John Kruk is a schmuck, Conflict of interests

Last night/this morning, I was watching ESPN's Baseball Tonight crew commenting about the World Series. One segment had Bobby Valentine and John Kruk predicting who would win the World Series.

Kruk predictably went with the Phillies, a club with which he spent most of his professional career. Valentine went with the Yankees and offered a reasonable explanation as to why.

Kruk countered with, "When is someone going to hire you?" This comment seems to be cut out of later airings. It was an ad hominem attack on Valentine that shows Kruk's pettiness when a)someone disagrees with him, and b)someone at ESPN says the Yankees have a chance. His comment had absolutely NOTHING to do with the topic at hand.

I don't think ESPN should even have Kruk commenting about the World Series anyway since he played for one of the teams in contention. It's conflict of interests.

Carole - I saw it and my reaction was the same as yours. Although Valentine appeared to laugh it off, he wasn't looking in Kruk's direction. They quickly went to a commercial. Whether that was pre-planned or not, it couldn't have come at a better time. If that was an attempt to grab some viewers, it was a huge mistake.

ESPN is trying in vain to match the MLB Network and the harder they try, the worse it gets - not that they weren't already the pits. With the exception of Tim Kirkjian and Buster Olney, they have no one who can be unbiased, informed and speak English as a first language. They got rid of Steve Phillips (and it shouldn't have taken a scandal to do it). Valentine is an upgrade there. The next one to get the hook should be Dave Winfield. I cringe just listening to him make it up as he goes. Of course, the host, Karl Ravech is IMO, a good argument against cloning.

I've heard people raving about the MLB Network. A lot of them are Yankees fans, I don't know if that's because the MLB Network is pro-Yankees or just plain neutral, something ESPN will never be. ESPN has many Red Sox fans working for them and it is something that has been admitted by people at ESPN. One of my friend is a Mets fan and he also really loved the MLB Network, ESPN better watch out.

My beloved boyfriend Ron came up with an excellent nickname for ESPN: NESPN, for NESN, the network that carries the Red Sox. I have only seen the MLB Network online, but have also heard raves about it and have campaigned for my cable company to get it.

I was also happy that ESPN fired Steve Phillips after Harold Reynolds got the sack for just HUGGING an intern. Harold was one of my favorites on Baseball Tonight; I'm glad he's landed on his feet at the MLB Network. Hopefully, Steve Phillips will not.

Totally agreed about Kurkjian and Olney. Don't forget Orel Hershiser in the booth. I like him too. I quit watching Baseball Tonight in 2006 when Harold Reynolds was fired and Tino Martinez was let go.

They just appear to have people who know what the heck they are talking about. There are many ex-players working either in the booth or on the set who can actually be objective. The only reason I don't watch the MLB network is that my cable company doesn't carry it. I think next year, I will switch to either DirectTV or the Dish.

ESPN has slowly gone the "tabloid route" to try to keep the viewers they do have. Since Harold Reynolds left, I've lost count of the number of guys who've gone through the revolving door. (IMO, Reynolds was given the shaft for refusing to stoop to the level management wanted in raking A-Rod over the coals when he was struggling or make a big deal out of the fact the he and Jeter weren't best buddies anymore). I clearly remember the broadcast the Sunday before the announcement came he was being fired. While the rest of the panel had a field day ripping A-Rod, Reynolds hardly had anything to say and was clearly not comfortable with the direction the conversation was taking.

ESPN seems more fascinated with the NFL anyway. There were times when I had to ask myself if the MLB season was over as soon as football exhibition games started.

I was also happy that ESPN fired Steve Phillips after Harold Reynolds got the sack for just HUGGING an intern. Harold was one of my favorites on Baseball Tonight; I'm glad he's landed on his feet at the MLB Network. Hopefully, Steve Phillips will not.

Totally agreed about Kurkjian and Olney. Don't forget Orel Hershiser in the booth. I like him too. I quit watching Baseball Tonight in 2006 when Harold Reynolds was fired and Tino Martinez was let go.

Oh, I agree 100%. Orel is too good for ESPN. I hope he leaves them high and dry, along with Olney and Kirkjian. Then they'd be left with just what they deserve - nothing. Sometimes I had trouble understanding what Tino was saying because he talked so fast, but he did know what he was talking about!

We've got 2 cable companies in this area and neither one of them has given any indication they will add the MLB network. Part of the reason may be that it's not heavily populated. However, I noticed quite a few of my neighbors have switched to "the dish" in the past year or so and the size of the dish has decreased to the point now that it's not much larger than a rose bush. Many people have them installed in back of the house, on the garage or a shed.

You should have stopped right there, Carole. This is far more accurate. Kruk is an idiot. His former team is irrelevant...he's just an idiot, plain and simple. Good for Valentine for pretty much ignoring the comment.

Now, having said that........

If that is part of the criteria for who should and should not comment on the World Series at both ESPN and MLB Network, then the following gentlemen also should not be allowed to comment on the World Series because of a possible "conflict of interests":

From ESPN -- Orestes Destrade, Buck Showalter, and Dave Winfield (all former Yankees), Buster Olney (former Yankees beat writer) and Jayson Stark (former Phillies beat writer)

From MLB Network -- Tony Clark and Al Leiter (former Yankees), Dan Plesac and Mitch Williams (former Phillies), Jon Heyman (former Yankees beat writer), Matt Yallof (used to work at Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia), and Tom Verducci (co-author of The Yankee Years)

I assume that Jim Kaat should be allowed to comment on the World Series, since he is a former Yankee and a former Phillie.

If there's a conflict of interests with John Kruk, then don't you think there might be a conflict of interests with these guys as well?

If MLB is biased towards the Yankees, or "pro-Yankees" as you described it (same thing), then they would be just as bad as ESPN, yes? I mean, after all, aren't these networks supposed to be neutral, and not pro-one-team-or-another? I'm just sayin....

Absolutely! And ditto for their magazine, which was actually pretty good for the first few issues. Now the magazine is drek. Ripping A-Rod to shreds had more to do with simple tabloid "journalism" (and I use the term journalism very loosely here) than with the team he played for.

Anyway...back to Carole's original comment...John Kruk is definitely a schmuck!

My brother gets the MLB Network. I've seen it for myself.

I used to watch Baseball Tonight every night, but didn't watch it any this past season. I love MLB network.
Happy with Direct TV.
Doris you probaly would also enjoy some of their classic games. after I typed that it seemed like someone might be implying an age issue. Someone means only that you enjoy classics.

Relic, yes.....classic, hardly. I knew what you meant.

Looks like I'll be ditching cable next year - everyone seems to love the dish.