Story by Robert Schiff
Photo from oneguysjourney.wordpress.com
Photo from oneguysjourney.wordpress.com
Baron is not a traditional sports writer. He used to take photos at Mets games just for fun. That is until some of his photos drew the attention from SNY, the Mets local TV station. Baron began posting pictures, and eventually started writing for the Mets blog called JustMets in 2008, which was hosted by MLB.com.
Baron isn't like other traditional beat writers. Before writing for the blog, Baron referred to himself as a computer guy with a camera.
Despite not having the extensive background in journalism, Baron is still able to engagingly inform the Mets’ fan base. He doesn’t just state the facts.
Baron says he used to have a tough time being critical of the players he roots for. But after years of being close to the front office, and having a better relationship with the players and front office personnel, Baron doesn't have a problem criticizing a player that isn't playing well.
"The bottom line is performance," he said.
The Interview CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO VERSION
Robert: Can you just say your name and
spell it, and also give me your job title?
Michael: I’m Michael Baron.
M-I-C-H-A-E-L. Last name Baron, B-A-R-O-N. I currently am employed by MLB.COM, but I’m
not an affiliated writer at this time.
Robert: Ok, great. Alright. So the
question I’ve been wanting to ask. I know you’re a huge Mets fan,
and you know, we share that in common. Do you have a tough time balancing your
love for the team knowing that you have like an obligation to your, to the
people that look to you for advice on the team or you know, just updates on the
team? Do you feel like…Do you do a good job balancing the
two?
Michael: well I think in my case I can’t
speak for others but I'm sure other people might say the same thing. I think
that fandom sort of drives that balance. I mean you know its helped me, early
on, I probably struggled with the emotional side of it, because um, you know, I
was still kinda like that fan boy when I first started back in 2008-2009, but
over time having learning to deal with, and learning to deal with you know,
people associated with teams, and players, things like that, I think it’s
helped me to, it helped me to become a better fan, so to speak.Does that make
it hard to understand? because I had a greater understanding, I acquired a
greater understanding of how teams work you know, clubhouse dynamic, you know, how
the front office thinks, you know, what they're trying to do so on and so
forth., I think It’s helped me become a better fan. Um, and you know certainly
being involved with the media I think helped drive me to become a better fan.
Robert: Right. um, Ok. I saw...It’s
kind of a similar question. Do you have a tough time balancing, you know,
being, I know you have to be critical of players depending on how they perform?
Do you feel like it’s tough to be critical of players that
you root for, and you know, that you spend most of your time rooting for as a fan
because I feel like a lot of, you know, sports writers are a little more
separated from the team, and the thing I love about your reporting is that you’re
a fan, first and foremost, and I don’t think it ruins your, you know,
updates, but, do you have a tough time being critical of players that you
essentially, you know, want to do well?
Michael: No, I think there’s,
there has to be a balance. Obviously you have to watch what you say in public,
but that doesn't mean I don't think the things that other people think, but I
also have, like I said, I have a greater understanding of the what’s
and the whys with the club and the organization, and how you know, the roster
is designed, and why it’s designed a certain way. um, but you know,
the bottom line is performance, and it doesn't matter how a roster is designed,
and you know, what I think and what I know, you know, for instance Neil Walker
is a great example. Like, we agree he has stunk for three months’
period, and it doesn’t matter how he's being used, and it
doesn't matter what they're trying to with him, in the end he's hitting .210
over the last 3 months or whatever it is, so, you know I think as long as I'm
being fair and that’s a fair critique of a player, I don't
think he can have a problem with it, I don't think the organization can have a
problem with it. You know sandy Alderson said, the media both publicly and privately,
look i don't care what you say, as long as you're being fair and as long as you’re
being reasonable, so is it fair if I said that Neil walker was really having a
good year because he a had good month? is that a fair analysis? no I don't
think so. it might make him feel a little bit better. But I think he knows you
know, how well he's doing and I think he knows what people are thinking, what
people are saying and it’s hard for him to disagree. like, he
knows, he’s a multimillionaire, and this is his business, so I think
he know when he's doing well, and when he's not doing well, and he knows
especially in New York, you know, if he's not doing well people are going to
say, hey you're hitting .210 over the last 3 months, you know, the same could
be said on the opposite end of the spectrum when he was doing well in April he
hit the 9 home runs, everybody saying
wow he’s off to a great start, know can he keep it up, that’s
a fair credit to a fair question, again, it’s just about being fair, and you know I
think, i think the media doesn't get enough credit for, you know the fairness
that they give to the organization, and the team, especially read Adam Rubin,
and I don't think he ever says anything negatively or positive. I think he just
poses the facts and that’s the end of the story, and I think
that’s a perfectly fine analysis. he's not saying Neil walker
stunk but he’ll say Neil Walker is really struggling since May 1st, which…what’s
the difference. It’s just about the, it’s about the words you use, I may say
he stinks mean, Adam may say he's been struggling, we are all pretty fair when
it comes to that reason.
Robert:
Alright, I agree. Um, alright. A couple more questions. What would you
say is your favorite moment as a Mets fan?
Michael: Oh my god. Um, you know, the
club gets bad wrap because they’ve have a lot, they probably had more
dark days than light days but you know, at the same time, you know when you
think over the last year there have been a lot of good and memorable times with
the organization but certainly in my lifetime, the greatest moment I've ever
experienced at the ballpark was Buckner’s, the Buckner ball. That was just
surreal really six or seven minutes in baseball history. Um, you know i
remember I always, whenever anyone asks me that question I always go back to
that, but you know, certainly you know I was there for Todd Pratt’s
home run against the Diamondbacks, um, you know to win the division in 1999, I
was there when they clinched the pennant in 2000 and you know, I remember bobby
jones ‘1 hitter in 2000 when he clinched the division series
against the Giants, that was the single greatest pitching performance I've ever
seen in my life, just given you know, the circumstances and the implications of
the game. Um, you know, those are probably the greatest moments of my lifetime
as a Mets fan.
Robert: Alright, I’ll
get you outta here on this one.
Michael: Its ok, I got time.
Robert: (laughs) Do you think the roster
we have now… Do you think we have enough to repeat what we did last year?
Um, and what would you say we do need if we don’t have enough right
now?
Michael: You know, That’s
an excellent question because on paper, I look at the roster, and, to me even
without David Wright and arguably Lucas Duda ,i think there are enough players
here to win a world championship, and Matt Harvey, I’ll throw that
in there, I think you know they have 3 or 4 starters that could win any
postseason series but there’s been so much underperformance between
Walker you know we talked about walkers problems, Asdrubals Cabereras problem
with runners in scoring position especially have been well documented, Curtis Granderson
problem with runners in scoring position again well documented, There’s
not, to me, they have a lot of good
players not performing well together, and part of winning a world championship
is having players that feed off each other. Um, good team oriented approaches
to hitting. Um, good situational pitching which is a very underrated aspect of
a team, you know, pitching to your defense, knowing the situation, knowing when
you need a double play and pitching to try and get a double play, rather than you know trying to get an out or
strikeout, that’s all part of winning championships, ‘and with the roster
right now it’s hard to say that this club is good enough to win a
championship just because they’re not, they haven't played that well,
and again that’s fair criticism, since may 1st they're about a .500 team
and .500 teams don't get to the playoffs and win championships. Um, you know,
but Sandy Alderson can, you know, find a way to sure up the bullpen, maybe
deepen the bench a little bit before next Monday’s trade deadline
you know things change really quickly, we saw that last year you know, in this
week, this was a team a year ago, you know, I don't think anyone on july 24th
or July 25th, 2015 said this team’s gonna make the playoffs. you know
they were about a 500 team they were meandering behind the nationals, but then
they got Cespedes and the whole dynamic of the team changed and I don't think
they necessarily need a Yoenis Cespedes or that kind of impact bat to make a
change they just need to start ‘cause i don't think getting Yoenis Cespedes
2 is gonna change a lot about the offense. Changes come from within, changes
have to come from within the Grandersons, the Walkers and the Cabreras, and
start playing better and hitting better in situations, you know I’m
not even talking about Cabrera even breaking the 0 for 32 skid with runners in
scoring position I’m talking about with a runner on 2nd and a runner at 3rd and
less than two outs you hit the ball to right side, that’s just as
good as getting a hit ‘cause that usually scores a runner or
advances a runner right? So you know,
those are the things that need to change and if those things can change
they're gonna start to win games more consistently, and i think you saw it a
little bit at times against you know on this last road trip, um, but they’re
still depending way too much on HR and you look back to Friday and they had a
couple of sac flys that scored runs but they still won that game because Loney
hit the two or the three run homer at the end right because the marlins because
the marlins scored a run against Familia and that homerun was the difference in
the game.
Robert: I think Loney’s
been huge, Loney’s been a huge addition.
Michael: He has been a tremendous asset
to this team. He’s exactly the type of hitter I’m
talking about. He sprays the ball all over the field, he knows how to move
runners along with runners in scoring position, you know, he has occasional pop
and he’s had some huge hits with this team, but there’s
something very underrated with Loney has been his defense, he’s
saved this defense the infield defense on so many diff occasions, saved so many
diff runs, with scoops and his range at 1b, you know he’s not the
perfect player he’s not a superstar, he’s exactly the kind of player any team
should want, he’s a winning player, he always seems to come through in the
clutch, he showed that with Tampa Bay and the years he was there and he’s
doing it again with the Mets I think Lucas Duda may reclaim his job when he
comes back i think you can make an argument that they need to find another
place for Duda or Loney to play.
Michel: how can you take that presence
out of the lineup especially in big situations down the stretch but that I
think it still remains to be seen and what is it the bigger question and what
is Duda gonna be when he comes back? Broken
backs there is scar tissue in there and may limit his bat speed and his ability
to be out on the field so that’s a problem for later but I think
those are questions that need to be answered.
Robert: I agree. I’m
looking forward to the rest of the season. I think we as bad as we've played
for long stretches this year to be only a few games back at this point and
still be in the lead for the wild card is to me it’s amazing.
How many bad stretches of baseball we've had?
Michael: I don’t know what Miami
did last night. let me look at the standings.
Robert: I believe they lost. think we’re
a half-game ahead.
Michael: If Miami lost they'd probably
be tied because the Mets didn't play last night. let me look, I’m
looking right now. Washington didn't play, they are tied with the marlins for
the second wild card.
Robert: Oh, ok.
Michael: I mean look, when a team is
struggling, when you have a lot of injuries like this, you look at that, this team
still has what it takes, the fact that they can be missing their two corner
infielders. one is their team leader btw who is amazing presence and amazing
person. you know to have underperformances from the 3 of the 8 starters on a
regular basis, and to be tied for the wild card
Robert: I’ll take it.
Michael: you’ll take it. now you
just need a couple pieces to taker the next couple of steps, and that’s
what this week is for. I think, I’m not saying again, like sandy needs
to make big moves, but you know, he probably needs to replace De Aza on the
roster and get a bonafide major league player in that roster spot. you know a
guy maybe that can spell Cabrera on regular basis, or you know Jose starts to
tail off, you know get a utility player who can fill a role on the left side of
the infield
Robert: to be honest, Nimmo was great
when he was up here. he had some good ABS
Michael: you kinda see the holes in his
games, he’s gonna struggle against lefties. He’s got kind of
a one dimensional swing and I’m not saying he’s a power
hitter ‘cause I don’t think he established himself as
power hitter in minor leagues, but he has holes in strike zone and that’s
what really, scouts have been concerned with. part of his development, not
every, Ken Griffey is the 1st number one draft pick to make the hall of fame,
so it speaks to the issue of, you know the draft being a complete crapshoot,
look at piazza, he was the last pock in the 88 draft and he’s
in the hall
Michael: you know most picks don’t
work out you hope you know in every draft you develop 1 or 2 major league
players and that’s it it’s very difficult, you know, but you
know it looks like Dom Smith is starting to come around they seem to have a gem
in Ahmed Rosario I saw him play last year he has tremendous 5 tool talent he’s
just a little bit away he’s hitting and he’s
performing
Robert: I’m sure we’ll talk again and
chat on twitter or email and be on a similar roller coaster of emotions.
throughout the year
Michael: as you get older it becomes a
lot easier because there are just bigger things in life
Robert: I think that does bode well for,
‘cause
I have a friend that’s seen the 69 and 86 championships
when I'm stressing out at home that sound minor to him, having those 2
championships i think helps the hardships when you haven’t really
dealt with too many positives because i became a fan in the early 90s, so I’ve
had a few good moments but it’s been mostly tough
Michael: you became a fan at a bad time
Robert: It was mostly tough.
Robert: Bernard Gilkey and butch Huskey,
those are the two jerseys I had when I was a kid
Michael: How old are you?
Robert: I’m 30.
Michael: You’re 30. So you’re
not too much younger than me. When I was 30, um, I was probably still quite
emotional I’d get a little crazy about it, my attitude is I’m
as big a fan as they come, I’ve learned that you know, if they win,
it’s
gonna be completely awesome, but if they lose, nothing is gonna change that’s
just kinda what, that’s just the attitude you gotta adopt
and it makes dealing with it a lot easier, doesn't mean i don’t
get angry i mean in was like you know i remember during the Atlanta series when
the braves were here 6 weeks ago, i was completely outraged
Robert: It was brutal.
Michael: and I posted on twitter this is
embarrassing, humiliating, not a performance and this wasn't a major league
team, I said something along those lines. But like I said, if they don’t
make it to the postseason this year, the snow is still gonna fall this winter.
Robert: Absolutely
Michael: You know so you have to just
keep it in perspective especially when you get married have kids there’s
bigger things in life it doesn't mean I’m not passionate about but you realize
there are far, you have far greater problems than worrying about the issues
that millionaires have.
Robert: Right, absolutely. Alright Michael
thanks for your time I appreciate it and hopefully we’ll talk soon.
Michael: Yeah my pleasure, anytime dude.
Robert: Thanks a lot.
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