Dalton Pompey has been put through the wringer over the last four years. After sustaining three concussions since 2016, undergoing numerous false starts and suffering from bad luck in general, nobody in the Blue Jays organization has endured more misfortune than Pompey.
Ever since he broke camp as the Blue Jays starting centre fielder at the beginning of the 2015 season, he’s struggled to find his place within the organization. In retrospect, it may have been too much too soon for Pompey in April of 2015, but it sounds like his teammates weren’t exactly the best support system for a struggling rookie of his ilk.
Stephen Brunt mentioned this every-so-briefly last week during Prime Time Sports (hat tip to @QuadAPlayer for catching this). The subject was broached as part of a discussion with ESPN’s Jeff Passan about whether rushing prospects to the Major Leagues too quickly can stunt their development. Pompey was posed as the prime example.
Unbeknownst to just about everybody, Brunt revealed that Pompey was the subject of ridicule by his own teammates in early 2015.
“I can tell you that he was a deer in the headlights. He was bullied in the clubhouse and because of it, left here in shock and never came back, really.”
This is extremely disappointing for any number of reasons. It’s 2019 and this type of behaviour shouldn’t be tolerated in any work environment, let alone an atmosphere which is traditionally saturated with toxic masculinity.
Knowing this about Pompey now, it’s no wonder he struggled in the early part of 2015. Yes, he looked lost in the outfield at times, but by no means does that warrant being bullied by other players in the locker room. If anything, teammates should reach out to rookies and try to help them improve their game, not belittle them for their flaws.
This revelation also points towards something Kevin Pillar brought up just after he was traded away to the San Francisco Giants. We broke down his cryptic comments here, but the gist is that he didn’t paint a very “all-for-one, one-for-all” atmosphere most people believed was ever-present with the Blue Jays.
In fact, there were some other telling quotes from Pillar (hat tip to @Greappleton for finding this) from back in February when he spoke about the type of leader he wanted to be in the Blue Jays clubhouse this year. Pillar suggested he wasn’t a fan of how matters were conducted in the past.
“I think it’s just overall ways about guys, whether it’s the way they talked to guys, or the way they treated guys, or the way they went about holding team meetings. Not to say that I didn’t agree with them, it just maybe isn’t something that I’m comfortable doing, maybe not my style.”
The key quote here is “the way they talked to guys, or the way they treated guys, or the way they went about holding team meetings”. This falls in line with what Brunt reported about Pompey.
You can hazard a guess as to which player(s) Pillar was referring to, but if you’ll recall, after a late-game loss in May of 2015, Josh Donaldson openly ridiculed his teammates by saying, “It’s not the ‘try league’, it’s the ‘get it done’ league. Eventually, they’re going to find people who are going to get it done”.
Not to say this situation was unique to the Blue Jays. There’s a hierarchy within any clubhouse in professional sports, but from everything we’ve heard this year about what things were like in Toronto a few years back, it was anything but comfortable for players like Pompey and Pillar.
The only reason we’re hearing about it now? Because the Jays played .676 baseball in the second half of 2015 and rode that wave to Game 6 of the ALCS. Success often sweeps these controversies under the rug.
Whatever happened to Pompey, it’s not fair that he was the subject of ridicule by his own teammates. Playing under the bright lights of the big leagues is tough enough at 22 years old. Having fellow players confirm your own insecurities surely made a high-pressure environment feel impossible to manage.
Here’s hoping all the best for Pompey in his recovery and that no one else in the Blue Jays clubhouse ever has to experience what he did. Regardless of what happens on the field, nobody deserves to be treated like that.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m starting to get this feeling that maybe that one guy, y’know, the MVP one? Well, maybe he’s kind of an asshole.
“If “ the bully is also the star player, it would be a hell of a hill to climb for a rookie
I dunno, sounds more like a bunch of revisionist history to try to distract from the fact that JD has an OPS of 900.
Or y’know, he could actually be an asshole. Consider that two franchises have taken pennies on the dollar for him in trade despite his abilities.
I agree but with a grain of salt, Pompey has always been catered to since he was 15-16 . If things didn’t go his way daddy would jump in. Seen this kid since he was a 16 year old and there’s a whole back story that’s been around for awhile. I won’t go into here but once he had to fend for himself he likely did not know how to handle it. Bullying well maybe a bit but the case of grow up kid your not king of the hill like you have been
I was sitting beside a guy at a game once who played ball with Pompey in high school and grew up with him. He commented that he heard the veterans didn’t really like him… and he totally understood that. Said he was really hard to play with and not a great teammate. Lots can change as people grow up… but with last years suspension by the Jays and comments from someone who knows him personally…. I’m thinking there is more to the story here.
Everyone has to face their bully someday.
It would be better if that wasn’t the case.
Yeah the world is crappy place sometimes and i can assure you, this is the easiest kind of bully to deal with, a bully who yaks his mouth, big deal welcome to the real world, how is a grown man going to deal with it.
IMHO Pompey was being bullied by Gibby and Meacham.
John Gibbons always came across as old school so I’m not surprised he tolerated negative criticism by some players towards other players in the clubhouse. It sounds like there was a clique of players he meshed with well and then another that he did not mean well with and if he assigned you to the latter then it would be difficult or Impossible to get into the former.
Given how terrible some people can be in a co-ed softball league, this doesn’t surprise me that much.
Bullied or not. Whatever. The fact is he was rushed to the big leagues by AA and it ended his career before it started.
We have no idea what was said or done and by whom. The player(s) could be the biggest picks ever, or pompey could be a huge baby.
We have no idea what happened but people sure love jumping to conclusions
Yeah, I think it’s rather silly that people are going as far as to name names (well, one player name) based entirely on speculation. Even this article calls out Donaldson on a comment he made in 2015 that was celebrated at the time … but now it’s evidence that he’s a bully? Brunt himself didn’t name any names. And somehow, some have decided that this is Gibby’s fault too, because … well, because why not throw another random name under the bus?
In fairness, Brunt wouldn’t toss out a comment like that unless there was something to it. Brunt is pretty responsible about what he says, and isn’t going to just take cheap shots. He also would know a lot more about it than what he says, so it’s not like he heard an off-handed comment and decided to pass it along. He probably knows the severity of it, who was involved, etc. If he says Pompey was bullied, then I have to put serious stock in that. But … that’s ALL he said. Everyone else is just engaging in speculation so they can bury someone they think makes for a nice target.