"I wouldn’t be here unless … I was absolutely confident that I was free to run this franchise the way it has to be run," Andy MacPhail, June 20, 2007
Dear Andy:
Once you get done with Drewski’s list below, maybe you could help me with this little problem I’ve had with the Orioles…
It’s a long story, but maybe you could rightfully give me my press pass back and I can rip up the $2800 legal bill I have on my desk for the lawsuit that I haven’t yet filed against Mr. Angelos and the Orioles for revoking my press pass and taking away my ability to do what I’ve done professionally for more than 23 years — since I was 15 years old — cover sports in Baltimore!
You talked about bringing back "the fans"…well, I’M A FAN AND HAVE BEEN SINCE 1972!
If you want to know why I don’t HAVE a press pass after working in the media here and providing honest analysis — just like John Steadman did with your father many moons ago — you might want to ask Mr. Angelos, who put you in charge of the franchise yesterday.
Andy, I run this little "fans" radio station and media company, which just happens to be the most respected and listened to and read media company in our market because it was built BY fans FOR fans and is financially sustained BY fans. Maybe we can teach you in Day One what your "self-neutered" boss and his family and "yes" men haven’t been able to figure out over the past 14 years — how to treat people who have given THEIR LIVES AND THEIR MEMORIES AND THEIR MONEY to this franchise with some dignity, honesty and a sense of community that shows class and warrants the love and support we’re so hungry to supply.
You’ll see what I’m talking about right around July 29th. Suddenly, you’ll start seeing this wave of purple magically throughout the community…but I digress…
Now I’m sure Bob Leffler, the Orioles marketing "partner," will be glad to tell you that this radio station only exists in the mind of its owner and that the 1.5 million page views our website, WNST.net, has received over the last 72 hours don’t really amount to much more than "fiction." As an aside, Arbitron has been telling our sponsors and competitors that we have about 250 listeners for about as long as Peter Angelos has been screwing up the Orioles.
So, since you were always an affable and honest guest on my Sporting News Radio show a few years ago, and we both have some Hall of Fame bloodlines — and I have the same immense professional respect for you that everyone in the industry seems to share — I expect that I’ll be hearing from you about my media credential (nasty@wnst.net is the easiest way to reach me) so I can return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and ask some questions, watch some baseball, have some fun and do my job covering the Orioles for the fans, which I’ve done for well over half of my life.
So, Andy, what time can I expect to pick my pass up next Tuesday?
Cheers,
Nestor
P.S. By the way, if my press pass isn’t waiting next Tuesday, I’ll just assume that you’re the latest liar to take Peter’s money. But honestly, I’m hoping my pass is waiting…Thanks!
