Two minutes on a hot mic did far more for Aaron Boone’s popularity with fans than two years of big-league press conferences could. The Yankees know this instinctively, as they were selling “Savages in the box” T-shirts at the Stadium.
And yet, baseball high command, in its perpetual quest to pretend the sport is something it isn’t, is thinking about tamping down on the fun. The best purveyor, by far, of hot mic field videos is Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien. (Any fan could pull the video from MLB.tv audio feeds; Jomboy is just really good at it.) ESPN reported Friday that “weeks before Boone’s blowup scorched the Internet, Yankees officials contacted MLB to inquire about how it might better legislate the way O’Brien or anyone else uses audio from the games.”
According to the Coley Harvey report, MLB hasn’t responded yet. But ex-Yankee skipper Joe Torre has.
“It wasn’t supposed to be that clear,” MLB’s chief baseball officer said. “It shouldn’t happen … When it starts getting personal, that’s dangerous.”
MLB went through this last year, too, with the infamous Tom Hallion/Terry Collins “ass in the jackpot” video surfaced (from a 2016 game), which must have come from a field mic as well. From one angle, it’s easy to understand why MLB doesn’t love these videos.
“We made a commitment to the umpires that if they would wear microphones, certain types of interactions that we all know go on the field would not be aired publicly,” Rob Manfred said at the time in 2018. “We promised them that. It’s in the collective bargaining agreement. We had no choice in a situation like that then to do everything possible to live up to our agreement. It is Labor Relations 101. To not do that is the kind of breach of trust that puts you in a bad spot over the long haul.”
Setting aside the extreme irony of Rob “No Collusion” Manfred lecturing reporters on “Labor Relations 101” and a “breach of trust,” he’s right: the umps’ contractual rights should be respected. If MLB can do that while still growing the Jomboy-industrial complex, they’d be smart to. Savage, even.
Ryan Ruocco, briefly the Yankees play-by-play man this season, knows the score. He told ESPN that if “I was Major League Baseball, I would actually consider hiring him … He will forever be tied to the 2019 season. When we look back at 2019, we’re always going to think of Jomboy blowing up and creating entertaining content for us to enjoy.”
Jomboy — who has more than 300,000 subscribers on YouTube — has done the impossible: made the Yankees fun, accessible, and relatable. Anyone who can do that is a media megastar.
HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
Guardian soccer writer Nicky Bandini came out as transgender Friday. This is a pioneering development; as she writes, there are no trans sports media members in the UK, and no openly gay men’s soccer player in England’s top four divisions. And her publication has lagged behind its professed liberal values in its coverage of transgender people, with staff telling reporters that the newspaper is guilty of “institutional transphobia.” Bandini used her Guardian column to make the announcement. She has also covered Italian soccer for ESPN, and the NFL for the Guardian.
WERDER OUTTAKES
Here is the best of the rest from our Ed Werder interview:
On not bugging NFLers while he was not working at ESPN
When I was working for Westwood One I certainly had no issue reaching out to the teams I was covering and using my contact list to talk to players directly and coaches. But it was difficult for me to justify. I didn’t feel like I could impose on coaches and players, even those I knew well, when I didn’t really have any professional justification for doing it. Now I feel like I can.
I did a Cowboys podcast, the Doomsday podcast. And so I still wanted to be educated and I wanted my opinions to be informed, but I just didn’t feel like I could justify what I was doing, with, hey, I need to call Ron Rivera or I need to call Tom Telesco or whoever to get information on situations that might arise so that I could be really informed. So that was that was a struggle for me as far as doing the job.
On the demand for Cowboys news
It’s a big responsibility because nobody generates interest like Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. It just doesn’t matter if they’re 5-11 or 11-5 … It’s a competitive environment and everybody wants news on the Cowboys.
On his return to ESPN
The only thing that’s been different to me is the white mic cube flag. I’m covering the same people as I was two years ago. I’m working in the field with the same producers and the same crews. And I’m taking it to and from the same anchors on set.
* * *
DUDE OF THE WEEK: BILL SIMMONS
Simmons’ staff at The Ringer unionized on Monday. Management (Simmons) voluntarily recognized the union just three days later. That doesn’t guarantee that Simmons will be respectful in negotiations, or create more equitable working conditions for the bloggers, podcasters, editors and producers at the site. But just this first step has been incredibly difficult at other digital media shops, and Simmons deserves credit for making it painless.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: BRIAN CASHMAN
The Yankee GM’s remarks in the aftermath of cops pulling him over at gunpoint haven’t gotten as much attention as the outrageous video. But they’re worth examining: “Ultimately, if I was a Darien resident, I’d feel good about being protected. If you are stopped, just do what what you are told. It will all work out.” Earlier, Cashman had called the cops “very professional and trained.” If they’re so well-trained, then why is not getting shot contingent on you doing what they tell you to?
DOUBLE TALK
What Draymond Green said: “I’m not about to go to Kevin Durant and say, hey Kevin, can I get my fiancee pregnant?”
What Draymond Green meant: “I’m not about to go to Kevin Durant and say, hey Kevin, can I get my fiancee pregnant?”
Bob Raissman is on vacation. His column will return next weekend.
