Andrelton Simmons Isn’t Good Enough to Get Away with This

[RandBalls Stu]

Baseball has a storied history of cranks, weirdos, and straight-up goofballs. When that charm or blissful ignorance isn’t matched by performance, you’ve got Andrelton Simmons.

Remember Steve Carlton? The not-very-integral member of the 1987 World Champion Minnesota Twins was, at one time, the best pitcher in baseball. Four Cy Youngs, five years leading the National League in strikeouts (the fifth time at age 38), last pitcher to throw 300 innings a season, led the Phillies to their first title in 1980. A remarkable career.

He was also completely out of his mind.

Carlton never spoke to the media, which means we didn’t learn until he was long retired that he built a mountain lair with a 7000-foot storage cellar loaded to the gills with guns and bottled water for “The Revolution.” That revolution was coming thanks to Russian sound waves, the Skull and Bones Society, the Elders of Zion, the National Education Association, and more. I’m aware this qualifies him to represent the state of Georgia in Congress today, but in 1994 this was wild stuff.

One assumes that the Phillies knew that Steve was off his nut, but when you can produce like he did, you let that stuff slide a little bit, especially if he keeps it quiet. By the time he was failing to make the Minnesota Twins playoff roster because he wasn’t as good as Lester Straker, he was just a cooked 43-year-old with weirdly anti-Semitic ideas about how the world works. He never pitched again.

Which brings me to Andrelton Simmons.

Already the COVID patient zero of the Twins locker room, he took to social media on Thursday to let the world know, and I quote:

Quote

"I have this product it doesn’t/didn’t really work, You might get some side affects! You should take it."

I’m not going to debate the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines with Simmons or anyone else, as there is no debate to be had. They work. Please shut up and let the horses have their wormer paste. (Also, it’s “effects.”)

Across town, the Vikings are dealing with a similar situation. A handful of their best players (Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, I guess Kirk Cousins if you squint hard enough) apparently won’t get the vacc either. It presents some hard choices for them, as they don’t have quality replacements for any of them as the regular season looms, and the NFL will make teams forfeit games if they can’t field a lineup due to COVID quarantines.

The Twins face no such dilemma.

The season is over. Simmons is an offensive liability and a good-to-excellent defender, which basically makes him a better Jeff Reboulet, if Jeff Reboulet thought Jurassic Park was real. He’s on a one-year deal. Maybe if he was the standout player in a disappointing season you could let his idiocy slide. Or maybe if it was something less harmful and kind of quirky, like thinking the earth was flat or dedicating his Instagram Stories to proving that birds are a deep-fake.

He’s not good enough to get away with this. Let the summer of Drew Maggi begin.

Image license here.

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[miracleb]

Not following the quote or the issue here.  He has something other than the vaccine (a product)....... that he is saying didn't work.  If anything, he is recommending to try something that he says doesn't work.   Seems like there might be a typo somewhere in there.

[JCinNWMN]

I clicked expecting parody.  I found an unfortunate amount of reality.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Perhaps Stu’s best piece yet. 

[Whitey333]

What a waste of time and space this was!!

[Emjay]

Well you could knock me over with a feather I must say I'm a bit surprised but then again he is probably the player I am the least familiar with.... whiIe I appreciate you saying he's not good enough for this, no athlete is good enough for this not unless they have a PhD behind their name with an extremely high IQ and about twenty years of higher education and research under their belt... it's real simple keep your job and your personal life separate especially when it comes to Pro Sports if you're going to be on social media and want to express your opinions then you need to make your account private... the thing I love the most about the MLB is that it seems to remain safely out of this kind of crap... that being said it kind of reminds me of the phrase dumb jock

[TwinsDr2021]

30 minutes ago, Emjay said:

no athlete is good enough for this not unless they have a PhD behind their name was about twenty years of research under their belt... it's real simple keep your job and your personal life separate especially when it comes to Pro Sports if you're going to be on social media and want to express your opinions then you need to make your account private...

Just to so I understand, pro sports players should stay out of the Covid topic completely?

Removed this question - So writers on websites without a PhD do the same?

Edited August 13, 2021 by TwinsDr2021
removed text

[Emjay]

Apples and oranges dude

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Mod Note: make sure the tone of comments stays respectful and safety for our fellow TDers is top of mind.

[PopRiveter]

There is a total “boy who cried wolf” effect when RandballStu posts something. I buckle up for a good laugh and the journalist accuracy of an Onion article. As I read this, I kept thinking, it just feels too plausible this time. Not quite ridiculous enough, so I checked Simmon’s twitter. 
Holy mackerel. (Jaw agape)

Have all RandballStu articles been true, fair and accurate this whole time?

[wabene]

Usually TD reveals where on the positive/negative spectrum posters fall. An article like this can give an entirely different window into who we are sharing this space with. ?

[strumdatjag]

Andrelton was involuntarily inoculated by the virus itself.  Sooner or later most of the Vax-reluctant Vikings and Twins  will obtain their own involuntary inoculation.  The Twins have hardly anything to lose. Unfortunately, the NFL will make the Vikings pay in the win loss column and on their balance sheet if a game gets canceled.   

[jgfellows]

So the thrust of the article is “unless you are really successful at your job, you can’t hold a different opinion from me.  If you do I demand you be fired!”

 

And for the record, I’m vaccinated.

[bean5302]

All this is probably Joe Mauer's fault anyway.

[Dman]

26 minutes ago, jgfellows said:

So the thrust of the article is “unless you are really successful at your job, you can’t hold a different opinion from me.  If you do I demand you be fired!”

 

And for the record, I’m vaccinated.

Generally his pieces are just satire so take whatever you want from them.  You could conclude that from what he is saying but I believe he is just taking an over the top position to get a reaction not that he believes in what he is writing.  These pieces are generally interesting thought provoking articles looking at the sports mind from varied over exaggerated viewpoints. 

For me personally not trusting actual scientists and doctors when it comes to taking care of your body and trusting someone you don't know on U-tube or social media instead seems like a bad idea but hey natural selection usually takes care of things.

[gunnarthor]

Good piece, Stu. I agree, it's time for Simmons to go.

[wsnydes]

Does wormer paste help with motion sickness because that was a bit of a roller coaster ride!

[Murph]

Are we supposed to be able to follow thread?  Are we supposed to know the esoteric references in these posts?  It's a good way to lose followers...

[Mike Sixel]

I gotta say, doesn't matter if he's good or not, ignoring your doctor in favor of who knows what, seems like a bad idea. On any medical topic. 

[jgfellows]

I agree!  I just don’t think it’s a fireable offense if you don’t

[mikelink45]

Athletes are too prevalent in press and public - not only should every person be vaccinated, but athletes should help set the standard.  Good thoughtful article. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Does one's ability to play baseball, affect whether something is true or false? So the better the player, the more he is to be believed.? I'm sorry I wasted my time reading this article. 

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Yeah, this guy has worn out his welcome. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

17 minutes ago, jgfellows said:

I agree!  I just don’t think it’s a fireable offense if you don’t

Just the anti-vax stance? No, probably not.

But it just so happens that Andrelton Simmons is also really bad at baseball right now, which makes the decision much easier.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Does one's ability to play baseball, affect whether something is true or false? So the better the player, the more he is to be believed.? I'm sorry I wasted my time reading this article. 

I think the gist is if he were Steve Carlton great, then people would put up with it, it's not about believing him more

[jgfellows]

4 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Depending on what he's peddling and what harm it might do if someone took him up on it? Personally, can't imagine anyone taking the advice of a baseball player over a doctor, but some will because of the 'power of the professional athlete' (yes, I'm rolling my eyes) and even after he said it didn't work, still ... was just a really idiotic thing to say and said in a very idiotic manner. I might fire him for the idiocy of his incoherency  

And who knows, is there a team rule about this? We have put a stop here to the peddling of misinformation on occasion.

I’m missing the quotes where he’s actively trying to dissuade people from getting vaccinated.  And even if he is, the first amendment is not just for popular opinions but its for the stupid people too

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Does one's ability to play baseball, affect whether something is true or false? So the better the player, the more he is to be believed.? I'm sorry I wasted my time reading this article. 

Not really sure how you got that from this:

Quote

One assumes that the Phillies knew that Steve was off his nut, but when you can produce like he did, you let that stuff slide a little bit, especially if he keeps it quiet.

But okay, you do you.

[SotaSports]

I can appreciate the intent of this article - seemingly just to give you whatever thought process may develop.

I thought it was such an interesting situation when Simmons hit the team with Covid, because at the time it was believed his production would be mostly irreplaceable. If he were to infect everyone at a time that we were still trying to contend (and his production was this bad), I think he'd be gone (trying to convey a hypothetical, hope it worked).

On a serious note, I think it's ridiculous to say that athletes (or anyone) can't have an opinion and voice it like the rest of us (even though Simmons opinion here, and that of others of similar mind, is absolutely bat**** and dangerous).

Get your dang vaccine and stop endangering others with selfishness (goes for everyone, seriously!)

[LastOnePicked]

I'm not sure I'm reading Simmons' tweet correctly - is he sort of poking fun at the CDC or other entities for pushing a vaccine that isn't 100% effective? If so, it's a dumb take, sure (no one ever claimed that the vaccine was 100% effective or that it had no side effects). Evidence indicates that's it's widely effective with very mild side effects.

BUT, I might want to hear him out first before calling him a nut. And the Twins didn't sign him for his bat or his medical expertise - they signed him to prevent runs. He's done that. Let's move on.

[jgfellows]

I agree he didn’t live up to expectations.  I agree that he could be let go because of he sucks. But to suggest he be let go over his stance on COVID is frightening.  

 

22 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Just the anti-vax stance? No, probably not.

But it just so happens that Andrelton Simmons is also really bad at baseball right now, which makes the decision much easier.