Dropped Third Strike

Well technically Adam Dunn and Mr. Jones — Todd Jones that is. Jones joins Dunn in kindergarten today, penning a pout piece for the Detroit Free Press, in which he fires more heat at San Francisco Chronicle reporter, Henry Schulman, than he’s sending toward the plate nowadays. Apparently Schulman committed the arch sin of describing Tigers’ bench player, Ryan Raburn, as “a .219 hitting scrub,” and Jones felt the need to respond in print. Says Jones: 

        ”The proper term for what Ryan does is: “A role player or backup.” He’s actually very useful. He plays outfield and infield in the big leagues. (I wonder if Schulman could do that?)

“Sure we’ve got thick skin, and reporters don’t bother us for the most part. But when it’s a personal attack on a guy’s ability or perceived place in this game, enough is enough.

“I’d rather be a scrub than be a guy who sits on the sideline and watches what happens and then writes about it. How about next time, Mr. Schulman, you just report on the game and you show Mr. Raburn and the hundreds of players on all clubs that fill out the big leagues some respect and call him a backup or a utility player.”

Thick skin? Since when have professional athletes had a thick skin about anything. Let us recall the aforementioned Adam Dunn, or Milton Bradley, who recently attempted to charge the press box, to “introduce” himself to an announcer who had been critical of him before being headed off at the pass by manager Ron Washington and GM Jon Daniels. Schulman used a word that is commonly bandied about in sports journalism to give color to his piece. Was it insensitive? Perhaps. Should Ryan Raburn care in the least? No. He’s a professional athlete getting paid more than most Americans and playing a game he presumably enjoys, so if he doesn’t already, maybe he should learn to let comments like that roll off his back. It’s admirable that Jones stepped up to defend his teammate, but it’s also a bit patronizing: the big famous closer taking it on himself to defend the poor little utility player.

Oh, and as for Jones’ question of “could Schulman play outfield and infield in the majors?” Well could you, Mr. Jones, perform brain surgery, or fly a commercial jet, or even write a well-organized and intelligent newspaper piece? The answer to all three questions is no. So let’s all just stick to what we do best. In Mr. Jones’ case, it’s being a middling to good closer, in Mr. Schulman’s case it’s being a middling to good writer, and in our case it’s sticking our nose where it doesn’t belong and giving pointed opinions that should probably be ignored.