Kevgate: Reactions to the (now definitely overblown) Millar saga

by SC on Oct 24, 2007 4:18 AM EDT in Commentary Comment 25 comments

Honestly, I kind of expected to be in the minority on this one. (I also don't really think he's a "traitor," and it seems like Millar at least heard about that comment.)

Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun: "Millar was surprised and a little amused yesterday by the attention. He said he was hesitant to take part in Sunday's pre-game events but changed his mind after learning Red Sox president Larry Lucchino had contacted MacPhail and Orioles owner Peter Angelos to ask permission and got no objections. ... Asked whether he is worried about fan backlash, Millar said, 'If I worry about what everybody said about me, I wouldn't be where I am today.'"

Bill Ordine of the Sun: "What this says is that Baltimore, in terms of competition between the two cities, has been marginalized -- and that realization infuriates some Orioles fans. And that is something for Baltimore fans to get angry about -- not Millar throwing out the ball. It's the chronic failings of the Oriole organization over a decade that have left Orioles fans feeling like they're doormats. It's evident any time the Red Sox and Yankees come to town. Look at the Pratt Street bars. Look at the stands. It's those things that happen time after time, season after season, that should infuriate baseball fans in this region -- and what they should vent about, over and over and over, is how things got to be that way. And Kevin Millar just became a lightning rod for all of that."

(Editor's Note: Mr. Ordine also referenced something I said about Johnny Damon, but failed to give any credit. I am, simply, a fan. (I don't actually care, I was flattered.))

Oriole Magic: "I think it's a good thing that the Red Sox organization have the doors wide open for Kevin (to an extent) and there seems to be no bitterness on his part. Considering his significance in Red Sox history in the past decade, I guess it is somewhat appropriate."

Birds in the Belfry: "In the big scheme of things, this is a tempest in a teapot. The Orioles may well be on their way to respectability again, who knows? Only time will tell. By Spring Training this will probably be all forgotten. It's not the event itself that resounds with me, it's the decision-making process that led to this. Hasn't Andy paid one whit of attention to what's been going on around here for the past ten years? Doesn't he understand the fragile psyche of the few real thinking folks left in the fan base? They aren't asking for much right now...more than anything, they are asking to not be embarrassed. Not by Miggy, not by stupid hires, not by more steroid revelations, not by behind-the-scenes intrigue. That's pretty much all we're asking for! Is it too much?"

The Loss Column: "PR isn't exactly a science -- it's really just understanding your target market and saying the things that will enhance their emotional attachment to whatever it is you're selling. Millar, quite obviously, doesn't get that. But that's his fault, and he'll pay for it however the fans see fit. The fault does not lie with the Orioles, despite what so many haters want to believe. It's not their place to tell their employees how to spend their free time, and I'm glad they feel that way. Responsibility should lie with the players to do the right things, and until they go hurting people or breaking laws we need to give them that freedom. They're adults, after all. So take it out on Millar all you want, but don't use this as more fuel for Angelos hatred or MacPhail doubting. That's just more of the same tired thinking that has helped land us where we are."

Mr. Irrelevant: "As someone who has rooted for the Orioles since the Larry Sheets era and was rooting for Cleveland in this series, I could not care less."

Just remember, though, to keep this in some perspective, even if you're on the side I am (which is that this was a stupid, stupid thing for Millar to do, and for Angelos and his minions to greenlight).

It could always be worse.

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re:

I'm pretty sure I said it elsewhere. When Spring Training starts, and especially when opening day rolls around, things will get worse.

I am thinking of this quote

Coming to spring training and filling three spots in your starting rotation is not good. I don't care how you look at it. -Frank Robinson

I guess the O's have Bedard and Guthrie penciled in. Loewen is a walk machine and unproven. Cabrera, hahhahahhha. What can be said? The fifth spot is open. And we're hoping Guthrie wasn't a fluke.

Add to Frank's quote that the O's are weak at DH, LF, CF, 1B. Aging and mediocre at 3B, and they wonder if the catcher was injured or no longer cares.

by drj on Oct 24, 2007 11:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

And with those bright thoughts

I'll start my day.

BTW - you forgot about our power hitting SS who's lost his power and become an error machine.

by timg56 on Oct 25, 2007 8:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

absensce makes the heart grow fonder

Ahh, Sir Sidney. Never realized that the big fellah looked so much like Herc from HBO's the Wire.

by jeremy52 on Oct 24, 2007 2:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As others have noted

what pisses me off about this Millar thing is how the FO, and Millar himself to an extent, don't realize why this is upsetting to a large number of O's fans. Unlike the FO and the ownership of the Orioles we actually care about this team and, despite years of losing, we have pride in the team still. Doing shit like this makes people who have already been pushed to the brink by a perpetually moribund franchise ask, "Y'know, what's the fucking point? My team already feels like just a prop for the BoSox and Yanks to beat up on every year en route to claiming more playoff glory...and now even one of our own players is going to help them revel in it, doing promotional pieces for another team on National TV."

Let me also address these Sun columnists and writers. You DO NOT SPEAK FOR THE FANS. The fans have been pissed off for years, yet your sportspage is still playing grabass with the FO, unable for whatever reason to express the outrage you should have been expressing years ago. The O's press corps has become much like the White House press corps, people who show up for events and take notation, making sure to accurately write down everything they're told by the organization all the while abdicating their responsibility to try to make the organizational accountable to the public. They would have done better to go to court reportng school to learn stenography than trying to pass themselves off as journalists.

Friend of the Working Man

by Jonnypops on Oct 24, 2007 2:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome back

You are evidently in the minority. The majority of Sun writers, O's fans, and the front office itself has deemed it OK for Millar to have done commercials rooting for the Red Sox (although they want to deflect the issue and focus on the "first pitch", as if that's all that happened). One caveat, seems Trembley is the only one who got a burr under his saddle.

So yeah, you are expected to accept is as a sucker fan of am inept franchise. I don't have "pride" in any sports team. I just want the O's to be decent enough to want to go watch. They can start by stop being a self embarrassment while they deal with fixing the crap they put on the field. Well, the majority says this latest stuff wasn't an embarrassment. The fact that you actually care means you are a sucker. I know how to stop being one.

by drj on Oct 24, 2007 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Whether they know it or not

The Sun has become little more than a PR vehicle for the team. This episode is just another example, fans get pissed off and the knee jerk reaction of the paper is to smooth it over. To diffuse it. And despite what they're printing in that Tribune owned rag, I refuse to believe the majority of fans think this Mascot bullshit is okay.

Friend of the Working Man

by Jonnypops on Oct 24, 2007 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Sun columnists...

are a freakin' sham. They're the ones with Stockholm Syndrome. Jeez, even up here in New England certain members of the press said they thought Millar's actions were out-of-bounds.

Imagine the fan reaction if this was a Yankee strapping on his pom-poms to root for the Red Sox. Or a Red Sox (Sock?) rooting on the Yanks. The respective fanbases would go ballistic. The press would go insane. You'd see days of coverage in the Post or Daily News or Herald with creative graphics and headlines. And nobody, nobody would be saying the fans of either team were over-reacting or taking it too seriously. On the contrary, the press would bend over backwards to talk about how amazing the teams' fans are that they take their baseball so seriously.

Meanwhile Oriole fans get chastised by their incompetent press for actually still caring about their team, and not happily accepting their third class status. What a joke. I'm not nearly as pissed about this as some people, but the fact that neither Millar, the Orioles "braintrust" or the press seem to get it is simply astounding.

by rebop on Oct 24, 2007 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's it

Fan's who were annoyed (that's me) or more by this (Millar's commercial and rooting in particular) because we want the O's to stop embarrassing themselves are told we're off base. We got the message from both the local press and the team. All of this boils down to having PR sense and reining in Millar (a first pitch might be OK Wally, but a commercial is out of bounds). But the O's PR stinks as badly as the rest of the front office and the team. It's really amazing how horribly inept this crew has been and for how long.

I got the message. Stop wanting to see things change for the better.

by drj on Oct 24, 2007 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I get a feeling that you want it both ways.

I stepped in the shit (or as Baltimore native Mike Rowe would say, poo) when I didn't realize the level of emotion that's been generated by generally jackass Red Sox fans.

So now I get it. Sox fans are obnoxious jerks and O's fans have had enough. But then you go and use how Boston and Yankee fans would react to the Millar affair, had he been one of their players, to justify our reaction. At least that's how it comes across.

It seems to me that acting in a manner different from how the New England / New York press and fan base would act is a goal we would want to set for ourselves. The Orioles used to be considered both a well run and classy organization. The fact they are neither right now should not mean that as fans we can forget about class.

From what I've read, McPhail seems to be a class act. It's entirely possible his thinking on the Millar affair was this. The team is several years away from being competative (he's probably feeling a bit like Heracules when he first saw the Aegean stables). Kevin Millar is not part of the O's future (and unlikely to be a part of the team past next season). Saying yes to the Sox's request is a good will gesture that might pay dividends down the road (like when he wants to pick Theo's pocket in some future trade).

Yeah, it's irritating. And after all the other crap (or poo), it's just too much to swallow. But sometimes, to borrow a line from the movies, we have to "Take the pain." Otherwise we risk becoming that we dispise - asshole Red Sox fans.

by timg56 on Oct 25, 2007 9:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I guess...

I don't really understand what you're talking about. I suspect you have just developed a fondness for implying I'm a hypocrite.

I wasn't saying that Oriole fans should model their behavior after Yankee or Red Sox fans. All I did was point (hypothetically) to what the reaction would be if this was a Red Sox/Yankees thing. Frankly, I don't think either teams fans would be wrong to go nuts under those circumstances, especially given the history between the two teams. But it seems like the expectation on the part of the Baltimore press was that Os fans should just accept their status as third-class citizens and get over it.

I think some of the reaction on the part of Os fans has been overblown, but I certainly understand where it's coming from. Millar was WRONG here, and it's amazing to me that neither he, management or the Baltimore press get it.

Also, while I think it's fine to criticize annoying behavior on the part of other teams fans, I recognize that most Red Sox and Yankee fans are basically okay people, or at least no different from most other sports fans. Unfortunately being wholly objective about such things is not a lot of fun.

by rebop on Oct 25, 2007 11:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Diamond Dave got it

Seems he's the only one with some PR sense.

by drj on Oct 25, 2007 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nevermind Millar...

...who is the hot chick w/ Ponson? Must be nice to be a pro athlete, even if you're a fatty like Sir Sidney, you can hang with chicks like that

by GeronimoGil on Oct 24, 2007 3:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There's some debate about this...

Nicole Richie is one candidate. A random blonde waitress is another. I, however, am absolutely certain...that she is not Mrs. Sidney Ponson.

Even metaphorically speaking, the Warehouse isn't a warehouse. It's an outhouse. What does that make Petey?

by Titov on Oct 24, 2007 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

She could, on the other hand, be Mrs. Aruban Judge

That would explain a number of things.

Even metaphorically speaking, the Warehouse isn't a warehouse. It's an outhouse. What does that make Petey?

by Titov on Oct 24, 2007 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You call that hot?

Friend of the Working Man

by Jonnypops on Oct 24, 2007 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hot enough

by PhilR8 on Oct 24, 2007 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, she looks pretty good

Not amazing or anything, but if we're in the same bar and I'm drunk, she's getting hit on!

by GeronimoGil on Oct 24, 2007 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Sid's already under the table

Otherwise, you might get Jet Ski-ed.

Even metaphorically speaking, the Warehouse isn't a warehouse. It's an outhouse. What does that make Petey?

by Titov on Oct 24, 2007 11:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Orioles allowing this is worse than Millar doingit

I think one of the things that really irks me is how bad the Orioles are at PR and how out of touch they are with their customers.

A Sun poll says that 36% of the fans are pissed about this thing while 64% don't care.

If 36% are pissed off about an event, but 64% are so happy by the event that they all go buy season tickets and new jerseys and t shirts and hats and get Oriole Bird tatoos...then its' a good move. You're making the majority of your customers happy. That's good business.

But that's not the case here. Here 36% of the fans are pissed off, 64% are neutral, and 0% are actually happy about this thing. That means that you've made no one happy but angered 34% of your customers.

That's bad business. And it's 100% rational to make that point.

It's exactly the same as not putting Baltimore on the road jerseys.

50% of the fan base doesn't care. 50% of the fan base is pissed that they haven't done it. But 0% of the fan base is actually happy that Baltimore isn't on the road jerseys.

Or not giving Elrod Hendricks the tribute he so richly deserves. Sure, half the fans might not care much. But half of us REALLY care and are really mad that Elrod was shafted. But not a single fan feels that the Orioles did the right thing by basically ignoring that Elrod ever existed.

Again, the Orioles manage to make no one happy, but anger many.

That's bad business. And it's the standard operating procedure for this franchise.

Yes, the Millar thing is minor in the large scheme of life. But combine it with 100 other bad PR moves and the lunacy from the Warehouse starts to build up.

And it's not just these outside the lines things either. They don't do anything about the actual game that makes anyone happy.

Think back over the last 10 years. Tell me ONE thing that the Orioles have done about getting a good player that makes the customers really happy.

I can think of ONE. That's getting Tejeda. But they negated that by not getting anyone else to surround him like they promised Miguel and the fans. That's it. That's the ONLY thing this team has done in the last decade that's been really noteworthy. They haven't done a single other thing on the field or off it in the last decade that's really gotten anyone excited about being an Oriole fan.

So when the the Warehouse okays one of their players to go promote a team that most of the Oriole fans hate, it tweaks an already overplucked nerve.

Oriole Magic! Feel it Happen!

by Mike Boehm on Oct 24, 2007 4:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Jamie Walker, Boy! says it's all good

From The Sun:

Orioles reliever Jamie Walker said he feels people are just trying to "stir the pot" in the criticism of teammate Kevin Millar, who has been under fire for throwing out the first pitch Sunday before the Boston Red Sox's victory in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

"If it was different people, then you can question it, but Millar is a good teammate," Walker said. "He's a big baseball fan, he plays the game hard, he prepares himself. That's all you can ask for."

"Pitching. Bona-fide, Major League pitching." -That's what Diamond Dave wants for Christmas.

by duck on Oct 24, 2007 8:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

you know what's weird?

Somehow I feel slightly better hearing it from Jamie Walker.

The man's word is gospel to me, it seems.

A TYPICAL, DISGUSTING DISPLAY!

by SC on Oct 25, 2007 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

RE:

I'm suprised the media was able to track Jamie down for a quote right now. I kind of figured he would being a duck blind somewhere in the middle of Tennessee right now with a shotgun in one hand and a Bud in the other. Must not be duck season.

"Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!" --Tanner Boyle

by BirdFanInPhilly on Oct 25, 2007 9:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just please don't let him go hunting with

the vice president.

Even metaphorically speaking, the Warehouse isn't a warehouse. It's an outhouse. What does that make Petey?

by Titov on Oct 25, 2007 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's NEVER duck season, got it?

Just sayin'.

"Pitching. Bona-fide, Major League pitching." -That's what Diamond Dave wants for Christmas.

by duck on Oct 25, 2007 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's about Red Sox fans, not Millar

The only thing wrong is the way people overreact over nothing. Any team other than the Red Sox or Yankees, there wouldn't have been a peep. If there were no places to vent, like in the olden pre-web days, things blew over quickly. Orioles fans beginning to sound like.... nah, never as bad a RSfans.

It's a small number of Orioles fans. The ones that go online and post their opinions. It's a skewed sample. It seems that most posters are under male and under 34. I wish this passion could be channeled into supporting the team EVEN through the bad crap. The really bad crap. I know folks here do because I've read a lot of the during- game threads which are totally classic & should be preserved. I've stuck out every game, every inning (even that game) because I expect them to give it their all no matter how futile, so I will to. Some do, some don't. Millar always does.

Teams wax & wane. RS & Yank players are old, many in their mid-late 30's. Sooner or later they'll be rebuilding from scratch too. Besides, Bush is mumbling about WW3. We'll never get a chance at a World Series if we have a damn world war. See, everyone's so busy with this Millar thing Bush's musings were missed.

by Montego76 on Oct 26, 2007 5:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs