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FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 19 2014 10:54 PM

You've really got to watch out for that Uncle Charlie. Former clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels has been shopping a book to publishers, and it's sure to air some dirty laundry, multiple sources told ESPNNewYork.com. It is unclear if the proposal has yet found a taker, but a publishing source confirmed it has been pitched. Samuels would have intimate knowledge of behind-the-scenes happenings with the Mets over a more-than-two-decade span. So... if he's as desperate to move this as, well, the very fact of his trying to sell a tell-all might imply... he's probably going to have to name names, right? I'm guessing that if someone buys this, it'll be rushed out; and I'm also guessing that if it's at all impactful, and Mikey Back-Zits doesn't make it in this year, he may have to wait quite a bit longer, HoF-wise. Your guesses for juiciest loose socks and soiled undergarments? Sing, girrrrl!

Edgy MD May 19 2014 11:06 PM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

I would expect he'd have more juice on the players that are no longer there than on the management that is. But I wouldn't be surprised by a revelation that he found an empty winstrol vial or two at the bottom of Hundley's locker, turned them over to Steve Phillips, and NOTHING HAPPENED.

Edgy MD May 20 2014 05:56 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

Sleeping on it, though, I guess there's a possibility that he had a role in Piazza's alleged procurement chain. It would seemingly be stupid for a jocko to use a member of the club to help him get his juice, but nobody ever said jocks were smart. And maybe Piazza knew all the dirt about Samuels, so he thought it could keep him quiet. Now that Samuels' dirt is out in the open, any leverage folks had on him is gone. He may not have a coke can full of syringes --- then again, he might --- but the BBWAA has sure made it clear that their standard of evidence is smaller than any court. But what an enormous skeleton in the closet this guy represents to the organization as they try to move on. Wilpon probably wishes he had found a way to keep him getting paid.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 20 2014 06:28 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

This guy was filthy and a sleazebag, and was raised that way by the Mets themselves. I'm certain his memoirs would be loaded with gambling (including the Pete Rose kind), drug use, hi-infidelity, ax-grinding, stealing and the like (mutual dirt too I would assume). He was in that clubhouse for 27 years. He was Kirk Rodamski's boss. This was how Rodamski described his job btw: “I did a lot of things for guys — things they didn’t want [their] wives to know or anyone to know. That is part of being in the clubhouse.”

Ceetar May 20 2014 07:10 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

sounds like a guy with an axe to grind and looking to make a couple of bucks on any info he thinks might have any value. Since it says it's a book proposal being pitched he's probably just got an interesting couple of nuggets that he wants to get paid for, otherwise why not just actually write the book? or start writing the book? or self-publish the book. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting things to say and spin into a 'behind the scenes' story if you want. But yeah, I'm sure he has dirt on a bunch of those guys, particularly the 90s guys, when people just did it out in the open because no one cared. I'm convinced half of them were doing amphetamines at the very least so no name would shock me. Or maybe it's just about the DVD/VHS movies he purchased for the porn room.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 20 2014 08:00 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

Ceetar wrote: sounds like a guy with an axe to grind and looking to make a couple of bucks on any info he thinks might have any value. Since it says it's a book proposal being pitched he's probably just got an interesting couple of nuggets that he wants to get paid for, otherwise why not just actually write the book? or start writing the book? or self-publish the book. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting things to say and spin into a 'behind the scenes' story if you want. But yeah, I'm sure he has dirt on a bunch of those guys, particularly the 90s guys, when people just did it out in the open because no one cared. I'm convinced half of them were doing amphetamines at the very least so no name would shock me. Or maybe it's just about the DVD/VHS movies he purchased for the porn room. I don't understand what you could possibly have against a writer wanting to get paid for their work. And I think you probably are underestimating the sheer volume of shit accumulated by a guy who essentially was the concierge of drugs, porno and gambling for 27 years, about as inside as you can get in that he was more permanent than any manager or player. He assuredly has dirt on the writers and Wilpons, who obviously looked the other way until he got sloppy, then they ditched him. Of course he'll have an axe to grind. This is potentially explosive.

Vic Sage May 20 2014 08:01 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

they could have been Betamax tapes.

metsmarathon May 20 2014 08:07 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

i don't like it just for the reason that whatever comes out is sure to be painted as a problem ingrained into the mets, and not representative of the entire culture of baseball, partiuclarly in the cocaine and steroid eras. i'd hope that in laying waste to flushing, he also finds the time and ink to sprinkle in anecdotes he's heard of shady goings-ons in other locker rooms. but by all means, bring it on. too much athlete culture stays behind closed doors. it fosters ugliness.

Edgy MD May 20 2014 08:08 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

I don't understand how reports of the book being pitched means there likely isn't really much to put in the book. A pitch doesn't mean the manuscript is or isn't finished. And it doesn't mean there is or isn't a ton of filthy filthy filth to put in a manuscript. The reports haven't broken there because Samuels put out a press release that he has a pitch but no book. It's New York, center of the publishing industry, with a lot of gossip, and a handful of trade publications reporting on what's being circulated.

Ceetar May 20 2014 08:18 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Ceetar wrote: sounds like a guy with an axe to grind and looking to make a couple of bucks on any info he thinks might have any value. Since it says it's a book proposal being pitched he's probably just got an interesting couple of nuggets that he wants to get paid for, otherwise why not just actually write the book? or start writing the book? or self-publish the book. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting things to say and spin into a 'behind the scenes' story if you want. Athlete culture and all that. And that can mostly be done without naming names too. But yeah, I'm sure he has dirt on a bunch of those guys, particularly the 90s guys, when people just did it out in the open because no one cared. I'm convinced half of them were doing amphetamines at the very least so no name would shock me. Or maybe it's just about the DVD/VHS movies he purchased for the porn room. I don't understand what you could possibly have against a writer wanting to get paid for their work. And I think you probably are underestimating the sheer volume of shit accumulated by a guy who essentially was the concierge of drugs, porno and gambling for 27 years, about as inside as you can get in that he was more permanent than any manager or player. He assuredly has dirt on the writers and Wilpons, who obviously looked the other way until he got sloppy, then they ditched him. Of course he'll have an axe to grind. This is potentially explosive. I don't have anything against a writer (wake me when he actually writes something though) getting paid for his work. What has me skeptical is that he comes off as bitter and broke and is looking to sell off any last scrap of worthwhile anything he has for a buck. I don't know how he pitched it (Rubin and 'the sources' are the ones that mention it'll have dirty laundry) but a behind the scenes look at the Mets clubhouse would be interesting, whereas an angry ex-employee looking to air dirty laundry is less so. To me at least. I'd love to read about the clubhouse interactions and how players traveled and caroused. I don't need to read the "Hehe, this guy always got in early so he could pop pills and work out." I know they all did that. It's not particularly interesting to me and I wish the PED storyline would go away. I don't care. They all did it (Get me those Yankee Clubhouse confidentials too while you're there) , it doesn't matter one bit to me. Sure, it'll be 'explosive' the same way all these stupid "hey, I injected this guy back in the 90s!" stories are and the LolMets narrative is strong. He better hurry though, because if he hasn't written this thing yet he'll want to get it out before the Mets are good or it won't have the same effect. Also I wonder if he's shopping for a writer as well, but if he's out to leak clubhouse stuff I'm not sure any active writer is gonna want to step on those toes. Samuels has nothing to lose, but baseball can get a little pissy about some of that stuff.

batmagadanleadoff May 20 2014 08:22 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

Ceetar wrote: sounds like a guy with an axe to grind and looking to make a couple of bucks on any info he thinks might have any value. Since it says it's a book proposal being pitched he's probably just got an interesting couple of nuggets that he wants to get paid for, otherwise why not just actually write the book? or start writing the book? or self-publish the book. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting things to say and spin into a 'behind the scenes' story if you want. But yeah, I'm sure he has dirt on a bunch of those guys, particularly the 90s guys, when people just did it out in the open because no one cared. I'm convinced half of them were doing amphetamines at the very least so no name would shock me. Or maybe it's just about the DVD/VHS movies he purchased for the porn room. Ceets is going to will this whole thing away into the cornfield.

Edgy MD May 20 2014 08:34 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

The world has a lot of "actual writers' who would love to get actually paid. If Samuels has a book contract, it'll take him about 10 seconds to find a collaborator.

Ceetar May 20 2014 08:43 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

Edgy MD wrote: The world has a lot of "actual writers' who would love to get actually paid. If Samuels has a book contract, it'll take him about 10 seconds to find a collaborator. yes, I assume that's part of his pitch. I just don't see it as being a current baseball writer, and I wonder if it loses some perspective there by being a book about the inside of the clubhouse written by an outsider. Basically, I don't have much faith that's it's going to be a good story. It might be a good clothsline (to air dirty laundry) and contain plenty of talking points. That one might even sell better too, but I'm probably not going to read it myself.

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 20 2014 08:44 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

Um, okay.

Edgy MD May 20 2014 08:49 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

I don't think the goal is to win a National Book Award, ceets. Fill up 200 pages, make sure at least 50% of that is slime, and cash checks. Dennis Rodman's As Bad as I Wanna Be could have been called As Bad as I Wanna Write. It was terrible. They had to change the font size regularly to keep people moving and to fill enough space to justify calling it a book. But ka-ching! It's not about literary merit. Clotheslines air clean laundry.

Ceetar May 20 2014 08:59 AM Re: FOR SALE: Authentic Dirty Laundry!

Edgy MD wrote: I don't think the goal is to win a National Book Award, ceets. Fill up 200 pages, make sure at least 50% of that is slime, and cash checks. Dennis Rodman's As Bad as I Wanna Be could have been called As Bad as I Wanna Write. It was terrible. They had to change the font size regularly to keep people moving and to fill enough space to justify calling it a book. But ka-ching! It's not about literary merit. It's about literary merit to me though. That's all I'm saying. I didn't read Rodman's book. If it's 50%, and 50% seems low, slime I'm not reading it. And that's what I was getting at, the goal is to cash checks and I don't find what he's selling particularly interesting. But I do think there is an interesting story to be told about the clubhouse during Samuels time that doesn't have to be just filler between "Guess who this guy banged!" and "Guess what substances these guys had me pick up for them!" Edgy MD wrote: Clotheslines air clean laundry. What airs dirty laundry? Adam Rubin-line?