, that we have all lost sight about what we are discussing here. While baseball and all major spectator sports are now as much a business as anything else in the current scope, at the foundation what is at issue here is just a game.

A game that started with sticks, a ball, trees masquerading as bases, no gloves and plenty of, dare we suggest…

High Fives.

So let us all stop for a moment, take a step back and cut this kid a break. He’s 21. He’s living his dream. And he’s damn excited to be doing so.
Wouldn’t you be?