Dave Hudgens Blames Fans, Hernandez

Deposed Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens is blaming everyone from the fans to the Mets broadcasters for his firing, ignoring the true culprits — himself, the players and Sandy Alderson.

On the fans, Hudgens said they just boo too darn much.

“I really just think guys tried too hard at home,” Hudgens told MLB.com. “I think the fans are really tough on the guys at home. How can you boo Curtis Granderson? They have no idea how hard this guy works and how he goes about doing his business, doing his job. He gets off to a slow start and they’re booing him? Come on. It’s tougher at home to play than it is on the road, there’s no doubt about it. And they’re trying really hard at home.”

Undoubtedly it is not pleasant to be booed, but these are elite athletes getting paid millions of dollars to perform. If they cannot hit because of a few boos, they have no business being in the major leagues.

Then he told Newsday it was all Keith Hernandez’s and the other broadcasters’ fault for criticizing the team’s patient hitting approach.

“The naysayers, the guys who disapprove of us, the guys who I listen to on TV all the time, those guys that know everything about the game, I’m just amazed at it,” Hudgens said. “What’s wrong with getting a good pitch to hit? Somebody, please punch a hole in that for me. I just shake my head at the old-school guys that have it all figured out. Go up there and swing the bat. Well, what do you want to swing at? It just confounds me. It’s just hilarious, really. That’s one thing. I’m glad I don’t have to listen to those guys anymore.”

Yes, Dave Hudgens is right — Keith Hernandez does not know anything about hitting. That’s “just hilarious, really.”

The Mets hitting philosophy is also hilarious. Mets players rarely swing at the first pitch, as they “hunt for strikes.” Everyone in baseball knows this so opposing pitchers simply groove a fastball down the middle, knowing they are not going to swing. And suddenly, the pitchers are ahead in the count. That’s why the Mets are striking out so much.

But this is really not Dave Hudgen’s fault. Blame the architect, Sandy Alderson. Hudgens was only passing along a flawed policy.

He should also blame Alderson for saddling him with this poor crop of hitters. It is not his fault that he has to coach Ruben Tejada and Chris Young on a daily basis. No one can get them to hit. Hudgens was doomed from the start.

I would have had much more sympathy for Dave Hudgens if he did not play the blame game and said “Ultimately it is my fault because I could not the players to hit” or something like that. But no, he blames everybody but the guilty parties and blames the blameless.