Terry Collins is mad at a player for not reporting to camp early. Again.

Remember last year when Mets manager Terry Collins was upset that Luis Castillo didn’t report to camp on time? No, of course you don’t, because Castillo did report to camp on time. Collins was mad that Castillo didn’t report to camp early. It’s just that when you’re Terry Collins, on time is late and early is on time and if you don’t understand that you simply don’t care as much about the game as Terry Collins does.

Well, Collins is at it again. This time with his new starting shortstop, Ruben Tejada:

“I am a little surprised,” Collins said Wednesday. “A lot of it is just selfishness on my part. I take great pride in the game itself, and respecting the game. I wish everybody had the same respect for it to want to get started as early as possible. So I know Ruben will come in great shape. I know he’ll be ready to go. I just wish he was here.”

I hate this crap. Sure, if you’re Luis Castillo and you’re under fire as it is, you probably do yourself some favors if you show up early. But really, if you want someone in camp on February 20, make February 20 the reporting date. If your reporting date is February 25, don’t act like they’re less-than-professional if they show up on the 25th.

What is this, the NFL? Gosh, I hope not. The NFL is dreadful when it comes to this kind of macho bullcrap.