Breaking news: Rob Dibble has said something negative about the Washington Nationals! The former color commentator, who was unceremoniously fired after suggesting Stephen Strasburg needed to "suck it up" and pitch despite a shoulder injury that turned into Tommy John Surgery, blasted the team for its plan to bring Strasburg back in September.
Dibble made the following comments on his Sirius XM radio show. Nationals Enquirer was kind enough to transcribe them.
"There's absolutely no reason, other than to sell tickets and to put butts in the seats to bring Stephen Strasburg back, to make a few starts at the end of the season. He's too valuable. He's too talented to even think about stuff like that. But in their case, you know, having worked with those people, the only thing I can say is that there are some people there that think they invented the game of baseball. Which they did not."
And so they think they can do things differently than 29 other teams in the game. That's the problem I had when I was working there, and now, even when I've been working on this channel for the last seven years. It's pretty simple stuff. You want guys to play 15-20 years, you don't need to rush a guy back just to get a couple starts in so you can sell out the stadium and stuff like that. You know, they've been talking about 2012, and what kind of team they're gonna have in 2012 and stuff like that. And you know, if that's the case, and you don't want to put a Bryce Harper in the major leagues until you think he's ready, there's really no point in rushing this kid back just to get a couple starts out of him for this year."
Ahh, the old "they think they invented the game" argument. Two quick thoughts:
- Dibble does realize the hypocrisy in his argument, right? Last year, he said that Strasburg needed to "stop crying" and pitch through the pain. Now, he's saying the Nationals should put Strasburg in bubble wrap.
- We say it all the time, but it's always ironic to see Dibble talk about the importance of a team planning their pitchers for the long haul when his own career was wiped out with a series of injuries.
Bottom line: simmer down, Rob. Clearly, you have a dog in this fight.