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Internet 3, News Media 0

Michael Cox

Buenos dias, amigos, I'm happy you've torn yourself away from "Third Rock from the Sun" for a few moments with Baseballhead. We now officially dislike Ken Griffey Jr. as much as the rest of the media, only with us it's because he allowed himself to be filmed with the Little Pepsi Girl.

Before I continue, I'd like to let you know things will be changing a bit here at Strikethree.com, as we become part of the Rivals.com baseball network. The main changes you'll see will be cosmetic, as the fine folks at Rivals.com begin tending to the care and maintenance of our site. However, the usual gang of wiseguys will be up to the same wacky hijinks as always. We just won't have to kick the server in the ass as well.

The advantages to you, the reader, are many. First, the robust server farm at Rivals.com should serve up our pages better than our current provider. Second, Strikethree.com will become your hub to Rivals.com's plethora of individual team sites. Also, you will see improvements in the stats we provide.

And although this means that we will be partners with FOX Sports, it does not mean that we'll be able to start taking Keith Olbermann seriously. In short, Rivals.com wanted to be our partner because of what we do, so we see no reason to stop doing it. Don't be shy in sending your feedback -- remember that in the end, you, the reader, are responsible for our self-esteem.

This past week we had blowouts galore (capped by an ESPN substitute game in Denver that illustrated everything I hate about modern slugfests), Chuck Finley making dubious history by pitching his third four-strikeout inning in less than a year, and imminent approval of the Royals' new ownership. So what did the press choose to obsess about?

Bobby Valentine, of course.

Yes, from the people who brought you the Griffey three-way deal with Kansas City came more ado about something none of them actually witnessed -- in this case, Bobby V.'s informal talk at the Wharton School of Business. The esteemed Hackensack Record took the lead on the story, feeding the wire a piece which sounded like they had their own collegiate "Deep Throat," when in fact, the "tip" came from an anonymous post to a bulletin board on the Mets' web site.

Then, armed with inflammatory "quotes" supposedly dissing management for letting John Olerud and Masato Yoshii go and for hiring Todd Zeile, these intrepid reporters called up Mets GM Steve Phillips and played the Jerry Springer role for a few minutes. Because they managed to get Phillips to say he was "angry," the reporters laid their heads on their pillows dreaming of the Pulitzers they would surely win.

Unfortunately for the media, two things happened: 1) Phillips actually asked Bobby V. if all this really happened, and 2) the guy who made the post actually came out to say it was a joke.

Suffice to say, the so-called "legitimate press" still haven't gotten the hang of knowing when to believe anonymous Internet posts. (The correct answer, of course, is never.) Now, we here at Strikethree.com are simple country folk, not seasoned veteran reporters with major news services, and at times like this we're damned glad for it. For example, just look at ESPN.com's new managing baseball editor, whose visage today drips with chicken embryo after his earlier "Valentine must be stopped" rant (conveniently pulled from the site today).

Along the way, someone even embellished the fable with a subplot wherein Valentine tried to have the tapes of the event destroyed. This despite the fact that conspiracy theories are soooo 20th Century.

Everyone chose to believe the purported account because that's how they thought Valentine might behave. While that might not be far-fetched, it's far from a verified fact, and it's irresponsible and unethical to report it as such. But in the East coast media, it's not important that the story is right; it's more important that you run it before the New York Post does.

Anyway, the tapes of the event were finally transcribed into a story by the University of Pennsylvania newspaper, and while Our Bobby certainly pined for Kazuhiro Sasaki (who wouldn't?) and had decidedly unflattering comments for the departed Bobby Bonilla (who doesn't?), none of the media's tempestuous "quotes" surfaced. Not a one.

But the conventional media does not lose face well, and a funny story Valentine actually told about Rickey Henderson asking for the sports section of the Wall Street Journal was labeled "criticism" in a breaking AP wire story. Funny, but when Rickey was a Padre I remember Tony Gwynn doing a comedic impression of Henderson telling young players "listen to me, I've been there," and everyone thought it was endearing.

Thus closes another episode of Big Media vs. Internet, and as I see it, so far the Internet is pitching a shutout.

Michael Cox was going to sell Strikethree on eBay if this whole Rivals.com thing didn't work out, but some wiseguy bid $70 million and he got scared. Offer $5 and a slice of pecan pie instead at mc@strikethree.com.

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