New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway continued to have issues with reporters on Monday, after being fined for a confrontation with a reporter in the clubhouse on Sunday.
When he initially met with media on Monday, Callaway offered no apology for the incident, calling it a “misunderstanding.”
“Obviously, for things like that to happen, it’s always a misunderstanding. I’m sure there was no malintent by either, it’s just something that happened and we have to move forward obviously,” Callaway told reporters.
Later, the manager added, “Billy Martin punched a reporter one time. It’s part of this game. … Hey, I’m a passionate guy about baseball, I’m a tough competitor. Sometimes you’ll see it with the umpires, sometimes you’ll see it with the players. The thing is you guys don’t need to see it directed toward you guys. You guys have a job to do, I understand that, always understood that, and you guys don’t need to see it directed toward you. That’s the number one thing.”
About 90 minutes later, Callaway brought the media back into his office to formally apologize for what happened and note that he had apologized to the reporter involved in private.
“It’s something I’m not proud of,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen announced that Callaway and pitcher Jason Vargas, who was also involved in the incident, had been fined. The GM did not comment when asked whether the Mets considered suspending Callaway or Vargas. The Mets do not expect Major League Baseball to further punish either Callaway or Vargas, according to Van Wagenen.
The dust-up with beat writer Tim Healey of Newsday occurred after the Mets blew a late lead in their 5-3 defeat to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. There was no physical contact.
The incident followed a tense postgame news conference, when reporters asked Callaway repeatedly about his decision to stick with reliever Seth Lugo during the eighth inning instead of going to closer Edwin Diaz. Lugo allowed a go-ahead three-run homer to Javier Baez.
After the news conference, Callaway walked past Healey and other reporters in the clubhouse. Healey said to Callaway, “See you tomorrow,” and Callaway responded by calling Healey a “m—–f—–.” Callaway walked away and then returned, cursing at Healey again and telling him to leave the clubhouse.
“I thought he was leaving for the day, so I said, ‘See you tomorrow, Mickey,'” Healey said. “And then he said, ‘Don’t be a smart-ass.’
“I tried to tell him I didn’t mean anything by it,” Healey added. “I was just saying, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ And then he said, ‘Get this guy out of here,’ and that got the attention of Jason Vargas.”
Vargas stared down Healey and shouted at him, including saying, “I’ll knock you the f— out, bro,” according to a Yahoo! Sports account. He eventually tried to move toward Healey but was held back by teammates, including Carlos Gomez and Noah Syndergaard.
“The situation that happened yesterday I think was unfortunate for all parties,” Vargas told reporters on Monday. “An unfortunate distraction. … The team addressed the situation, the organization made a statement. And that’s really all there is to it.”
Vargas then left without taking any questions.
Healey said Sunday night that Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon called him “to apologize on behalf of the organization.”
