Ozzie goes off on Houston radio host

I just don’t think it is going to end well for Ozzie Guillen in Miami.

The Marlins manager used his trademark colorful language in addressing a question from a Houston radio host. All the guy asked was whether the controversy over his Fidel Castro comments had died down. Not exactly an inflammatory question.

Listen to Guillen’s response.

According to Miami Herald reporter Manny Navarro, Guillen added, “I’ve been waiting 15 f—ing days for somebody to ask that question.”

Now the soundbite has gone viral, reflecting poorly on Guillen and the Marlins. That’s the way it works in the new media world.

A simple no comment would have been a much better response. Guillen, though, doesn’t do no comment.

 

Posted in MLB

A no-no: Angels announcers don’t talk about Weaver’s no-hitter

I know all about this fabled tradition in baseball: Don’t talk about a no-hitter in progress.

But you know what: I’ve stepped on many cracks and my mother never has suffered a broken back.

I am as superstitous as anyone, but I can’t agree with the approach Angels announcers Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza took in calling Jared Weaver’s no-hitter Wednesday.

According to Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times, the TV announcers opted not to discuss Weaver’s no-hit bid. One word, they thought, and they could doom his chance to make history.

Said Rojas, the son of Cookie Rojas:

Some people say jinxes have no place in sports, but that’s just how I am. I didn’t move from my position after the third inning, I didn’t move any paper. I put my pens back in the same spot. That’s just who I am.

Gubicza said:

It’s a touchy situation. It’s a great discussion to have. There’s no set rule book. I don’t have an issue about saying it, but my job as an analyst is just to describe why Jered is pitching so well.

However, the problem with that approach is that we live in the age of the remote and a million TV channels. People are flipping all the time. You can’t assume everyone watched from the first pitch.

I wonder how many people missed out on Weaver’s bid because when they tuned during the eighth inning, they thought he only was pitching a shutout. The announcers didn’t tell the viewers otherwise.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star wrote:

(Rojas) tweeted about the game while it was in progress, but again he stepped all  around it without mentioning the no-hitter: “7th inning stretch time w Angels up  9-0. My suggestion to you is to find a TV or tune in a radio. Weaver w 8  K’s.”

And then later: “We’re headed to the 9th w/ a SoCal boy back on the hill to  try & finish this one off. 8 K’s/1 BB 9-0.”

Apparently, it was OK to mention that Weaver had eight strikeouts, but the  fact he had given up no hits was taboo. But the Twitterverse was full of Weaver  talk. Even the Angels themselves tweeted about it: “Jered Weaver has not allowed  a hit through 8 innings against the Twins.”

Jon Miller said in Pucin’s article an announcer has to talk about the no-hitter, jinxes be damned.

I feel like I have a responsibility to my audience, to the station, to the network, to say what’s going on. Plus, I want to maximize my audience. If someone hears from me about a no-hitter, he might call others or text or email and that helps my audience get larger. Some guys use all kinds of euphemisms, talking about ‘no runs, nothing at all,’ they make a game of it. I just think, if it’s a big story, mention it. But it’s a quaint old baseball thing. I don’t blame anybody for doing a game any way they want.

 

 

Posted in MLB

Debuts: Scully spans from Mantle to Harper

Just saw an amazing tweet from Keith Olbermann. He writes:

Mickey Mantle debuted in NY in an exhibition vs #Dodgers, 1951. Bryce Harper debuts vs Dodgers tonight. Announcer then and now? Vin Scully

Think about it this way: Scully called games involving the most celebrated rookie of my father’s generation. And now he is calling games involving the most celebrated rookie of my sons’ generation.

Scully once said:

All my career, all I have ever really done, all I ever have accomplished, is to talk about the accomplishments of others. We can’t all be heroes. Somebody has to stand on the curb and applaud as the parade goes by.

Of course, Scully has it wrong. Sixty-one years since Mantle’s debut, Scully is a certified hero. We’re so fortunate to still hear him “applaud as the parade goes by” as only he could.

 

Posted in MLB

Yankees bashing: Mushnick pounds Sterling; Kruk rips Swisher

A couple members of the Yankees family came under fire in the New York dailies today.

Actually, it hardly registers as a news flash that Phil Mushnick of the New York Post tore into Yankees announcer John Sterling. Sterling is one of his favorite targets.

Mushnick, though, goes after it with particular venom today. He jumps all over Sterling for botching the call of the final out of a game last week. And then Mushnick goes to town.

Twenty-two years of this garbage, 22 years of tuning to Yankees games forced to  rely on a guy who doesn’t know what’s going on and hardly cares. He’d rather  holler his asinine nicknames and so-often-wrong “signature” calls so the fools  at “SportsCenter” can reward him with a sound bite and a credit.

Don’t hold back, Phil. He concludes:

It’s not even a matter of enough is enough. Enough was enough 20 years ago.

Oh, and for an added bonus, here is what Mushnick had to say about Chris Berman:

Geez, Chris Berman is anchoring another NFL Draft for ESPN.  Isn’t there a kid’s birthday party he can work that day?

Meanwhile, at the New York Daily News, Bob Raissman notes that ESPN’s John Kruk took issue with Nick Swisher’s excessive celebration during Saturday’s game in Boston. Considering he was a complete dog during his season with the White Sox, I welcome any Swisher bashing.

From Raissman’s column:

Kruk said Swisher’s display was more about rubbing it in than anything else.  He said he’s not a “big fan” of look-at-me celebrations primarily designed to  salt the wound.

“Yeah, Nick, you did your job. That’s what you were expected to do so just  accept it and be a little more humble,” said Kruk, in a disgusted tone. “I hear  Yankee fans say, ‘Well, that’s Nick. That’s the way he is.’ ”

The more Kruk spoke, the more agitated he became.

“But when does a pitcher start saying, ‘This is the way I am and this is the  way I play.’ If you beat us you beat us,” Kruk said. “If you show us up and try  to embarrass us by laughing and joking and pumping your chest and everything,  perhaps I’ll dot you one right between the numbers and see how that feels.”

 

 

 

Guillen controversy: How much will Showtime show?

Everyone knows what Ozzie Guillen said and the ramifications. Now viewers will get a chance to see what happened behind the scenes.

Saturday at 9 p.m., Showtime will air a 30-minute preview of The Franchise: A Season with the Miami Marlins. The weekly series then will premiere with a one-hour episode on July 11, followed by 30-minute episodes the next 7 weeks.

Here’s the trailer.

Showtime, which is doing the series in association with Major League Baseball, obviously wants to strike while the Guillen controversy still is hot. As you can see from the end of the trailer, the situation definitely is addressed. The final cut shows Guillen being informed that he will be suspended.

The Marlins were picked for the series because of all the new developments going into the season: new stadium, new manager, new high-profile players. Everyone knew Guillen could be unpredictable, but nobody could have predicted he would have spark a politically-based revolt against him in Miami less than a week into the season.

“This is an exercise in flexibility,” said Matt Bourne, MLBs vice-president of business public relations. “What happened is a major story and it will be addressed in a meaningful way.”

However, keep in mind that Saturday’s show is a 30-minute preview, encompassing all the developments from last fall through the first week of the season. I expect the Guillen saga will have small portion of the episode relative to the local firestorm it caused.

Also, remember MLB and the Marlins have a say over the final version. I expect it will be covered here and then it’s time to move on.

Regardless, there will be no shortage of storylines in Miami. The series figures to be lively.

And profanity alert: Unlike the trailer, which has many bleeps, Bourne said Guillen’s colorful language will be heard loud and clear. After all, this is Showtime.