Baseballhead:
Graying a Colorful Night

Michael Cox

Big ups from Baseballhead, who recently bust a gut at the "Win Ben Stein's Money" category, "Renoir and Stimpy."

Unfortunately, much like he hijacked the All-Century Team presentation to make a name for himself, NBC "interviewer" Jim Gray has taken over Baseballhead this week with his Pete Rose non-interview.

What questions do you ask someone who has just received the longest and loudest fan reaction of any of the all-time legends that have just been introduced? "How does it feel to be back on a major-league field?" "What did Hank Aaron say to you up there?" Maybe even in the case of Pete Rose, "What is your plan to attempt to be reinstated and enjoy this kind of adulation more often?"

Gray chose none of the above. He chose instead to undertake the worst possible line of questioning. Unfortunately, I can't give you the exact quotes word-for-word because MSNBC apparently removed the link to the video on Monday (not that many people could see it anyway, requiring Windows Media Player). However, it included such gems as just telling Rose that Bud Selig has "strong evidence" that Rose bet on baseball, then sticking the mic in Rose's face. What did Gray expect to hear? Did he think Rose would fall to his knees, sobbing and begging forgiveness? Did he even think Rose would admit to something that he hasn't admitted even once in ten years, even to his friends?

Let me be perfectly frank: I think Pete Rose bet on baseball. I also think that, not being the cleanest pair of shorts in the hamper, he associated with stupid people. People who were willing to do whatever it took, including possibly making up some evidence, to help bury him when the time came, if it was necessary to save their own skins. And when I say "people," of course I mean bookie/brain surgeon Ron Peters.

However, Gray purports to be an intelligent man. As an intelligent man, he had to have realized that browbeating Rose in an attempt to extract a confession was a doomed line of questioning, even if videotaped footage depicting Rose phoning in a baseball bet was uncovered. Gray should have realized also that it had no frame of reference in the moment -- a moment coincidentally shared with 17 other living legends.

Afterwards Gray was unrepentant, of course. One of the first things they teach you in journalism school is to stand by your reporting, no matter how imbecilic. "I stand by it, and I think it was absolutely a proper line of questioning," Gray said. "I felt I did my job and I did my job well."

Well, I have news for Jim Gray. If his job was to get his audience some sort of actual information from his guest, he failed. If his job was to dig until he got a new nugget of revelation, he failed. If his job was to provide an interesting sidebar to the collection of American heroes on the stage behind him, he failed. He not only didn't do his job well, he performed at the level of a high-school reporter. Or worse, Matt Drudge on Fox News Channel.

As a reporter, Jim Gray was a total and utter failure on Sunday night. He did not do his job. I don't care about his apologizing to Rose. Apologize to the public for wasting our time when he could have been speaking to, say, Sandy Koufax, who almost never speaks at all.

Here are some future interview questions you might be able to look forward to from the intrepid NBC journo:

- "How long has it been since you last beat your wife?" - to Wil Cordero, during the Indians' 2001 World Championship locker room celebration.

- "Would you like to apologize for hitting those trick-or-treaters? And while you're at it, to Hannah Storm?" - to Albert Belle, after he finally manages to win an MVP award in 2002.

- "Roberto, we've brought along John Hirschbeck and were hoping you'd have something to say to him here on national TV...?" - to Roberto Alomar, after the Veteran's Committee elects him to the Hall of Fame in 2011.

- And more imminently, as the commissioner hands the World Championship trophy to George Steinbrenner after Game Six, We should expect Gray to lean in and ask, "so, exactly why did you make those illegal contributions to Nixon's campaign?"

The possibilities are endless.

Michael Cox has never bet on Major League Baseball, but he did once bet on a company softball game in which he played right field. Ask him about all those "bloop singles" when you write him at mc@strikethree.com

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