I wrote in my ESPN.com column last week about an interview I had with Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez. At the time I wasn't aware that an excerpt from the interview -- which my ESPN producers and I chose not to run -- had been distributed and then used to unfairly bash Manny.
Before the tapes were rolling on our official interview, Ramirez said that if he didn't re-sign with Boston when his current deal expires in 2008, he would love to go back home to play in New York City. After moving to America from the Dominican Republic as a 13-year-old, Ramirez lived in New York. He told me that off camera. Playing for the Yankees was a childhood dream of his that so far hasn't been realized.
When he went on camera -- for the taping of the interview, which was not live -- he made further brief comments about possibly playing for the Yankees.
Because I felt these comments were not an accurate representation of his remarks overall, I asked our producers not to include them on our Sunday Night Baseball telecast. We agreed that they shouldn't be used because they could potentially be misleading.
Later, this portion of the videotape was used elsewhere on ESPN by those who were unaware of the decision-making process of our Sunday Night Baseball crew. And sure enough, it sounded almost like Manny wanted to catch the first flight to New York and play for the Yankees. But that didn't reflect what he actually told me.
Naturally, this turn of events was frustrating and upsetting to me. Now that I've had some time to think about, I realize there are several important issues involved -- and hopefully they can be lessons for us in the media and for players alike.
Childhood Dreams
First, my intent with my Sunday Night Baseball interviews is not to play "gotcha journalism" -- I'll leave that to the investigative reporters. It isn't "20/20" or "60 Minutes." I tell the players I interview, from Albert Pujols to Barry Bonds, that I want to treat it as a conversation between two ballplayers talking baseball. I want fans to see another side of these athletes, perhaps a more human side.
For instance, in our conversation, Ramirez talked about his growing-up days in New York and his family -- topics that revealed more about who he is and how he got to where he is today. Why wasn't that seized and talked about by the mainstream media?
Granted, the Red Sox and Yankees have a storied rivalry and are in another pennant race, but so what if Manny says he dreamed about playing for the Yankees. The guy grew up in New York City! And he played his high-school baseball in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Do the Red Sox own Manny's rights for the rest of his career?
I grew up in the Bay Area, and I dreamed of playing for the San Francisco Giants. But things worked out well for me in Cincinnati, and later I wound up playing for both Bay Area teams: the Giants (in '81 and '82) and the Oakland Athletics (in '84, though the A's weren't in Oakland when I was a kid).
Controversy Can't Trump Accuracy
A second key issue in this situation is as old as journalism itself: accuracy and fairness. In today's media, too often controversy becomes more important than accuracy (and the story itself).
In television reporting, accuracy might seem to be automatic -- but as this case indicates, even TV interviews have the potential for "misquoting" someone. You might object that Manny wasn't misquoted, because his Yankee comments are right there on tape. However, while you hear what he said, you don't hear the interviewer's question or the context.
A player might speak for several minutes, but if you take just one sound bite that ignores the context, you run the risk of being inaccurate. Of course, when a TV or print reporter uses a quote, it's often taken from a longer conversation. But the reporter must be careful that such quotes aren't taken out of context so as to make them misleading.
A related issue for Manny is that English is his second language. If I were to say something in Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, I easily could say something that might be misunderstood.
Integrity Is Paramount
The final issue I want to explore is trust.
Incidents like these create a rift between the media and the players. If you were a professional athlete, would you want to risk doing an interview and end up looking bad not because of anything you say but because of a reporter's inaccuracy?
Some ballplayers come to the conclusion that the safest policy is to not speak with the media at all. In this group are several of Ramirez's teammates, including Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Lowe. Over the years, plenty of great players have taken this approach, and the fans end up losing out.
Interviewers must build trust with players, and I work hard to do just that. Furthermore, my integrity is more important to me than my job. You can get another job, but once you lose your integrity, you can't get it back. In the future, I will endeavor to protect my integrity with players, fans and members of the media.
No Chat This Week: Since I'm traveling all day Friday, I won't be able to chat as usual. But I look forward to resuming our usual chat time next Friday at 10:45 a.m. ET.
An analyst for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan won back-to-back World Series and MVP awards with the Reds in 1975 and '76.