Tweet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a strange experience, awkward at first...but Tony warmed up once he realized that I was going to do an interview, because fans want to know what's going on in camp and his impressions so far, and that I wouldn't be baited into something silly. The odd thing is, I got a call from my program director during the day, hours before the interview. He'd spoken with La Russa's agent, and the agent relayed that Tony was concerned about going on the air with me....I guess he was anxious about me ambushing him, or whatever, but that's not my style and I'd never disrespect KMOX like that. My only purpose was to ask baseball questions about the team in Jupiter. So here Tony was, apparently uneasy about a conflict, and then he gets on the air and tried to initiate something.
As I have said many times, I don't care if someone I cover likes me or not. I try to maintain a professional working relationship if at all possible, and so far I've been able to do that with Tony. I've had these little "spats" with just about every major figure I've covered here, and they are no big deal to me. With Tony, we've been at peace and at war and it always seems to even out. I just try to move forward, realizing that there are going to be hostilities whenever a columnist writes strong opinions that don't always flatter the subject.
For the record, I haven't written the Cardinals off. I guess I'm in the camp that compares starting pitching and sees this team as third-best in the division, going in. That's hardly a radical view. As I told Tony on the air last night, the Cardinals are better in the bullpen this season, and they have a good offense, and they're an outstanding defensive team, but they'll need a couple of starters to emerge and have big, unexpected seasons to close that starting-pitching gap on the Cubs and Astros. But after I said that, he repeated the "you've written the team off, and you've written me off," thing.
I give La Russa credit and respect for being willing to come on my show. A lot of people in his position would say something like, "I'm not coming on KMOX if he's hosting that night," or whatever. But he hasn't tried to pull any power plays. If he wants to do that, he can. I think that would reflect poorly on him. And it wouldn't affect my status at KMOX.
And I would never blame him for being upset by criticism. Just as I have the right to express an opinion, he has the right to be agitated by what I write if he disagrees or believes it's not fair to him. I am disappointed when those I cover have convenient memories -- apparently failing to recall all of the positive things I've said about them -- but such is life.
Cheers,
Bernie
It was a strange experience, awkward at first...but Tony warmed up once he realized that I was going to do an interview, because fans want to know what's going on in camp and his impressions so far, and that I wouldn't be baited into something silly. The odd thing is, I got a call from my program director during the day, hours before the interview. He'd spoken with La Russa's agent, and the agent relayed that Tony was concerned about going on the air with me....I guess he was anxious about me ambushing him, or whatever, but that's not my style and I'd never disrespect KMOX like that. My only purpose was to ask baseball questions about the team in Jupiter. So here Tony was, apparently uneasy about a conflict, and then he gets on the air and tried to initiate something.
As I have said many times, I don't care if someone I cover likes me or not. I try to maintain a professional working relationship if at all possible, and so far I've been able to do that with Tony. I've had these little "spats" with just about every major figure I've covered here, and they are no big deal to me. With Tony, we've been at peace and at war and it always seems to even out. I just try to move forward, realizing that there are going to be hostilities whenever a columnist writes strong opinions that don't always flatter the subject.
For the record, I haven't written the Cardinals off. I guess I'm in the camp that compares starting pitching and sees this team as third-best in the division, going in. That's hardly a radical view. As I told Tony on the air last night, the Cardinals are better in the bullpen this season, and they have a good offense, and they're an outstanding defensive team, but they'll need a couple of starters to emerge and have big, unexpected seasons to close that starting-pitching gap on the Cubs and Astros. But after I said that, he repeated the "you've written the team off, and you've written me off," thing.
I give La Russa credit and respect for being willing to come on my show. A lot of people in his position would say something like, "I'm not coming on KMOX if he's hosting that night," or whatever. But he hasn't tried to pull any power plays. If he wants to do that, he can. I think that would reflect poorly on him. And it wouldn't affect my status at KMOX.
And I would never blame him for being upset by criticism. Just as I have the right to express an opinion, he has the right to be agitated by what I write if he disagrees or believes it's not fair to him. I am disappointed when those I cover have convenient memories -- apparently failing to recall all of the positive things I've said about them -- but such is life.
Cheers,
Bernie
Comment