Fired as the Nationals’ television analyst in the middle of last season after saying Stephen Strasburg should “stop crying” and “suck it up” to play through what proved to be a torn elbow ligament that required Tommy John surgery, Rob Dibble is now criticizing the Nationals for rushing Strasburg back “to sell tickets.”
Seriously.
Courtesy of Nationals Enquirer, here’s what Dibble said on his Sirius-XM radio show: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.
Amazing.
So when Strasburg initially injured his elbow Dibble mocked him for not pitching through the pain, but now that he’s missed nearly an entire year following surgery Dibble is ripping the Nationals for potentially calling him up to resume pitching in the majors after what’s been a pretty typically recovery timetable.
Wasn’t the best pitching prospect in baseball also “too valuable” and “too talented” to let pitch through an elbow injury last year, like Dibble so outspokenly advised? Where was his concern about wanting Strasburg “to play 15-20 years” back then?
What a hypocritical loudmouth.