Crawford Criticism Huge Indictment on the Readers
By Mike Silva ~ November 15th, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
It’s unbelievable that Frank’s report on Carl Crawford being perturbed about his contract situation with Tampa starts an internet wide firestorm. Every major Rays blog and even members of the South Florida media took a quick swipe to debunk the theory. It was mainly on our sources use of the term “handshake agreement” and a late September quote from Crawford. Of course, when Frank and I brought up a news article by John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times we are treated with, to quote some, the “straw man” argument.
I stand by Frank’s source that is down in the South Florida area. This is a region that, from my experience, is very much a clique making it prime for rumor mill juice. Just because this didn’t come out of the Rays organization or Crawford’s camp doesn’t mean it’s not true. In case you guys haven’t noticed professional sports is no longer a quote machine and, thanks to politics, most reporting has to be done through back channels. The bigger problem I have with you, the reader, is the inability to read something, comprehend the story, and check your emotions at the door.
There is nothing I can do about that, but I really think you need to start to evaluate the paranoia that stems from any rumor mill on this site or across the internet. Why would I continue to put my name out there knowing that I could run into someone? Just using my real name puts me at risk in other businesses outside of this site. Do you think a few extra hits (which many know pay nothing) are worth it? My goal is to create a site with strong opinion, good debate, and some breaking news. I am not some kid having fun in his mom’s house. I own a house, car, and run one, soon to be two, businesses. I probably make more money than many sports writers. Do you think I want to risk that and throw away the 15 hours I work a day? I always am honest in saying that some of our sources are higher level than others. The fact that we broke the Wally Backman story should tell you that we do know higher level baseball officials. Does it surprise me that Tampa could be reneging on a word of mouth deal? Of course not because I know for a fact they have done this before. And you could send that quote to Andrew Friedman. That doesn’t mean it absolutely the case with Crawford, but makes me believe the rumblings we are hearing.
Even the great Jon Heyman is prone to this type misrepresentation by the readers. Evan Roberts of WFAN interview Heyman yesterday morning. During the segment he brought up a rumored deal of Juan Pierre for Luis Castillo. Heyman corrected Roberts in saying the deal was something he created as what might make sense for both teams and never reported it as an actual rumor. Heyman is entitled to his opinions and, just because he does a rumor mill, doesn’t mean that everything he opines about is rumored, sourced, etc. It’s up to us, the reader, to comprehend that.
My point is that you, the reader, is accountable for actually comprehending this information. Don’t pull a Brooke Hundley on me here. I am not changing the way I run my site because individuals don’t properly decimate the information I provide. You need to step it up – plain and simple. Also, just because you don’t like hearing information doesn’t mean it’s untrue. Heck, maybe Crawford’s people read the report, call Andrew Friedman, and they strike a long term deal. Does that mean the rumor is false? Of course not. I could be mad at my wife tonight and make up with her tomorrow, but not tell my buddy who I was drinking with that it happened. He passes it along to others who see me a week later when everything is ok. Get the drift? That’s why it’s called a rumor mill and not a news mill. If only news was reported during the offseason we would be sentenced to watching the local football teams and Knicks basketball.
Finally, I think the outcry from Tampa reeks of the inferiority complex from the region to New York- especially the Yankees. It’s been a bad year for them as they underachieved and saw the Bombers takes home their 27th championship. I respect the Rays Index and their criticism, but these are the same guys that freaked out when Jay Sorgen suggested that David Price was sent down because of financial reasons so there is a history with us and Tampa. Oh, and by the way, criticism from someone in the mainstream media doesn’t bother me. This is the same group that is going out of business and refused to cite us when we have broken news. If we turn out to be right I am sure the same courtesy will be given to us again.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Longtime lurker. I’ll break my usual silence to support Mike and say this is one of the few baseball “blogs” I read religiously. It is always thoughtful and I believe Mike has a trustworthy, reliable vantage point. As he says, it’s not necessarily a matter of every rumor becoming true, but if he posts a rumor, I believe it comes from a credible source.
Keep up the great work.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Good idea. Blame your readers. This should go well.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:48 am
If all else fails, blame the readers, right? I’m never coming here again.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:36 am
This is the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Apparently there is a formula for backpeddling, and it goes something like this…
1) Blame the readers
2) Site a mainstream media member for doing something that has ZERO relevance to the topic at hand and then try to use that as some sort of reasoning. Heyman is allowed to opine. But what that previous post did was not opinion. He sited sources.
3) Take a shot those that take the shots at you, which of course does not disprove the original criticism
4) Blame the readers
Good luck with that
November 15th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Ah, the threat of never coming here again.
Let me make clear that threats usually don’t work here. Long time readers know that.
I am running a business. One commenter on RAB said this site is like TMZ/SportsbyBrooks. If I have 5% of the success of those guys I will be very happy.
My goal is not to be in the “club” or to make friends, but to opine and report what we know. If the mainstream media, bloggers, or anyone else has a problem I honestly won’t lose sleep.
I don’t want to see you go, but not going to beg or change because you guys can’t handle the report.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:41 am
We are not backpedaling on anything. Just defending the slander by Joe Smith.
Personally I see very little reason to believe that Joe Smith knows more than us. He gave me no reason to discredit Frank’s report.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Blame the readers? Really? Also when Heyman is wrong HE ADMITS IT. This site is unbelievable. How the frick do yo blame the reader?
November 15th, 2009 at 11:57 am
“I am not changing the way I run my site because individuals don’t properly decimate the information I provide.”
Actually I am pretty sure the readers did properly DECIMATE the article. That is what people do with garbage. They DECIMATE it.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:59 am
If you choose to break down the information and no believe it – fine. I applaud you for expressing your first amendment right.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
“Does it surprise me that Tampa could be reneging on a word of mouth deal? Of course not because I know for a fact they have done this before. And you could send that quote to Andrew Friedman.”
Well, the Rays had a handshake deal to let me out of our minor-league deal if any MLB team came knocking, and they honored that even though the team KNEW their infield depth was shaky and that they planned to call me up the next week.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
“My point is that you, the reader, is accountable for actually comprehending this information.”
As a writer, this offends me. When providing information, it is ALWAYS the writer’s responsibility to make the writing comprehensible.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Steve
The piece is comprehensible, but how can you manage readers that need caveats and everything explained to them? Its the loud minority, not the majority that is the problem.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Mike you said this
“Personally I see very little reason to believe that Joe Smith knows more than us. He gave me no reason to discredit Frank’s report.”
Well that is not true. Let’s see Joe Smith is the Rays beat reporter. He knows the players, and front office people, he also talks to them. So he knows more than you.
You were wrong. admit it.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
In this situation he may not know more than us. And the final tally wont be told for a while. Crawford’s departure and this story won’t be solved tomorrow.
The Front office wants to control the media and news. If you’re a beat reporter you have to balance the line between politics and covering the team. The best sourced stories are not from beats, but from the national baseball writers like Sherman, Davidoff, and Heyman
November 15th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Silva, you’re an absolute joke, and it’s just good fun watching everyone start to realize this. The internet and the world would be better off without your site, or you, in it.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I’d have a lot more respect for you if you knew the difference between “you’re” and “your.” Seriously.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I didn’t know you were editing my comments section, but since you are – thank you! I normally let my hair down in the comments section.
November 15th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Mike, I love the site. I get what you’re trying to say here. It’s kind of ironic that these people read through the article without properly evaluating the content. (Which was the point this article was making as far as I can tell.) They then go off in the same manner as they did after the Crawford article.
As for the inferiority complex, I think it stinks of a league lacking balance. The Rays have done everything right except have super deep pockets and if everything doesn’t break right aka 2008, they get stomped by the Yanks and even Red Sox. I know that the MLB COO just spoke out about how competitive balance has increased. Well if balance is, the sox, yanks, phils, mets, cubs, angels can compete yearly minor a complete break down (see 2009 mets, cubs, 2008 yanks) and then there is a middle group that needs 162 games of no injuries, or missteps, aka Blue Jays, Indians, Twins, etc, and a group of about 5 to 7 teams that will never get it right. Then yes, we have competitive balance. I don’t know how balance is 24 teams either never getting it right or needing every break, but sure. But I digress.
As for this article, I agree with you, it’s not about blame, but about accountability. The readers have to take a little and if they don’t, they should be held accountable.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:51 am
“Does it surprise me that Tampa could be reneging on a word of mouth deal? Of course not because I know for a fact they have done this before. And you could send that quote to Andrew Friedman.”
Well, the Rays had a handshake deal to let me out of our minor-league deal if any MLB team came knocking, and they honored that even though the team KNEW their infield depth was shaky and that they planned to call me up the next week.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:56 am
You are an idiot! Friedman wasn’t even part of the organization when this so called “handshake” took place. Do some research.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Hey idiot! Read this article.
http://dockoftherays.com/2009/11/15/trust-but-verify/
November 16th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Mike, do you seriously think you know more than the Rays beat writer? Think about that.
Oh, and nice move to blame the readers. You obviously haven’t read How to Not Piss Off Readership 101.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
“Just defending the slander by Joe Smith.”
Slander is spoken. I think you meant to write “libel” which is written. A dictionary often comes in handy.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
An undisclosed source is reporting the Yankees have traded 3B Alex Rodriguez for 3 hot dogs and a bootleg copy of Kate Hudson’s next movie. In a clandestine meeting that took place behind section 204 between the hot dog vendor and Brian Cashman, the Yankee’s GM agreed to the arrangement on the condition that the bootleg was of good quality and NOT of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. The Hot Dog Guy was true to his word, and threw in the hot dogs as a sign of good faith.
Sounds just as ridiculous, doesn’t it? You’re an idiot.
But that’s MY fault for not DECIMATING the information soon enough.
Love, a Rays Fan
November 16th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
libel or slander the bottom line is Joe Smith did a bad job and the result is the same.