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Mike Francesa blasted the Mets on Tuesday for announcing that Noah Syndergaard will undergo Tommy John surgery Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak has the nation on edge.
“Here's where the Mets, Syndergaard and HSS (Hospital For Special Surgery) have got to use their noodle,” Francesa said on his WFAN/RADIO.COM show. “This is where they were just plain stupid. Announce it, fine. But remember, we are in very delicate times right now. People are having elective surgeries canceled right and left. Hospitals are overflowing with people who are ill now with the virus. Hospitals are in a very tough way right now -- overcrowded, having to jam beds in, using the Jacob Javits Center for a thousand beds. We understand all the problems that are going on with medical equipment and everything else. You do not then announce that your big star baseball player is having elective surgery on Thursday, you dummies!
“What do you expect? You're going to get people furious, and they are. They're going crazy everywhere. 'How does he get elective surgery? I thought the hospitals closed elective surgery' ... And you know what? They're right. The people are right. Don't rub it in their face. Shut up and give him the surgery and don't say a word about it. Let people guess when he got the surgery, and two weeks from now you can say he already had the surgery.”
Francesa was initially under the impression that the surgery, which is being performed by Dr. David Altchek, would take place at HSS’ New York facility. It will be performed instead in West Palm Beach, Florida.
However, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last week indefinitely prohibiting doctors and hospitals from performing nonemergency surgeries so that medical staff, hospital space and supplies can be available for the COVID-19 crisis.
USA TODAY Images Francesa said it’s clear Syndergaard is receiving special treatment.
"We all know why he's getting the surgery,” he said. “Altchek is the guy who runs the hospital. And he's Syndergaard, so he's getting treated special. I mean, that's the real world, OK. We all know it. Just like every basketball player got tested. Of course they got tested. They are part of the property of the team. Their bodies are important. Their health is important. They are not treated like normal people, we know that.”