Whether you are a Red Sox or Yankees fan or just a baseball fan in general, everyone would agree that the Red Sox/Yankees ALCS Best of 7 Series was one for the record books.
Aside from the well-known legacy of the Yankees and their ability to land in the post season every year since 1995, and so-called curse of the “Bambino” in the case of the Red Sox, after Game 3 of the ALCS, baseball fans everywhere were erupting with tension after the incident involving Pedro Martinez and, 72 year old bench coach Don Zimmer.
Almost every sports broadcaster broke the so-called “rule of ethics,” when reporting “objective news media” after the last pitch of Game 3 was thrown. Isn’t the job of a journalist to report “factual, objective news to their audiences?”
Of course, but in the case of Tim McCarver, a well known sports broadcaster for Fox Sports who just so happens to be a Yankee fan, repeatedly blamed pitcher, Pedro Martinez, for tossing Yankee Bench Coach, Don Zimmer on the ground. McCarver continued to state his opinion, throughout the game, by commenting negatively on the Red Sox and their fans. Who wants to hear an opinion from a biased sports announcer, especially Tim McCarver? I know I don’t.
Similarly, on the front page of the NY Post, the headline read “Fenway Punk.” The front page of the Boston Globe read “MLB Fines Pedro and Manny; and Zimmer and Garcia of Yankees.”
Is there anything strange about these two headlines and how they differ?
My point is that, the New York media, especially newspapers, blamed Martinez and his “inability to control his frustration, and not the baseball,” and the Boston news media stated the facts, however, did quote Red Sox players, in their articles, in an attempt to report objectively on what happened in this suspenseful and debatable playoff game.
According to Jim Caple, a writer for ESPN.com, “people will excuse Zimmer because he’s old and supposedly a lovable character (he isn’t) but his behavior was disgraceful and inexcusable. Not that the Yankees agree.
That’s because they never think they’re at fault whenever anything happens.” A perfect example of biased news reporting, obviously Caple, according to his comments, is a Red Sox fan.
New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg commented on the situation by saying, ”
If that happened in New York we would have arrested the perpetrator. Nobody should throw a 70-year-old man to the ground, period. … You just cannot assault people, even if it’s on a baseball field.”
Of course, Bloomberg would say this; he has to, as the Governor of New York. If he took the side of the Red Sox pitcher, Pedro Martinez, I wouldn’t count on Bloomberg winning the next Gubernatorial Election in New York.
In conclusion, the Yankees and Red Sox are both excellent baseball teams and there is no question they both earned their spot in the post season. But, the issue here is, when are broadcast journalists going to realize, especially in the sports industry, that as soon as you make a comment reflecting what side you belong to, or what team you support, you can no longer be looked at as a “professional, ethical” and most importantly, “objective” journalist?
