You wake up one morning, and you go to the bathroom. Something’s not right. There’s blood in your urine. You panic. While you’re on hold with the doctor’s office to get an immediate appointment, you do what you should never do in this situation. You google it. You see that this can be a sign of kidney stones or cancer. It’s a not only a terrific way to not only start your day, but also to celebrate your birthday. 

After a medical procedure to remove blood clots from your bladder, you find out you’re going to be alright. It turns out that you could’ve avoided the issue just by going to the bathroom a little more frequently. It’s embarrassing, but you’re happy to be healthy and to put the scare behind you. You want to move on with your life. 

However, you can’t because your the star pitcher in the media capital of the world. You’re Matt Harvey, and because you’re Matt Harvey everyone feels as if you shouldn’t be treated with decency. 

When the news of Harvey’s medical issue arose, there were jokes about what the problem could be. Most of the jokes involved him contracting a STD. It’s all fine because Harvey didn’t like the six man rotation. He attends Rangers and Knicks games. He’s had his picture in magazines because he’s fashionable. His agent was worried about his career and tried to get the Mets to shut him down. Harvey missed a couple of starts down the stretch, after the division was locked up, so he could pitch into the postseason. He threw more innings than anyone else post Tommy John surgery. He deserves all the ridicule, right?

When you discover you’re fine, you’re ready to get back to baseball. However, before doing so, you have to get one thing off your chest. You saw the jokes. You have to let people know the jokes crossed a line. 

Rather than people realizing their behavior was poor and correcting it, they decided to double down on the jokes. Both the New York Post and the New York Daily News had covers that say, “You Gotta Relieve!”  The Post is so proud of its work, it actually publishes a full list of their other ideas. It’s one thing for the Post to do it. It’s another for the Daily News. They’re the paper who has a “news program” on SNY, the network covering the Mets. You figure they would have more decency. You’d think they’d treat you better.  Of course, they don’t. 

Reflecting on all that Harvey went through, it’s no wonder he’s not talking to the media. 

So how does the media respond?  Do they realize they’ve gone too far this time?  Do they take a step back and say no one deserves to be treated the way Harvey was treated?  Of course not. They make more jokes:

Matt Harvey has declined to speak after his appearance today. Supposedly pissed about the headlines and back pages. #Mets

— Kristie Ackert (@ByKristieAckert) March 30, 2016

Harvey not speaking to reporters is yet another example of him holding it in.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) March 30, 2016

Instead of realizing Harvey was scared for his life, and was mocked during the process, he gets lectured and threatened by the likes of Bob Raissman. Here are some choices quotes from his hack job (emphasis on hack) against Harvey:

Dark Knight meet your alter ego, The Whiz Kid. Add to this trip downstream the Daily News back page, which featured a urinal and the headline, “Ya Gotta Relieve!”  Instead of chuckling on his way, laughing at this, Harvey is pissed off. 

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But how long can Harvey keep yo-yoing the media?  Now Harvey, as the 2016 season approaches, is playing a game he cannot win. Over the years, there have been too many examples of players – especially stars – who turned their backs on the media only to wind up getting kicked in the ass. 

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So it would be in Harvey’s best interests – and those of the Mets organization – to get him back on track with the reporters covering the team. Do it with some humor – self-deprecating, of course – and sincerity. For the alternative ain’t pretty. 

Hanging the media out to dry Wednesday was the act of someone who is selfish and lost perspective. Perhaps it is just a temporary loss. Still, Matt Harvey made this whole situation, which actually had a happy ending, bigger than it had to be. 

And that’s sad. 

In other parts of this “article,” Raissman made jokes by saying things like “Tinkle Tinkle Little Star.  He also said Harvey was acting like an “uncooperative jerk.”

Seriously, who does Raissman think he is?

Harvey was scared, and you made jokes. You then lecture him on how he should process these emotions. While this was all raw, you’re downright mocking him. When you don’t like his response, you threaten him with negative coverage. You lecture him on how he should respond like he’s a two year old?  This not only crosses the line of human decency, it crosses the line of objectivity. 

Raissman comes out and says that unless Harvey laughs at the media’s cruel jokes and genuflects before them, they will tar and feather him every chance they get. This is journalism?  

This attitude is why the Players’ Tribune exists. It gives the players a voice and an outlet to tell their side of the story instead of passing it along to a reporter who has an agenda. Sure, the Players’ Tribune is really public relations. However, judging from columns like the one Raissman wrote, and the New York Daily News actually published, are the newspaper writers any different?  Don’t they have their own agenda?  Raissman told us they do. 

If any of these reporters have a health scare, I hope they don’t have to go through it as publicly as Matt Harvey did. I hope people aren’t making unfair jokes at their expense. If they are deeply wounded by any comments, I hope there isn’t some jerk telling them how they should laugh at the jokes and get over it. No, they deserve better than that, even if they aren’t willing to afford Harvey that level of decency. Yes, even Bob Raissman deserves to be treated better than how he’s treated Matt Harvey. 

Personally, if I was a Mets player, I’d organize a player freeze out of the media until retractions and apologies were published. This was a team genuinely scared for Harvey’s well being. They should be uniting behind him.  They should let the media know their treatment of their teammate was not alright. If the media wants access, they have to be fair to them instead of carrying agendas into their clubhouse. They have to be objective. 

And by the way, next time Raissman wants to be a champion of his fellow newspaper writers, maybe he shouldn’t be the first writer crossing a picket line . . . . 

Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com