MELKY, Melky, Melky seemed to take over the Bay Area media zone, with good reason. It's a big story indeed, not just a Giants event, but indeed a news event. And it received predictable play, from the radio talk shows to internet sites, chat rooms, TV and beyond.
When the news first broke, Gary Radnich informed Giants radio PBP guy, Dave Flemming, who sounded shocked beyond belief. To Radnich's credit, the interview with Flemming was solid--to hear Flemming tell him, "please, tell me more", upon receiving the news, was engrossing and revealing.
I asked Dan Ashley, the lead anchor of KGO-TV, if the Cabrera story would lead the evening news. He said it probably would. It did. And actualities from the ballpark were the centerpiece of everyone's story play. With good reason.
The story will probably resonate heavily today on the talk shows. The Giants have a day off. Wonder what topic might light up the lines.
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Radnich just said that the Giants would never bring Cabrera back because of the steroids. The paper said that the Giants are ready to re-instate Mota!
ReplyDeleteAnd of course..Mota TWICE has been caught.So that ends Raddy's theory the Giants wont take back a steroid cheat.
DeleteRadnich did say that race is part of this..Braun because he's white was protected..Melky was told- dont even try...
the Giants have no choice but to pass on Melky and *should* pass on Mota as well because cheating is now being attributed to *the franchise* and not just to individual players. this is clearly what is being said by NL West rivals, LA & Az...that it's indemic to the corporate franchise itself.
DeleteBut the facts 632 say different. Mota IS COMING back. And he WAS caught TWICE cheating. So for Radnich to pound away about how the Giants post Bonds "Would never take back a cheat " Is plain factually wrong. They have and will.
DeleteThis is where the realistic fans butt heads with Radnich and his fantasy world. I know that if without any drugs Melkey can still hit .300, And if he see's the Giant's are forgiving,he could come back at a bargain price. He would be a better investment for the Giants then when the other team across the bay signed a big name cheat.. in Ramirez. If Manny hadn't lost it,he would be starting for the A's right now. Melky is much younger.
DeleteThere is a greater chance Cabrera will be a Giant in two years then Tim ( the great dieter) Lincecum. I mean,Tim must want out pretty bad to leave a 5 year 100 mill contract on the table..but,that's another discussion.
Gary takes a beating here on many occasions and some of it borders on obscession. He can be over the top on non sport issues at times I agree, but his take is there are many casual sports fans listening at this time of day and the old "He should have bunted" talk doesn't cut it in his time slot. I assume they know their audience.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that Gary can do a darn good interview when he wants to and it is nice to hear Rich give credit when it is due.
Totally agree. The guy still has it when it comes to the interviews, no question.
DeleteYes, Gary does great interviews. He asks difficult questions in a friendly way.
DeleteI am a lifelong Giants fan. The type of fan who never missed a game whether it be on the radio or on television. The highs and lows for years following your childhood team were all worth it when the team won the 2010 World Series. It was like every emotion over the past 23 years culminated in a single series victory. I was spent emotionally and to be honest haven't really sat and watched a complete game since we won the championship. It was like some sort of vindication after years of doubts, regrets, and letdowns. My childhood favorite was Will Clark. When the entire Bay Area seemed to be A's sellouts in the late 80's (including pretty much every kid in my junior high), I took a sense of pride sticking with my Giants through thick and thin. Now that the A's are pretty much afterthoughts in the Bay Area, and every bandwagon fan from the late 80's (well the newer generation of bandwagon fans) now wears and screams Orange and Black, I sometimes shake my head at the extreme marketing of this team here in 2012. This season I started to come back to the team a bit, albeit more via radio and Mercury News boxscores than sitting through the 5 hours television productions (pre and post, game) every night. I had heard of the "Melk Men", I had seen their picture here on 415 media, but I had never seen them on television. All of that being said, when Melky's suspension broke yesterday and I was listening to KNBR callers and guests commenting on the Melk Men, Melk ladies, fans in the stands wearing Melk gear, some in the stands writing "Sour Melk" on their Melk hats...all I could think of was really? Really? It just reminds me of the bandwagon sellout fans of the late 1980's McGwire Canseco Oakland A's and it just makes me have a somewhat sick feeling towards this team, my childhood team. Complete and utter sellout fans and organization peddling their gear to make a buck. Complete joke in my opinion. When Pence was acquired I was excited and remember hearing him interviewed and making a comment along the lines of "I hear San Fran likes to give all their players nicknames". I then realized what people across the country see when they look at this team. Kind of depressing. One last thought...reading Fleming's reaction and hearing JT Snow's reactions on KNBR last night only brought two words to my head "plausible deniablity". Well those 2 and "damage control". Am I saying they are covering up and lying and acting shocked? No. I'm just saying my gut tells me otherwise. Thanks for the site Rich.
ReplyDelete"plausible deniablity" and "damage control".
DeleteValid points by the poster at 10:27am.
There will be no hand wringing or critcal stories coming from the local newspaper.
Where is all the outrage from the local newspaper? Why does the local media protect the Giants?
Still hurts doesn't it? Wake up to nightmares of Dave Stewart stares and Eck fist pumps? Poor little Giants,win just three more titles and you'll be comparable.
DeleteIf we can just get the word out that the A's won a WS almost a quarter of a century ago (and lost two) and three more 40 years ago, I'm sure that upper tarp will come right off, they'll start selling out every game, the owners will want to keep the team in Oakland, players will pass up the Yankees to sign up with Beane (and with the Money Ball movie, why aren't they lining up?), and then MaGuire, Reggie, Giambi, and LaRussa will all want to talk about the past and embrace the A's again. Yeah, we just have to get the word out!
DeleteCan't win today if you are living in the past. Worry about the teams in your division and not the Giants, fool.
Eck fist pumps? I remember Kirk Gibson's arm movements in 88.
Am I saying the Giants knew Melky was dirty? No. Not originally. How could they? They can't be blamed for what he does off the field. Good pickup initially. I do feel they knew about this back when Baggarly broke it. Playing it off with the "WHAT? TELL ME MORE" to Radnich made me laugh. Hey, maybe he's 100% legit but MY personal feeling is...come on dave...?
DeleteYeah, it still hurts. I can see it in your angry little response. The Giants could win three titles in a row and they'd still only be at the A's level of success. Are the 49ers championships invalid because they happened long ago? Face it, sports is cyclical, teams go up and down, but the fact is the Giants will forever be trailing the A's. It's easier if you just accept that and put on a fake smile and a panda hat.
Delete5:36 is only here to flame for the team the Bay Area left behind 10 years ago.
Deletepoor pitiful Melky...said it was just an
ReplyDeleteaccident.
He didn't have the manhood to catch the balls.
sports heroes teach values alright...cheat all you want,call it an "accident", but better yet,don't get caught.
"SF Giants' Cabrera disappoints fans"
ReplyDelete"Melky Cabrera, what were you thinking?"
"Testosterone builds muscle but has risks"
Those were just a few of the softball headlines in today's SF Chronicle. These headlines have one thing in common.
Turn on the spin control machine. The Chronicle does it's best to protect the San Francisco Giants brand.
Must be fun having the local newspaper be your unoffical public relations department.
Had this been an Oakland Raider, Oakland A's the narrative would have been written quiet diffentently. Negative and accusatory in nature.
To quote Damon Bruce. The San Francisco bay area is a SOFT media market.
You've got to be kidding when you say the "Chronicle does it's best to protect the San Francisco Giants brand."
DeleteTheir headlines were right on point. What did you want them to do or say?
How is this spin?
DeleteThere is a persistent, paranoid undercurrent to these posts that suggest cynical, corporate manipulation involvement in every little thing that happens. The Chronicle reported the story; they didn't pull any punches, where's the spin?
Bandwagon fans????.....in the Bay Area???? Shocking!!!!! You mean the same idiots that go to Warriors games in Lakers gear or go to A's games in Red Sox or Yankees gear? The Bay Area is full of front runners. That's why you see everyone breaking out their Niner gear after last year's success. They are like Kobe's wife except for having less rings.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously didn't read the Melk-Man's explanation, which in fact was a mea culpa. That said, Melky not only sold his team and his fans down the river, but ruined his own chances for making big money and having a solid career because of his own vanity.
ReplyDeleteIt's a disgrace that this sort of thing continues to plague baseball, and the Giants, as well as the A's (the 1980s 'Bash Brothers' with those twins of steroid use..Canseco and McGwire) have been at the epicenter of this disgraceful period in our great game's history.
Based upon the the way the Giants treated Barry Bonds; I do not see Carbrera coming back to the lineup.
ReplyDelete11 home runs, and he's on the juice? Really? lol....
ReplyDeleteHey dim wit! How about a .350 plus batting average, the league lead in hits and runs scored.
ReplyDeleteJust because the guy isn't bashing homers doesn't mean he isn't on the juice...wake up and read about steroids sometimes and you'll understand a thing or two about what's going on pea-brain!
And cut out the 'LOLs,' that's just a shortcut for laziness and lack of education.
Yes. This story, which should have been relegated to second tier or sports department status, did lead the TV news, as if it was a "big thing". Which it's not. He's just a ball player. Playing a game. I agree with Michael Savage on this: Most Americans have their hats on backwards, and posses little if any clues about what's going on the big wide world.
ReplyDeleteGuess what. The Giants WILL resign Melky because they will get him at a bargain basement price,
ReplyDeleteprobably something like one year and 4 million. The 'Melk-Man' isn't going to get the riches he was looking for but he will be around next year in a Giants uniform unless Sabean and Bobby Evans pull another rabbit out of their hats and come up with a suitable replacement.
Sure, without steroids, he probably won't be among the league leaders in batting average, hits and runs scored, but he'll be more than adequate. And Giants fans, who knew about Bond's steroid use for years, but never quibbled, will welcome 'The Melk-Man' back with open arms.
Those fans who go out to Giants game just want to win; why do you think they put up with all of the bad publicity over Bonds for so many years? You think they'd trade all of those memorable HRs and that cartoon-like batting average and ridiculously high number of RBIs of his for something like a .300 batting average, 30 hrs and 90 rbis to have him clean? I don't think so! If Bonds played without the use of steroids, his numbers would have declined by 2000 (he was 36 then) and
the Giants probably wouldn't gone to the post season during the 2000, 2002, or 2003 seasons.
Enough talk about the 'Melk-Man' Panda Hats, 'Let Timmy Smoke' t-shorts, and giraffe hats (for Brandon Belt). How about some talk about that plucky little team across the bay that just might make the playoffs? They don't have 'cheaters,' and they don't have to sell all of the nonsense, they just go out and play hardball baby, 'cause that's what it's all about! I'd rather pay $10 to watch a real baseball game in Oakland, than take a free ticket behind the plate and sit with the front-running dim-wits who blindly root for a team that cheats. The Giants, with all of their talk about 'character' and 'great fans,' may just end up falling short of the post season AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteCarl Steward at BANG said the press should have known,because before THEY got the word,they noticed the Melkmen didn't show at the park like they usually do. Its like a corp to cover even details first..
ReplyDelete