Saturday, December 2, 2006By John Strubel
Tom Glavine shared more details about his decision to sign with the New York Mets instead of the Atlanta Braves.
In an interview with Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Dave O'Brien, Glavine admitted, "I obviously would have taken less to be [in Atlanta]. I knew the Braves couldn't afford to pay me what the Mets could, but it never got to that point of even comparing offers."
Glavine reached out to both Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz last week to share his desire to return to Atlanta. The Braves never made an offer.
Glavine told AJC, "I don't know if it was just a situation where I was thinking I would have an offer from the Mets and an offer from the Braves [by now], and like anything you compare those two offers and all the life issues and make a choice. In the end, that didn't happen. I didn't have an offer from the Braves to compare."
Despite Glavine's desires, he also made a promise to give the Mets an answer before the Winter Meetings Monday.
"In the end, it wasn't fair for anybody involved to drag it out any longer," Glavine told O'Brien. "The Mets were first class the whole way. I'm going back to an organization I've had a lot of fun with, and they've been hugely respectful of me and my family, and a good team on top of that.
"There were discussions of an interest in having me back [with the Braves], but it never really materialized beyond that. If I waited any longer I would have put myself in a very precarious position, and it wasn't something I was willing to do, to put myself in that spot. They [Mets] couldn't hold on forever?"
MY TWO CENTS:
I appreciate the passion and loyalty of baseball fans, it's the hypocrites that bother me. Earlier this week, Braves fans were blogging and posting how much they love Glavine ... Bring him home was their mantra. Once Glavine decided to stay in New York they turned on him.
December 1, 2006 07:26 PM
Here is Glavine blaming the Braves for no offer, when did I hear this before, oh yeah last time he signed with the Mets. JS showed it to be a lie in his book. Sorry Tommy, I am not buying it this time either.
December 1, 2006 07:31 PM
No offer? Poppycock. He did this same baloney 4 years ago, we all read JS's book and know he lied, he is lying again ... I hope we batter him like a ship in a hurricane when we play him the next time. Time for a reporter to actaully call him to his face what he is a liar.
The John Schuerholz philosophy to not discuss free agents or potential trades is as much about covering his tail inasmuch as it is protecting the deal itself. Not discussing details with the media, I understand. Not commenting whether or not the team has made an offer to a player is ridiculous. Schuerholz puts himself in a position so he doesn't have to defend his actions.
Strubel started his broadcasting career in upstate New York including stints in Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs and Albany. He also worked in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Wilmington, Greenville and Greensboro, North Carolina and now Charleston, South Carolina.
Strubel began his writing career as a journalism major at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh as editor of the campus newspaper, Cardinal Points. He has gone on to write public relations for the now defunct Glens Falls Tigers (Glens Falls, New York) and various human interest stories for the Glens Falls Post-Star newspaper. Strubel has recently begun writing freelance sports and human interest stories for At the Yard magazine, The Baptist Courier and CSU magazine, the campus news magazine for the private Christian university, Charleston Southern University.
In addition to writing and radio, Strubel spent three years as the public address announcer for the Charleston RiverDogs (1999-2002), then Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
John maintains a daily sports blog at JohnStrubel.com.
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Comments (1)
Some of those Atlanta fans responded the same way as some hypocrite Mets fans who needlessly bashed Glavine the person for taking some time to arrive at a huge life decision.
These responses have never been about Glavine but rather the inability of some fans to cope with rejection and disappointment, and hence the dsyfunctional way they responded by making up things about Glavine that just weren't true. Glavine has been the pillar of class and professionalism, as have the Mets. Some fans however have lots of growing to do as people, to catch up.
Posted by E.L | December 2, 2006 5:02 PM