{"id":14176,"date":"2011-05-24T13:06:13","date_gmt":"2011-05-24T20:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=14176"},"modified":"2011-05-24T13:06:13","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T20:06:13","slug":"madoffs-curveball-uncovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/24\/madoffs-curveball-uncovered\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Madoff’s Curveball,” Uncovered"},"content":{"rendered":"

If ever one article generated a deafening buzz, it is Jeffrey Toobin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s article, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Madoff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Curveball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> in the May 30, 2011 edition of The New Yorker. The article outlines the problems faced by Met\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s owner, Fred Wilpon, who allegedly had knowledge of Bernie Madoff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infamous scandal, and who could be hit with a near-billion dollar judgement.<\/p>\n

I finished the eleven page article Tuesday afternoon, and found it both comprehensive and entertaining. The legal allegations are nothing that requires further reading \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they have already been adequately covered. But the insights into the lives of both Fred Wilpon and Bernie Madoff uncover some interesting questions and leave you hungry to witness the result of this pending battle.<\/p>\n

Beyond the more academic aspects of this article, some facts left me stunned and amused. Did you know, for example, that Fred Wilpon was responsible for getting Sandy Koufax to join his high-school baseball team?<\/p>\n

Of course, one cannot examine this article and ignore the highly covered comments made by Wilpon in regards to some of his players. I read an ESPN article last night that outlined the comments, and came away rather stunned. However, after reading the article, I was anything but stunned.<\/p>\n

Here is the full excerpt from the article where Wilpon makes these comments:<\/p>\n

In the game against the Astros, Jose Reyes, leading off for the Mets, singled sharply up the middle, then stole second. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a racehorse,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon said. When Reyes started with the Mets, in 2003, just before his twentieth birthday, he was pegged as a future star. Injuries have limited him to a more pedestrian career, though he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s off to a good start this season. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He thinks he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to get Carl Crawford money,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon said, referring to the Red Sox\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 signing of the former Tampa Bay player to a seven-year, $142-million contract. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had everything wrong with him,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon said of Reyes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

After the catcher, Josh Thole, struck out, David Wright came to the plate. Wright, the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s marquee attraction, has started the season dreadfully at the plate. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pressing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A really good kid. A very good player. Not a superstar.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Wright walked.<\/p>\n

When Carlos Beltran came up, I mentioned his prodigious post-season with the Astros in 2004, when he hit eight home runs, just before he went to the Mets as a free agent. Wilpon laughed, not happily. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had some schmuck in New York who paid him based on that one series,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, referring to himself. In the course of playing out his seven-year, $119-million contract with the Mets, Beltran, too, has been hobbled by injuries. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sixty-five to seventy per cent of what he was.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beltran singled, loading the bases with one out.<\/p>\n

Ike Davis, the sophomore first baseman and the one pleasant surprise for the Mets so far this season, was up next. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good hitter,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shitty team\u00e2\u20ac\u201dgood hitter.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Davis struck out. Angel Pagan flied out to right, ending the Mets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 threat. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lousy clubs\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what happens.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon sighed. The Astros put three runs on the board in the top of the second.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re snakebitten, baby,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilpon said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is important to read that full excerpt without any snips. The term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153taking it out of context\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is in full force right here.<\/p>\n

Last night on The Seamheads.com Radio Hour<\/a>, I was astonished by Steve Lenox\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a Met fan \u00e2\u20ac\u201c reaction to this news. Is Fred Wilpon really going to get away with this, I thought?<\/p>\n

But these comments were not made in order to bash his players. Rather, they were comments made in the midst of a came \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a sort of commentary. Wilpon spoke just as any fan would during a game, and, if anything, it signifies his commendable fan-like, hands-on approach to ownership.<\/p>\n

While the article was virtually bare of any startling points that could have any ramifications on the actual story, one, particular fact stood out. Twice throughout the article, the argument was made that Wilpon really couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have had any knowledge of Madoff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s operation. Why would he have kept over $500 million in the account?<\/p>\n

That, along with the genuine relationship Wilpon shared with Madoff lead the reader to believe that Wilpon really is innocent. Even Madoff, as he sat in prison, went to bat for his friend. And, it turns out, Wilpon was never warned to pull his funds from Madoff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s control.<\/p>\n

For any fan interested in the legal battle, the backstory of the scandal, or an insightful look into the life of Fred Wilpon, this is required reading.<\/p>\n

jess@seamheads.com<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If ever one article generated a deafening buzz, it is Jeffrey Toobin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s article, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Madoff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Curveball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the May 30, 2011 edition of The New Yorker. The article outlines the problems faced by Met\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s owner, Fred Wilpon, who allegedly had knowledge of Bernie Madoff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infamous scandal, and who could be hit with a near-billion dollar judgement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":754,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/754"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}