2020 MLB thread

[Toddzilla]

OK, who had "PBP guy torches his career on a hot mic" on their 2020 bingo card?

[molson]

One of the more surreal home run calls you'll see.

Streamable Video

How rude of that batter to hit a home run in that poingent, heart felt moment. That's two immoral home runs in consecutive days!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Thom Brenneman was caught on mic saying "one of the fag capitol's of the world."

And started game 2, but was replaced and apologized before he left the air.

I'm sure the Astro's will find a spot on their broadcast team for him.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by molson

One of the more surreal home run calls you'll see.

Streamable Video

How rude of that batter to hit a home run in that poingent, heart felt moment. That's two immoral home runs in consecutive days!

I don't blame Thom for that as much as I do the producer. Don't put the apology in the middle of play by play.

[spleen1015]

Maybe Thom wanted to do it that way.

[sterlingice]

Shockingly, Curt Schilling thinks it's culture's fault not Brenaman's

In today's cancel culture I am expecting an insane overreaction to this mistake. I can tell you that Thom Brennaman is one of the nicest and most thoughtful men I have known. His father is the very same.
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) August 20, 2020

SI

[JPhillips]

Mistake? What was he attempting to say other than what he said?

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Shockingly, Curt Schilling thinks it's culture's fault not Brenaman's

In today's cancel culture I am expecting an insane overreaction to this mistake. I can tell you that Thom Brennaman is one of the nicest and most thoughtful men I have known. His father is the very same.
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) August 20, 2020

SI

Whenever you need a complete fucking moron front and center Schilling is there to answer the call.

[PilotMan]

Cincinnati won't care. I really believe that. Pride has grown the past few years here, but it's still pretty anti-gay at its core. I don't think they will burn him down. He's got a ton of good will with the city.

[JPhillips]

I don't think so. He'll never call another MLB game. MLB will want him out. The Reds will want him out. The Reds players will want him out. The public of Cincinnati won't get a vote here.

I could see him rehabilitate and come back to sports in a couple of years, but he's done in Cincy.

edit: This is vastly different than the Nuggets/n-word issue that really does look like a mistake. There's no way for Brennaman to explain the mistake. He said what he said and wishes he didn't get caught.

[Lathum]

Amir Garrett already tweeting about it. Thom is done. Zero chance advertisers allow him back on air.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I don't blame Thom for that as much as I do the producer. Don't put the apology in the middle of play by play.

I think it was a fittingly awkward and hilarious end to his broadcasting career.

[molson]

I read something about how this says as much about Fox Sports Ohio as it does about him. Someone can be a closeted homophobe or racist and be caught saying something in private. But he worked at a place where he knew this was just fine to say in front of others as long as it didn't go out on the air. Imagine that kind of culture and how hostile it would be for a gay person who worked there.

They'll say, "this doesn't reflect our views,"but, it must reflect enough of their views for a prominent employee to feel comfortable saying it out loud in casual conversation.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

OK, who had "PBP guy torches his career on a hot mic" on their 2020 bingo card?

Right after another NBA guy (maybe) accidentally types the N word instead of Nuggets into a tweet.

[PilotMan]

The responses to the official Reds apology on Facebook are EXACTLY as I suspected. 90% are in favor if retaining Brenneman.

[Ksyrup]

He knew he was done as he was apologizing. He said as much.

[miami_fan]

So can I make the case for him possibly staying on the air? Before I am pelted with rotten tomatoes, let me explain.

I want to hear what he has to say. What he honestly has to say not what he thinks "those he may have offended" want him to say. Acknowledge that it was not a mistake that he said it, it was that it came out over the air. Acknowledge that in his social (and maybe even professional) circles, this language is normal. I want him to own what he said, sit with it and take steps to do better.

For me, him leaving the air in disgrace or them firing him is just too easy on him and the network.

Funny, if it was not for the general homophobia in sports making it impossible at this point, he might have been helped by having a gay Reds player standing with him and coming to his defense a la Riley Cooper and Michael Vick.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by molson

I read something about how this says as much about Fox Sports Ohio as it does about him. Someone can be a closeted homophobe or racist and be caught saying something in private. But he worked at a place where he knew this was just fine to say in front of others as long as it didn't go out on the air. Imagine that kind of culture and how hostile it would be for a gay person who worked there.

They'll say, "this doesn't reflect our views,"but, it must reflect enough of their views for a prominent employee to feel comfortable saying it out loud in casual conversation.

This. He assumed he was off the air, but he absolutely knew that he was still at work.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Acknowledge that in his social (and maybe even professional) circles, this language is normal.

This would make it 100X worse IMO.

He can go on an apology tour, etc...but to say thats how he and his friends/coworkers talk, he would be destroyed.

The reality is there is no way advertisers let him back on air any time soon.

[Ksyrup]

His best chance for survival is to sit the rest of this year and hope to rebuild his reputation by March.

[JPhillips]

I expect that he'll be suspended for the rest of the season, perhaps indefinitely, and during that time the lawyers will work out a buyout of his contract.

I wonder if he'll step into the background for a year or two in order to restart a career later or if he'll go full grievance mode and hit Barstool, Fox, et al.

[sterlingice]

Whenever there's a hot mic, I always wonder if it's just incompetence or if some producer's just tired of someone's bs. And the producer just assists a guy with career suicide.

SI

[spleen1015]

I was wondering the same thing, SI.

Molson brought up a good point earlier. This is the way the guy normally talks. I wondered if someone who could press a button was tired of it and when he started the some old BS, just hit the button.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

This would make it 100X worse IMO.

He can go on an apology tour, etc...but to say thats how he and his friends/coworkers talk, he would be destroyed.

The reality is there is no way advertisers let him back on air any time soon.

I think that would be the most honest way to keep him in the booth. Thom Brennaman is a fine broadcaster and I don't think he has to lose his job over this. Him moralizing over unwritten rules etc. will be a bit less credible moving forward but other than that, he should be fine. I have no interest any apology tour that is not being boosted by a certain level of introspection by him and the organization. Like I said, he did not make a mistake saying it. That is how he talks. So for me. this can't be the typical made a mistake, said sorry redemption story. Something more than that is required. I don't think Brennaman would expect any less from say a player who did the same thing.

Is the confirmation the problem here? Because I can't be the only one who believes that this is the way he and his friends/coworkers talk all the time. His acknowledgement of it would not make it any worse for me. Or I want to know why he felt so comfortable saying it in front of that group of people without fear of consequence whether it was on the air or not.

[Lathum]

Do you honestly think him saying he causally tosses around terms like 'fag capitol of the world" is the best way to redeem himself?

[JPhillips]

I agree a full accounting and real contrition is necessary for him to work, but that work can't continue with the Reds. If they let him back in the booth without real consequences to his career they'll get killed nationally and they'll deserve it.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I was wondering the same thing, SI.

Molson brought up a good point earlier. This is the way the guy normally talks. I wondered if someone who could press a button was tired of it and when he started the some old BS, just hit the button.

This is highly likely. I can tell you there is no place inundated with as much "locker room" talk as a Football coaches office, high school, college and I assume (I don't have experience at this level but can attest to the other two) the NFL.

I wish I could take the holy high ground, but in 30+ years of coaching I have engaged in more than my share of banter that would get me fired in my day job if overheard. I will stress though that for me it has always been in back and forth ball busting with other coaches, never directed at players or others outside of that environment.

Does that make it okay or excuse it in that context? I don't know, but I do know it is far from appropriate at times. I have also known coaches that talk that way to players and that is NEVER appropriate and have had that conversation with several of these guys who don't see a line between ribbing each other and degrading a player, parent of faculty member.

I do know, especially now, guys I know that don't temper the inappropriate talk outside of the immediate coaching staff are going to be unemployed and rightfully so. Hell, even within the staff there needs to be boundaries and I have been much more mindful of this the last few seasons.

So yeah, Thom may be a good dude who got far too comfortable in the "locker room" and maybe it is accepted as banter between colleagues, but he obviously made a comment about a place outside that circle and let's be honest. Regardless of the intent, he should know better, as should many of us in the coaching world.

If as an example, if I told another coach "shut up fag" and a player overheard it told his parents, who then went to the school AD, I would probably be fired now and quite frankly would not have any place to whine about it, because I know that it is not acceptable in the world outside my Football space and should have been more cognizant.

I consider myself a good guy that does a lot for the kids I coach and in the community as it applies to social issues, I have a gay brother that I unequivocally support and love and no animus towards anyone different than me in any way. But if i say something stupid, no matter how far it deviates from my true character, I should expect and accept the consequences and so should Thom.

[JPhillips]

That he doesn't use that language in public makes it obvious that he knows it's inappropriate. If you choose to do something you know is wrong and will land you in hot water if your caught... oh, well.

[spleen1015]

I think a lot of us have changed over the last few years because society has changed.

Let's be real. When we were all in our teens/20s, talking like this wasn't a big deal. We did it and so did all of our friends. That's the way things were. Doesn't make it right, but is just the way things were.

There's not too many people on this board that can say they didn't use the same word Thom did when making fun, having fun with their friends 'back in the day'.

Society has grown and improved. That stuff needs to go away.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I think a lot of us have changed over the last few years because society has changed.

Let's be real. When we were all in our teens/20s, talking like this wasn't a big deal. We did it and so did all of our friends. That's the way things were. Doesn't make it right, but is just the way things were.

There's not too many people on this board that can say they didn't use the same word Thom did when making fun, having fun with their friends 'back in the day'.

Society has grown and improved. That stuff needs to go away.

Agree. I was just making the same comment to my son. We did talk this way to our friends in high school and even into college. And then the world moved on.

So I can both get it as "locker room talk" from men of our generation and also understand that it would be completely unacceptable in the context of my job.

My feeling here is that because it was what our generation did, I'm not going to hold it against him as a moral failing or anything, but also don't have a problem with him losing his job over it.

ETA: I'll also add that it isn't a word in my adult lexicon, but it's also not a word that makes me wince when I hear it, either.

[Lathum]

I think the context of the word matters.

If they were coming in from break and he was heard calling someone a fag, while still not acceptable, more understandable. He used it in a more sinister manner.

[Lathum]

With the Mets it really was just a matter of time

Source: Positive test among Mets leads to postponement vs. Marlins

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Do you honestly think him saying he causally tosses around terms like 'fag capitol of the world" is the best way to redeem himself?

I don't know about other terms and I am not interested in trying to find out. But that term specifically? Sure.

Either he is going to say it as part of the accounting and contrition for his actions campaign or others will say it as part of the he should not never work again campaign. I would prefer that he own the messaging.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

That he doesn't use that language in public makes it obvious that he knows it's inappropriate. If you choose to do something you know is wrong and will land you in hot water if your caught... oh, well.

This reminds me of my coworkers who get very offended when they're called racists only to turn around an hour later, look around like a bad vaudeville villain to see if anyone is looking right before they tell a racist joke. It's like "dude, you clearly know you're doing something wrong so you're not sorry you did it, you're sorry you got caught"

SI

[PilotMan]

I've paged through the comments on FB and Insta, and most of it is the same as in " the guy makes one mistake and his career is ruined", and "this country has gone soft" , and so on.

I'm guessing these are the same people who want the government to get out of their lives and who spout personal responsibility, but they want people to forgive their guy, and not make a big deal about his 'mistakes'.

[Ksyrup]

Here's an enlightened comment I had the misfortune to run across:

He loss my respect, not for what he said, but apologizing to gays. He should have told then to take the job and shove it.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Here's an enlightened comment I had the misfortune to run across:

And I would be willing to bet these are the same people that go ape shit when someone mentions white privilege.

[JPhillips]

Speaking of Votto hate, a comment from a Reds website.

[JPhillips]

Thom's next step is, Well if gay people can say it, why can't I?

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Speaking of Votto hate, a comment from a Reds website.

The hate Boggs got in the '80s made sense for the times. The fact that Votto has been hated for being "selfish" by a number of Reds fans in the age of analytics is amazing. I know not everyone is big on analytics, but we should be smart enough to know by now that a .420+ OBP is a good thing.

[spleen1015]

But he's been a fan for 57 years. He knows what he's talking about!

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Speaking of Votto hate, a comment from a Reds website.

Ok Boomer

[PilotMan]

That guy is probably a pro-Brown Bengals fan.

[Vince, Pt. II]

It certainly is refreshing watching the Giants score runs for the first time in about 6 years.

[MrBug708]

That was incredibly frustrating. Crappy first inning from urias, terrible baserunning, but the pen wasn't going to be good forever

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'm not going to lie, being responsible for 50% of the Dodgers' losses on the season is very satisfying.

[Atocep]

The Mets had 21 total baserunners in the double header yesterday compared to the Marlins 11. They lost the double header by a combined score of 7-0.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

I'm not going to lie, being responsible for 50% of the Dodgers' losses on the season is very satisfying.

We are just trying to make sure the Giants keep all of their trade pieces again.

[lungs]

The Brewers will be following the Bucks’ lead and not play tonight.

[JPhillips]

And the Reds agreed not to play as well, so no forfeit.