Hey, Thanks a Lot, Coach! (With Clarification. Updated Wednesday, 8/11.)
On Sunday, Orleans had just scored in the top of the tenth to take a 5-4 lead over Brewster in the deciding Game 3 of their Eastern division semifinal. Brewster comes up to bat in a last-ditch effort to save their season. Two singles put runners on the corners with only one out. All of a sudden, there is hope for the home team. The batter works the count to 2-2. On the next pitch, the batter grounds one toward the second baseman who starts a 4-6-3 doubleplay. There is jubilation on the Orleans side. On the Brewster side, there is a little bit of shock at such a sudden ending to the season.
Hours after the game, a Brewster broadcaster tweets a message that says ”According to Myers, Walla missed a squeeze sign before hitting into that game-ending double play.”
I’m just wonderin’… Was it really necessary for Brewster coach Tom Myers to throw that out there? I’m sure that made Cohl Walla feel a lot better about the ending. If I’m Walla, I’m thinking “Thanks coach! Really appreciate that.”
At the same time, does the broadcaster really need to tweet about the missed sign in that situation? The coach mentioning it to the broadcaster is fine, behind the scenes stuff and other game information is passed between coach and broadcaster in various sports all the time. But that’s not something you tweet about. A guy missed a sign, he missed a sign and it happens all the time; no need to throw him under the bus on Twitter.
First things first, nobody knows if this is a genuine quote or not. That being said…
The broadcaster? Seriously? The title of “broadcaster” alone should tell you that this is not the person to be confiding in. All the broadcaster did was his job. Maybe it was sheepish and morally questionable to mention it on his part. But aside from maybe a moral miscue, he didn’t really do anything wrong. If the words were never said in the first place then the entire incident never happens. If this is true, leave the broadcaster alone. Chastise the coach of the team for breaking one of baseball’s time-tested golden rules. “Keep it in the dugout.” Or better yet, keep it to yourself if it serves no purpose. And after the season ended, what was the point?
Anyone who knows anything about sports knows you keep those comments in the clubhouse. You might not even say anything about it to anyone. Maybe he missed the call. But to mention to anyone at all that a player missed the signal sounds more like an attempt by the coach to absolve himself of accountability than anything else. Made more ridiculous by the fact that Myers is responsible for the players on the field…even if they miss a call. He’s the coach.
I have heard rumors of Myers’ possible alternate agenda coaching in this league. And have heard it from reputable sources. However they are still rumors. And he would just be one in a long list of CCBL coaches trying to better their careers if this were the case. And it would not surprise me if these allegations were true. Again, at this point it’s literally heresy. Probably will never be anything more. Even when you consider the fact that the broadcaster had nothing to gain from putting that information out there.
And yes, missed signals happen all the time. Of course they do. They happen in the MLB and you can bet sure as the sun will rise that they happen often in the CCBL as well. If this were any other game it would have been nothing but side-show news at best. But since the accusation throws blame for considerably more than a missed signal, and in fact is offered up as a good possibility as to why the team is no longer in the playoffs? Well that’s just depressing. Especially, and I sincerely mean especially, in this league.
Fred Katz, broadcaster for the Brewster Whitecaps, contacted me and provided clarification as to the context in which Tom Myers made the comment regarding Cohl Walla missing the sign before grounding into the game-ending doubleplay on Sunday. In the original post, I did not mention Fred by name. I had no problem with Fred tweeting what he did. He was reporting what was said to him and in following Fred, I have always found him to be a reliable source of information. When reading what he has to say, I’m sure you will agree that he is an upstanding individual who didn’t hide behind anonymity. Here is what Fred had to say:
“Read your article on the missed sign. If you want to print a revision, this wasn’t said in any sort of off the record setting. Myers said it on the postgame show, knowing he was live. Anything said into a microphone is implied on the record. And you’re more than welcome to use my name in a revision or any future articles. No need for me to hide from the commenters. People can hear the post-game show on the broadcast link on the team website. The link is to ustream.tv.”
I don’t have a big problem with what was said. My only point was that I don’t think it needed to be said publicly, but we have all said things we wish we could take back. I thought about it before I posted it. I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do, but I figured the information was already out there for public consumption so why not share it with CodBall readers? Whether Myers regrets having said what he did, only he knows. I absolutely feel that Fred Katz was well within his right to share the info under the circumstances in which it was said to him.
Dave and Fred, thanks for your candid and insightful reporting. It’s rewarding to see this site as a place where fans, teams and broadcasters can discuss issues of the day.
Of course none of this is an issue in a few days. Once the season ends it seems that all articles, coverage, and any media at all regarding the CCBL evaporates. The short story is, regardless of how it’s taken, it never should have been said in the first place. The fact that it was clarified as being mentioned for public consumption was what kind of struck me as odd. But then, such is life.
The clarification was provided because someone questioned whether or not it was a legitimate quote from Myers. Now we know it was legit. You are right about this being a non-issue in a few days. For most, it is already a non-issue and I’m betting Cohl Walla has already forgotten about it – if he even heard about it.
As for the comment that “Once the season ends it seems that all articles, coverage, and any media at all regarding the CCBL evaporates,” I am always surprised at how little off-season coverage the league gets if you want to talk about “mainstream” coverage. Literally two days after the season ends, there may not be another mention of the CCBL for months. It’s like the season ends and the curtain drops. I have to point out though, that CodBall had 75 posts between the end of last season and the beginning of this season. Not all 75 posts were specific to the Cape League, but they all tied in somehow. 75 posts in the ten-month offseason seems pretty good to me. In addition to CodBall, our friend Will over at Right Field Fog does an excellent job year-round. Thanks to Scott Eaton, the Wareham Gatemen website is a great source for news all year long.
A lot of people say stupid things at some point. Maybe after a difficult series with Orleans and after a trying season, Coach Myers said something he now regrets during a post-game interview. That happens. Maybe it shouldn’t happen, but it does happen. I saw the original tweet(before it was posted on Codball) and read it as an end of the season, maybe coach thinking people were second-guessing his decision making type of response. I didn’t give it a second thought.
I am surprised that the tweet ended up on this blog. First, because I don’t think it is much of an issue. Second, because putting it on this blog gives more people information on this. If you google Cohl Walla and Cape Cod, this story is on the first page of results. It went from being a post-game recording to a tweet to a blog post. At each level, more people have access to the information.
The article grew legs because…it did. Sometimes there are more important tid-bits that never seem to get noticed, other times you’re left wondering, “this is newsworthy?” Regardless, I still feel that it was probably in poor taste to have said the words at all. The fact that this seems disproportionately amplified through the various public networking avenues, not the least of wich is this site, just serves purpose that certain things should be kept to yourself.
One can only hope Cohl is not aware of this. Because I would hate to imagine the last impression he would have of his involvement in this legendary league would be that of his coach telling anyone who would listen that Cohl missed a signal. It was so insignificant of a statement that it’s actually more pressing that it never should have been said.
And yep, we all say dumb things from time to time. And yep, so have I. But the fact of the matter is, as a coach of these young men you’re held to a higher standard. You have to be. Does it mean we grab the torches and pitchforks and hunt him down like Frankenmyers? Of course not. It was a dumb little sentence that seemed to slip through the channels and get some steam.
In the end though, lesson learned. If at the end you fail, keep your mouth shut about why if it involves holding anyone other than yourself accountable. It just doesn’t matter. And I feel most people would have been happier if the words were never said.
And I’m looking forward to reading about the championships. Hopefully a massive upset by Cotuit…who is up 2 – 0 in the 3rd as I type. I’m outta here for the day. The West is the Best!