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anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

Avenger wrote:anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

What? Where did you read this? The interview doesn't seem to be on the fan's site, where can I find it?

Avenger wrote:anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

Really? too bad i missed that one, but yea I'd like to see a link or something to that story... good on the fan for that. I hate how wilner thinks he's the be all and end all of baseball at all times. Sometimes guys that have been in the game for 30+ years now more than a talking head on the radio...

Didn't see the game but was good to see the final result. Saw the recap and Beast's two home runs - he crushed those two pitches without even putting much effort to his swing.

Avenger wrote:anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

Wilner always tries to act like a smartass and now he was upset that Cito "belittled" him in front of the other media. Of course his followers are riding to his rescue, blaming every negative thing about the last series on Cito

The interview happened during the post game media scrum and wasn't on the radio. I've only read Wilner's side of the story on his own blog and i'm shocked he still doesn't see how wrong he is.

Wilner questioned why Cito took out Camp and bought in Downs to face brignac(2nd game of Tampa series). Cito who probably knows how much Wilner criticizes him on the radio gave him a vague answer when he asked WIlner if he saw the stats. Wilner thought Cito was referring to Brignac vs Downs' matchup which was based on only 1 at bat and asked Cito why he makes decisions based on such a small sample size. Now i don't know about anyone else but its obvious to me Cito was referring to brignac's career platoon splits, he's absolutely terrible against lefties and Cito decides to bring in his best(and only) lefty in a tight ball game. Wilner, being the arrogant and condescending prick he is assumed that Cito made the decision based on Brignac's one career at bat against Downs when in reailty the decision was based on Brignac's career numbers against lefties.

Avenger wrote:anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

Interesting stuff. Haven't heard the interview though. Anyone have a link? Or the did the Fan take it off the site or something?

Edit: Nvm, just saw your above post.

As much as I hate the people that call into Wilner's show, he acts like a huge douche most of the time.

Avenger wrote:The interview happened during the post game media scrum and wasn't on the radio. I've only read Wilner's side of the story on his own blog and i'm shocked he still doesn't see how wrong he is.

Wilner questioned why Cito took out Camp and bought in Downs to face brignac(2nd game of Tampa series). Cito who probably knows how much Wilner criticizes him on the radio gave him a vague answer when he asked WIlner if he saw the stats. Wilner thought Cito was referring to Brignac vs Downs' matchup which was based on only 1 at bat and asked Cito why he makes decisions based on such a small sample size. Now i don't know about anyone else but its obvious to me Cito was referring to brignac's career platoon splits, he's absolutely terrible against lefties and Cito decides to bring in his best(and only) lefty in a tight ball game. Wilner, being the arrogant and condescending prick he is assumed that Cito made the decision based on Brignac's one career at bat against Downs when in reailty it was the decision was based on Brignac's career numbers against lefties.

dont they usually have his interviews on tape online?

Bautista is The Franchise. Never stop.

And Cecil may have just pitched the best game of his career (he's the only pitcher this season to go 8 innings vs. the NYY, and his only ER came as a result of Wells' misplay). I love how I keep saying that about all of these guys.

rkid wrote:It's kind of interesting/frustrating to see 4 of the best teams record-wise stacked up in the same division.

Nothing unusual there, especially if you've noticed the Jays' pythagorean adjusted records in recent years.

Avenger wrote:anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

No, not happy at all. Quite frankly, I think suspending media members because they ask challenging questions to managers isn't a good move for Rogers. And it will most certainly only lead to censored and filtered content for us, the viewers. Where is this "insulting and condescending interview" by the way?

Avenger wrote:The interview happened during the post game media scrum and wasn't on the radio. I've only read Wilner's side of the story on his own blog and i'm shocked he still doesn't see how wrong he is.

It was a pre-game media scrum, and since you haven't heard what happened (other than Wilner's impression), I'm really not sure how you've gotten it into your head that it was "insulting and condescending." Seems like a bias is showing here.

Wilner questioned why Cito took out Camp and bought in Downs to face brignac(2nd game of Tampa series). Cito who probably knows how much Wilner criticizes him on the radio gave him a vague answer when he asked WIlner if he saw the stats. Wilner thought Cito was referring to Brignac vs Downs' matchup which was based on only 1 at bat and asked Cito why he makes decisions based on such a small sample size. Now i don't know about anyone else but its obvious to me Cito was referring to brignac's career platoon splits, he's absolutely terrible against lefties and Cito decides to bring in his best(and only) lefty in a tight ball game. Wilner, being the arrogant and condescending prick he is assumed that Cito made the decision based on Brignac's one career at bat against Downs when in reailty the decision was based on Brignac's career numbers against lefties.

It may have been a misunderstanding between the two of them, but that doesn't mean Cito didn't make a mistake. Brignac's career splits still aren't a very good justification to pull an effective pitcher in Shawn Camp with 2 outs in a 5-3 game, especially with a lefty masher in BJ Upton on deck with the power to tie the game. It was pointless micro-managing and a poor decision by Cito Gaston. One of many that he had that night.

youngLion wrote:

Avenger wrote:anyone else very very happy to hear Mike Wilner suspended by the fan590 for his insulting and condescending interview with Cito Gaston. The moron probably thought he was invincible just because he gets away with being a douchebag on his radio show every night.

What? Where did you read this? The interview doesn't seem to be on the fan's site, where can I find it?

It wasn't an interview. He asked him a few questions among other media members in a scrum looking to get an explanation for the inane way that Cito managed the bullpen on Tuesday. Cito reacted defensively and a few days later, here we are with Wilner suspended. It seems that he got suspended for legitimate journalism and doing his job.

Funny, I remember when Wilner's critics used to call him a Rogers shill.

Yeah i'm shocked Mustard that you're taking an anti-Cito side, i don't know if its worthy talking to a person that is so incapable of putting aside his personal feelings about someone to objectively think about the situation.

BJ upton is hardly a lefty masher, his platoon splits are relatively minor (112 OPS+ vs 96), Scott Downs is also not a LOOGY, in the last few years he's been equally tough on lefties and righties, he's as capable as anyone of getting BJ **** upton out. Brignac on the other hand does have platoon problems, why else do you think Joe Maddon doesn't give him AB's against lefties? I can guarantee more than half the managers in the league make that move.

And it wasn't Rogers that suspended Wilner, it was the fan590. Part of being a broadcaster/reporter is maintain a professional (and even friendly in the sports business)relationship with the people you cover, you don't get to treat the manger the in the same insulting and condescending tone you use against your radio program callers. Asking tough questions and treating people with respect are not antithetical, no reason you can't do both, you and your boy Wilner don't seem to grasp something so obvious. Its irrelevant if Rogers owns the fan590, they basically own a million other companies, that doesn't mean they'll go after every minion for criticizing their people. Why don't they didn't get Bob McCowan suspended because he trashes Rogers every single day on his radio program.

Cito had every right to get defensive, Wilner was blatantly and purposefully misrepresenting his reasoning behind the decision. Also this isn't the first time Mike Wilner has shown a personal grudge against him. Recently in one of his blog posts, Wilner suggested that the reason Cito wasn't moving Overbay out of the lineup was because he liked seeing Overbay suffer as a revenge for the so called mutiny last year? Do you think that's a fair thing to say when Cito has publicly said a number of times that he wanted to give Lyle a chance to put up numbers and earn a contract. Now i'm not saying Cito should be doing that either, because its not his job to worry about a player's contract but its far less sinister than to suggest Cito likes to see players get humiliated. Wilner was probably warned by his bosses to not cut down the personal attacks then and looks like they've had enough of him.

Avenger wrote:Yeah i'm shocked Mustard that you're taking an anti-Cito side, i don't know if its worthy talking to someone that is so incapable of putting aside his personal feelings about someone to objectively think about the situation.

Cito Gaston is one of my favourite people in baseball. He's just a terrible tactician, and this should be obvious to anybody that's watched this team over the last two decades.

BJ upton is hardly a lefty masher, his platoon splits are relatively minor (112 OPS+ vs 96), Scott Downs is also not a LOOGY, in the last few years he's been equally tough on lefties and righties. Brignac on the other hand does have platoon problems, why else do you think Joe Maddon doesn't give him AB's against lefties?

#1. Yes, Upton has significant splits, especially this year.
#2. The fact that Downs is not a LOOGY is exactly the reason he should have been saved for a possible Gregg blowup (Cito Gaston told the media after the game that if he had Downs available, he would have pulled Gregg earlier).
#3. Brignac's platoon problems are irrelevant because it was a 5-3 game with two outs. There is no need to micro-manage there and pull Camp out after 6 pitches.
#4. This isn't an issue of Cito vs. Wilner. It's an issue of media censorship.

And it wasn't Rogers that suspended Wilner, it was the fan590. Part of being a broadcaster/reporter is maintain a professional (and even friendly in the sports business)relationship with the people you cover, you don't get to treat the manger the in the same insulting and condescending tone you use against your radio program callers.

Considering you weren't in the scrum, you have no idea what tone he used to Cito Gaston in his line of questioning. Please stop talking out of your ass.

Part of Wilner's job is to ask legitimate, challenging questions of people. Not pander to them.

Cito had every right to get defensive, Wilner was blatantly and purposefully misrepresenting his reasoning behind the decision.

No, Wilner had a reasonable question about Cito's bullpen management, one that I would have asked myself in the same position. It seems there was a misunderstanding about the statistics that Cito was talking about, but that doesn't mean Wilner "misrepresented" anybody's reasoning.

Also this isn't the first time Mike Wilner has shown a personal grudge against him.

Wilner has no personal grudge against anybody. He's just frustrated that Cito Gaston is still managing this team again after all that happened last year, as I am.

Recently in one of his blog posts, Wilner suggested that the reason Cito wasn't moving Overbay out of the lineup was because he liked seeing Overbay suffer as a revenge for the so called mutiny last year? Do you think that's a fair thing to say when Cito has publicly said a number of times that he wanted to give Lyle a chance to put up numbers and earn a contract.

You're right. I think it was a mistake of him to presume that with no evidence. He later apologized.

Now i'm not saying Cito should be doing that either, because its not his job to worry about a player's contract but its far less sinister than to suggest Cito likes to see players get humiliated. He was probably warned by his bosses to not cut down the personal attacks then and looks like they've had enough of him.

He didn't make any personal attack here. As a journalist, he reported on a situation that affected him.

Wilner's story right now is receiving support online from the Jays beat writers (Griffin, Arthur, Lott) and others on Twitter (Law, Sheehan).

Here is the story from the National Post for those who haven't read it:
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/06/ ... ekend-off/

Yeah what an unbiased piece of journalism there , lets just quote one side of the story while ignoring the other side, the circumstances and history between the two.

Also calling Wilner a journalist is a stretch, he`s a talking head who has managed to get a 15 minute post game show after 20 something years in the business, that`s how highly people think of him.

Avenger wrote:Yeah what an unbiased piece of journalism there , lets just quote one side of the story while ignoring the other side, the circumstances and history between the two.

Lott didn't ignore anybody (or the history and the circumstances). He called the people involved in the situation (Wilner and the station program director) and got the responses that he could. Should he have went to ask Cito about it? What would that accomplish, exactly, other than a "no comment?"

And you already told me that Rogers/the Jays had nothing to do with it, so there would be no reason to contact them.

Also calling Wilner a journalist is a stretch, he`s a talking head who has managed to get a 15 minute post game show after 20 something years in the business, that`s how highly people think of him.

You seem to really hate this guy, eh? You're seriously criticizing his career choice and job now?

Wilner's been a fine journalist for years now, and is one of the few rational and reasonable people in the media that actually have some knowledge about the game. He's a refreshing change to most of the radio personalities in this city.

Randle McMurphy wrote:You seem to really hate this guy, eh? You're seriously criticizing his career choice and job now?

Wilner's been a fine journalist for years now.

You seem to be in LOVE with the guy!

Are you Wilner?

While I totally agree with the other writers backing Wilner...he should be allowed to ask any question he wants....I have two issues with what has happened;

1) With Rogers both employing Wilner and Cito there seems to be a conflict of interest there with me. If Wilner worked for another company, would he have been suspended? Likely not.

2) Wilner is upset that Cito belittled him. This just seems funny to me that Wilner would be so upset with this, when on an almost daily basis I have heard Wilner belittle fans and other people who call in to his show. If someone isn't up on their stats as much as him, or has a completely different opinion, he almost has a condescending tone when speaking on air or disagreeing with that person. Now maybe that's not what he means, but that's how it comes across to many.

MGD24 wrote:You seem to be in LOVE with the guy!

Because that's the only explanation for my defense of free speech and freedom of the press in this situation?

Wilner has always been a reasonable and knowledgeable journalist in covering this team. Anybody that denies that simply has a bone to pick with him or has been offended in some way by his antagonistic responses.

Are you Wilner?

No, but I think that would be a pretty cool job to have, even if it would get frustrating at times.

Randle McMurphy wrote:

MGD24 wrote:You seem to be in LOVE with the guy!

Because that's the only explanation for my defense of free speech and freedom of the press in this situation?

hahaha calm down...it's because you've spent like the past page and a bit defending him and arguing with everyone else. I find it funny...I never said I disagreed with you, it's just funny how much you are defending him

Randle McMurphy wrote:

MGD24 wrote:You seem to be in LOVE with the guy!

Because that's the only explanation for my defense of free speech and freedom of the press in this situation?

Wilner has always been a reasonable and knowledgeable journalist in covering this team. Anybody that denies that simply has a bone to pick with him or has been offended in some way by his antagonistic responses.

Are you Wilner?

No, but I think that would be a pretty cool job to have, even if it would get frustrating at times.

dude, great posts. keep it up.

I've met Wilner before. i'd laugh if Mustard was really Wilner.

Wilner def ain't a shill. he's probably the opposite of that. if you listen to Wilner, you will understand why certain Jays' related moves have been made (Jamie Campbell being the tv voice) that have not advanced his career. Wilner has opinions and he probably doesn't hide them. he said things to me in conversation that were amazingly honest and, to be blunt, ridiculous to tell a stranger. but i like that. dude isn't a political lump of clay like jerry howarth.

This is what I take from the article.

Gaston meets with Toronto media members before each game. Usually, the exchanges are low-key and relaxed.

Clearly in this instance the exchange was not low-key and relaxed, the Fan590 looked into it and felt a suspension was necessary.

The Fan isn't going to just suspend someone to protect Cito, clearly they felt he crossed a line. This doesn't make Wilner a bad journalist, it simply means he slipped up and his bosses felt they needed to remind him to be professional.

Everyone surrounding the team and the media will likely forget about this by Monday. This isn't about asking tough questions, it's about being professional. The article even states he gets asked hard questions at times but the scrums still remain professional.

Gaston often is asked to explain the reasoning behind his personnel decisions, and typically, those exchanges are cordial, even when the questions are challenging.

Wilner just needed to be reminded how to do his job, it had nothing to do with the questions being asked in my opinion.