I don’t know much about Nelson Figueroa, but I am sure he’d do himself a big favor by shutting up.

Figueroa is apparently a journeyman starter for the Mets who got lit up by the Nats last night to the tune of six runs (four earned) in five innings pitched. After the game, he bitched and moaned about the Nats, saying they lacked “class and professionalism.”

What were the nature of the Nats’ crimes? Did they collectively drop trow? Spit on Mets players?

Here’s the charge, from Figueroa himself:

“They were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls.”

Seriously? What are we talking here? “We want a pitcher, not a belly-itcher!”? Cheerleading? This is lack of class and professionalism? Trash-talking would presumably be OK, but … cheerleading? Did the Nats have pompoms?

(For the record, I’ve been playing with the same group of softball players for a decade and none of our women has ever cheerleaded. Cheer-led?)
Given his pitching line, the best comment came, of course, from the New York Post:

Nelson Figueroa should consider pitching underhanded to the Nationals, if there is a next time for him.

Heh heh.