I wrote an opinion story a few days ago about how Mets pitcher Johan Santana blatantly told the media that he was the best pitcher in his division and how that was wrong. A reader left a comment calling me an idiot saying I didn’t know anything about Santana and that he’s the highest paid in his division, as if that warrants him calling himself the best. The reader then said that Santana was asked a stupid question to begin with. Regardless of the ignorance of the commenter’s words, I began wondering if there was, in fact, any merit to his opinions. There aren’t.

There’s a thing in life called humility. Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan, who were both clearly the best not just in their divisions, but their entire sports during their eras, knew entirely what that was about. A humble and good athlete in today’s sporting world is hard to find. They were asked loaded questions by the media on a daily basis, yet they always found a way to say the “right” thing, however boring that may have been. They represented themselves, their teams, and their sport with tremendous amounts of humility, and fans still loved them.

There’s a difference between saying you’re the best and actually being the best, and nothing shows that Santana was the best in 2009. Fans, and general managers, are not a “what did you do for me last month?” kind of crowd. They’re a “what did you do for me last week?” bunch. Just because he’s the highest paid doesn’t automatically mean he’s better than everyone else. He was offered the most money, and that’s not his fault, and he chose to take it. Even rarer than the humble athlete is the one who will turn down or give back money due to performance. Don’t expect to see Santana give back a few dollars for his mediocre-as-an-ace numbers from 2009.

Also, because he’s the highest paid does not mean he has to be mouthy about it. Santana is the best pitcher on the Mets by far, but there was at least one pitcher on every team in his division (except Washington, obviously) who put up better numbers than he did in 2009. Compare Santana to Jair Jurrjens (Braves), J.A. Happ (Phillies), or Josh Johnson (Marlins). All three had better overall seasons. Fans have a tendency to run their mouths before knowing the facts, and the facts about Santana don’t add up. Next time you find yourself in a sports debate, make sure you know what you’re talking about before you speak. Don’t just call somebody an idiot because you don’t know anything else to say.