Okay, I Have To Do It
I tried really hard to just let this Steve Kelley “apology to Erik Bedard” go. But, I can’t. I can’t just let this sit there. So, here we go.
Last week, a few readers — well actually a lot of readers suggested, demanded really — that certain sportswriters, namely me, owed Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard an apology.
They’re right.
Awesome. You totally do. Glad to hear that you figured that out.
After all, we (and by we, I mean I) have spent a lot of the past two years lamenting the trade that sent a large chunk of the Mariners’ future to Baltimore for a pitcher we (and, by we, I mean former general manager Bill Bavasi) expected to be the ace of the staff as the Mariners challenged for an American League West title.
Of course, that never happened.
Bedard rarely was healthy. He made only 30 starts in two seasons. He ran too many deep counts, which meant the bullpen usually had to get up by the fifth or sixth inning and he was as exciting to watch as your Uncle Bob on the putting green.
Not only that, but he might have been the most media-unfriendly Mariner since, I don’t know, Phil Bradley?
It was as if he were allergic to reporters. He answered questions in a monotone, often snickered at the questions we asked and never let us see what was behind his icy eyes.
It was that way from his first spring-training start in 2008 in Scottsdale, when he got hit hard by the San Francisco Giants and dismissed every question he was asked.
I’m sorry, didn’t you say that you owed Bedard an apology? Does “recounting everything I hate about a person” qualify as an apology to you? Why are you repeating the same tired insults you’ve been hurling at him for two years now? Wasn’t the point of this piece to admit that you were wrong, not to try to defend your wrongness?
His personality (or lack of one) should have nothing to do with the way we covered him, but human nature being what it is, Bedard created an adversarial relationship which affected the way we (I) wrote about him.
Hey, good, we’re back on track here, even though you apparently felt the need to take another swipe at the man you’re attempting to apologize to. But at least you’re admitting that you let personal bias get in the way of whatever journalistic ethics you’re attempting to hold onto. That’s a good first step. Maybe it will get better from here…
Of course, he never made it easy on himself. He asked out of his first homecoming start in Baltimore, because of an injury and he never gave the impression — on the mound, or in the clubhouse — that he had that Cliff Lee give-me-the-ball-and-I’ll-throw-200-pitches-if-that’s-what-it-takes mentality.
He wasn’t a gamer like CC Sabathia. He wasn’t an Alpha Dog like Curt Schilling. He couldn’t be counted on every fifth day from April to September. That was the impression.
And we’re right back to listing the reasons you hate the guy. This is now two attempts to apologize, both of which times you’ve followed an apologetic lead in with shots at Bedard. You suck at this whole apologizing thing.
Last season, it always seemed as if Bedard was afraid to throw hard. His fastball was topping out in the 80s. His control was off.
Erik Bedard’s average fastball in 2008: 90.9 MPH. Erik Bedard’s average fastball in 2009: 91.5 MPH, exactly the same as it was in 2007, when he dominated hitters in Baltimore. You also suck at fact checking, apparently.
There were those of us (me) who thought he was a malingerer. That he didn’t have the heart to pitch in the heat of a pennant race. That he didn’t much like the game.
I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but you’re still insinuating that there’s some truth to this stupidity by repeating it yet again.
Now we know he was hurt. He was trying to pitch with a torn labrum, which is a little like a miler trying to run with a broken ankle.
You should have led with this, and then just stopped writing.
This was, quite possibly, the worst apology in the history of the world. You, Steve Kelley, managed to take an article where the premise was that you were wrong about Erik Bedard, and turn it into a defense of your own stupidity. You now need to apologize for your apology.
Or just go away. We’d settle for that, too.
I’m not sure that anyone would argue that point. It did pretty much suck.
HOLY NUMBER CRUNCH BATMAN. Does sarcasm register on this hack? Dave the Accountant, Kelley is one of the best commentaries on the page. He is expunging the emotions of the fan w/ re. to Bedard and his lack of…of EVERYTHING. Why so hostile? Diversify man.
It’s much easier for me to believe that this comment shows sarcastic intent than Kelly’s article.
IMO.
Thank you for writing this post. I agree. So many people, it seems like esp those in roles w/more leadership, do not understand basic ethics anymore. How hard is it to make an apology w/o ripping a person? It’s not that hard. IMO, we need to all teach each other the basics again. Yikes.
It just shows me another reason why blogs (good ones that is) are more relevant than newspapers in lots of ways. Someone is keeping it real and has common sense. Thanks.
But seriously, why are we so hostile to Steve Kelley who is a gifted writer (see spelling, grammar, etc. ~more sarcasm) and an outstanding sports commentator. He’s pointing out the lameness of Bedard. He is not apologizing! (see sarcasm) We all agree Bedard has been lame at best.
When I read the original, I thought it was a very lame apology, sort of the kind my kids give which are loaded with excuses and explanations of impulses beyond their control which made them do the offending deed. Kelley sort of but doesn’t really take responsibility for what he’d written. I would suggest that there is a difference between reporting and commentary which is that the latter is most often an expression of opinion while the former ought not to be. I think Kelley writes commentary. Too often expressions of opinion help form the opinions of others – people are generally lazy and if someone like Kelley doesn’t like a ballplayer, there are all too many who will take that as gospel without ever wondering if there’s validity to the criticism. That Kelley had little idea of what was going on in Bedard’s body (no more idea than I had) and took Bedard’s personality with the media personally, published his stuff (and was allowed to do so by the Times’ editorial staff), is bad.
Dave is correct to write what he posted.
[dupe]
I need to make an apology for the double post.
No, we don’t.
I seriously hope that this was missed sarcasm. If not you should really look into what he has done the last 2 years while injured and compare other (healthy) pitchers numbers to his. I think “lame” is far from what you’ll find.
[too far]
sigh…
I am shocked to see more here. Bedard’s value is debatable perhaps. No one I talk to is happy with the acquisition. No one.
To the original point:
1. Steve Kelly wrote a piece and sarcastically wrote about apologizing to Bedard for commentary against him.
2. He berated the pitcher pretty good with the piece.
3. This ‘Dave’ wrote the piece “Okay, I Have To Do It”
4. He wrote, among other zingers, “I’m sorry, didn’t you say that you owed Bedard an apology?”
The author does not understand the sarcasm in the Kelley piece. Certainly.
You should talk to different people.