Erik Bedard has made few friends within the local media, which has now led to a new "national" perspective on his churlish behavior en route to a possible Cy Young Award this fall.
Yes, it’s a joy watching him pitch, but apparently he has become a real pain in the ass to deal with for everyone. In this story on ESPN.com, the cat is out of the bag on his asinine behavior toward the media, fans and the like.
What gives with these guys? And what gives with the Orioles ALLOWING it?
But of course, when your owner is an ass, insulting the fans again and again and encourages his employees to do the same — EVEN WHEN THE FRANCHISE FINALLY GETS IT RIGHT "on the field" — I suppose your star Cy Young candidate can treat people like garbage as well. (Privately, I’m sure the big guys in The Warehouse DELIGHT in his being a jerk to the local media!)
Bedard is a Cy Young candidate, but I don’t see the stands filling up on nights when he pitches. I don’t see downtown fully of life and energy and love and commerce, the way we did when Ripken chased ghosts and the team had pretty much sucked for 12 consecutive YEARS (save for 1989)!
Funny, too, is that when I PREVIOUSLY had a press pass — one of the 18 years when I had a pass before Peter Angelos went Fidel Castro on me — Bedard was always pretty cool to me. Seemed like a quiet guy, but he was certainly NOT impolite in any way. I always got along fine with him.
Guess I’m not missing much there these days …
Just what I need — one MORE person in the organization treating me like crap and making up lies about me!
Either way, the best quote in the ESPN piece is from Jim Duquette (haven’t heard much from him lately, have we?), who clearly says Bedard’s behavior is "not acceptable" but what’s there to do when the boss thinks that P.R. people who don’t return phone calls to the media is perfectly acceptable.
And that issuing press passes on the morning of Opening Day at their whim is acceptable.
Or not issuing them to accredited media members or their organizations because they don’t "bleed a little orange and black" …
The biggest joke is on the Orioles, themselves.
They think winning is ALL that matters. And here they have the best pitcher in baseball and NO ONE in town really cares enough to spend a few bucks and come downtown to watch him work.
When you’re not "emotionally" aligned with the team, and you feel no "pride" in the team, and it costs your family a significant amount of money to go, guess what?
YOU DON’T GO!
Our city was filled with 40,000 Red Sox fans last weekend. And very, VERY few Orioles fans. (Go watch the videos on wnsTV…they say it ALL!)
That hill in Cooperstown, nearly six hours away, was filled with 70,000 true Orioles fans three weeks ago.
It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out this mystery.
The franchise, led by its best-paid and well-known employees, do NOTHING to embrace the fans — sometime they even INSULT them — and then they wonder why we don’t come and we don’t care.
The purple team kicks at 8 p.m. tomorrow night. Maybe some of the fools in that Warehouse should get off their asses and walk across the parking lot and see how it’s being done the "right" way in our city.
Just my two cents …
