Actions Speak Louder than Words

[Tony-OH]

Yeah, I saw that one but I didn't read it as Roch being snarky towards Tony so much as Roch being annoyed with the slap**** who posted the comment. It probably reads a little differently when you've written the piece.

Roch and I have exchanged many texts today and I know how he feels about things and he knows how I feel. We have differing opinions. I'm not going to badmouth him or make him out to be a bad guy, but yes, he certainly was not being supportive of my work. End of story.

[Dipper9]

Yeah, I saw that one but I didn't read it as Roch being snarky towards Tony so much as Roch being annoyed with the slap**** who posted the comment. It probably reads a little differently when you've written the piece.

To me, his comments tried to undermine the article by saying 1) it was nothing new (even though Roch has NEVER written these facts to his readers) and 2) he implies that Tony's source has some kind of agenda.

Roch doesn't take into account the fact that Tony published NOTHING from that source (or sources) until first getting the other side of the story from MacPhail himself.

It was just a poorly worded response from Roch, in my opinion, which means nothing to the local media because I'm just an anonymous name on a message board.

[Hank Scorpio]

Roch and I have exchanged many texts today and I know how he feels about things and he knows how I feel. We have differing opinions. I'm not going to badmouth him or make him out to be a bad guy, but yes, he certainly was not being supportive of my work. End of story.

Roger that.

[allstar1579]

Roch and I have exchanged many texts today and I know how he feels about things and he knows how I feel. We have differing opinions. I'm not going to badmouth him or make him out to be a bad guy, but yes, he certainly was not being supportive of my work. End of story.

Fair enough. Thanks for letting us know that you talked to him.

[baltfan]

I'm going to try to take the high road in all of this, but I agree with this. I was not surprised at all by Melewski's comments, but I was by Roch's, especially considering the amount of support I've given him over the years. His response was very disappointing to me from several angles, but hey, he's allowed to have any opinion he wants.

With all due respect, there has been a meme lately throughout the website (mainly posters versus management) that Roch and Melewski are shills for the Orioles. The mildest accusations have been that they are just naturally inhibited because MASN (and hence the Orioles) is their employer. On the other end of the spectrum have been those that have claimed they are doing damage control for the Orioles or intentionally don't write things that would put the Orioles in a bad light. I think you have implied the former. Posters have said the latter. To your credit, you stuck up for Roch against such accusations.

If you are a professional, like those guys are, then such accusations can wear thin. Moreover, the questions in the comments section that they were responding to also insinuated that they at a bare minimum had not been doing their job. Accordingly, maybe the snippiness is to be expected.

I think it is natural for them to be a bit defensive. I do, however, agree with you especially on the some of the information that you provided Stockstill and Bernhardt being untouchable.

[Lefty0315]

Now we know Steve's true feelings on Tony and the article.

Holgash | July 22, 2010 10:58 AM | Reply

Steve,

I have not posted here in a while but there are some things I need to get off my chest. First, I fail to understand how Tony's (on the OH) article was "much ado about nothing" when you or Roch have never reported on these things in the past 10 years? Secondly, it may be hard to produce a solid hitting guy, but when you have the same guy as the Director of Player Personnel for 6 years, and he fails to produce one Major League-level hitter outside of the first round something is wrong. This organization has more problems than you will let on, and it all starts at the top with Mr. Angelos who is probably one of the worst owners to ever own a baseball team. It really stinks that we got a lawyer as an owner instead of an innovative business man who could have brought this organization back to prominence. I don't understand how you can not look at that article and question the direction the team is heading, if all the teams in the AL East have more scouts, spend way more money than us in FA and International signings than there must be something wrong. I can no longer stand up for an organization that has failed so so so many times.

----------------------------

I addressed some of this in my series of articles on the O's minors and there are other topics where maybe a disgrunteld former employee tells someone that doesn't make it into a newspaper like the Sun or our website. There are plenty of good reasons for that, but none of them are because we don't take on tough topics.

I am not going to turn this into me vs. the Hangout. I supported that site when I was at WBAL Radio and was the first ever in Baltimore radio to put Tony on the air. I was the first media member in Balt to push for them to get a press credential. All details they never seem to mention to their fan base.

I continued to have good relationships with his many minor lg reporters and have offered many of them help and advice that they have sought from me. Just ask them.

Tony has taken subtle and more than subtle shots at me in recent months. If you don't agree with his work or opinion, it causes problems. I can take any criticism, believe me. Guess it seems when I get criticized I need to just take it, but if I say anything in repsonse I am being "snarky."

I have done more for that site over the years than any media member in Balt. Now that they get on all the radio shows around town, no one there cares to even acknowledge that anymore.

I have heard about this expose for weeks and weeks. I didn't see a single comment from MacPhail that was new or suprising in any way. I expected more after all the hype. That is my honest opinion. - Steve.

[Tony-OH]

Now we know Steve's true feelings on Tony and the article.

I'm not going to get into this publicly. Steve and I had a falling out awhile back and it's between him and I. He's taken his public shots, good for him. I have no desire to get into a public feud with him or anyone else in the media.

[maudibjr]

Tony, its understandable that Roch could not actually write an article like you did, but any idea why he would make the kind of comments he did? It ALMOST lends creadence to the NST guys' stance that Roch is just an apologist, and I REALLY did not want to believe that.

Regardless, the remaining NST guys are jacka**'s

[TonySoprano]

I don't think either of them said that criticism of the team isn't accurate.

This is the comment from Roch that stood out

And we know the main "source" supplying all the info. It's obvious to all of us on the beat. I'm sure it makes for a good read for some people, and Tony went to a lot of time and trouble to produce it.

They knew the source, but chose not to publish info from them, is the implication.

[TiredofLosing20]

"I didn't see a single comment from MacPhail that was new or suprising in any way."

That is because AM got out in front of this the week before in the Sun and on 105.7 the day before it came out...

[SrMeowMeow]

I found the piece to be disappointing. As a well-researched summary, it was good, but as an expose, the most interesting claims were unsourced:

some believe those championships were aided by the collusion in the late ’80s by MLB owners

When they attempted to get an approximate budget, it became apparent way too quickly that they were not going to be given an amount.

Reportedly Joe Nathan was the middle reliever.

Some believe that former assistant Wayne Krivsky took a lateral transfer with the Mets due to not having as much responsibility with the Orioles as he would have liked.

Just to be clear, if this seems like nit-picking, these quotes stand in stark contrast to the section on David Stockstill, for example, which is full of "multiple sources said", etc.

Other points:

Regarding the topic of the Orioles being too slow to complete trade negotiations, there's no mention made of potential bad deals that the Orioles were saved from by caution.

So if I understand correctly, the $21 million went into signing two guys they would have needed to resign anyway. And does this suggest if Teixeira was signed they wouldn't be putting more money into scouting and development? I guess I don't see it as an either-or situation for this organization.

MacPhail's overarching theme is one of having to be efficient with resources. "Two guys they would have needed to resign anyway" trivializes how huge an impact a Teixeira signing would have had on our ability to allocate resources elsewhere.

This last one is a nit-pick, but I think it would be more impartial to factor inflation into the final point:

According to Forbes magazine the Orioles are worth $376 million. Angelos bought the team for $173 million in 1993. MASN brings tens of millions of dollars a year to the Orioles who are profiting from Steven Strasburg’s popularity. It’s hard for anyone to believe the bottom line is not good.

$173 million in 1993 is $263 million today.

***

Anyway, most of the legitimately disturbing claims came from before MacPhail's tenure began, and his quotes were intelligent and coherent. I didn't read any sourced criticisms of MacPhail that made any impact on me, and this comes from someone who is slowly losing faith. I have more confidence in his plan after reading this piece than I did before.

[RandyM]

I'm not going to get into this publicly. Steve and I had a falling out awhile back and it's between him and I. He's taken his public shots, good for him. I have no desire to get into a public feud with him or anyone else in the media.

Tony -

Thanks for taking the high road. There is no reason for you to get into the fray.

That is the great thing of having a place like the OH. You provide an alternative outlet for Orioles topics than the status quo. It is our job to formulate our OWN opinions after hearing both sides. Instead of drinking whatever one side says like lemmings. Thanks for providing info for us to make an INFORMED decision.

[El Gordo]

This is the comment from Roch that stood outThey knew the source, but chose not to publish info from them, is the implication.

Perhaps they "considered the source"?......:scratchchinhmm:

[Tank]

Great article Tony. The people that are disappointed are that way because they turned it into something that it was never going to be. Hopefully this brings some awareness to the casual fan and the front office takes steps to correct things.

[El Gordo]

The Duque and Kennedy were referring to Tony's article on XM today. Nothing specific, just Duque joking about how he first looked to see if it said anything bad about him. Didn't get the impression he was a source...:scratchchinhmm: