To Jon Heyman: Sir, You Are an Ass
We’ve covered this issue before. Now, SI writer Jon Heyman is at it again.
In a post on the site’s Opening Day blog, Heyman goes deep with the lazy bias:
BALTIMORE — Call it the Revenge of Jeffrey Maier.
A fan wearing an orange Orioles jersey reached out over the wall and pulled a fly ball away from Yankees left fielder Johnny Damon and into the left field stands for a home run. (At least the umpires called it a home run.)
Yankees manager Joe Girardi argued briefly, but to no avail.
In a way it’s a bit of justice — though Maier’s play on a Derek Jeter fly ball led to a playoff victory en route to the Yankees’ first World Series title in 18 years.
It’s doubtful this similar call will lead to a championship for the Orioles …
This is one of many Heyman posts today that all strike a similar tone, as if an Orioles victory is something that offends him on a personal level.
We can certainly debate whether or not the play was fan interference. I tend to think that it was, but I also think it was too close to call. Even replay wasn’t decisive. Either way, to use it like this is just stupid.
The man has a history of laziness and poor craftsmanship of the sort that bothers me as a fan, a writer, and an occasional member of the “official” media. If he wrote this from the press box, as I suspect, it’s all the more embarrassing.
I’m tempted to say “he should do better,” but the problem is that I don’t think he actually can.
Jon Heyman is a pompous ass. I emailed him last year about his piece on the “No-Star Outfielders”– basically the worst outfielders in baseball… one of them being Mr. Adam Jones. I hope he watched the game.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/06/11/heyman.nostars/index.html
Ha, the first thing I did after that was call my Yankee-loving girlfriend and tell her “That was awesome…we are in no way evenly remotely even”.
Jon Heyman is a schill for the Yankees. That’s all there is to it. Terrible writer, though he does get good offseason scoops – mostly by following Boras and Cashman around like a puppy.
Meanwhile, what the hell is going in Toronto? The Blue Jays are crushing the Tigers and fans are being so unruly that Leyland has removed the Tigers from the field. If it gets worse, do the Jays have to forfeit?
Also, the YES team seemed intent on shoving the word “rude” down my throat. The Orioles’ fans were rude to the Yankees. Baltimore was very rude to Teixeira. Rude rude rude rude rude rude. I got it, it wasn’t pleasant for the Yankees’ players. I feel so bad for them. I’m sure when (and this is a true story) Nick Markakis is getting yelled at for “coming over on the raft” and being “a dirty fucking Mexican rookie” on an early Sunday afternoon of his sophmore season (that being the game in which Chris Ray gave up a walkoff grandslam to ARod), it was fun and atmosphere. But it’s fucking RUDE in Baltimore.
I hope it’s fucking rude in Baltimore. Eleven years of losing and the Yankees should be lucky they walked out of Baltimore without having batteries chucked at their heads.
@Andrew – that reaction from the YES team is icing on the cake. It speaks to the sense of entitlement that the Yankees and their partisans carry with them wherever they go.
By the way, Greg, how’d your date go?
Have you read his latest update, from 8pm?
“1. CC Sabathia wasn’t worth $161 million. Or even anything. He was simply awful in his Yankees’ debut. He lasted 4 2/3 innings and didn’t manage to strike out a single batter. The harsh fans here shouted “Over-Rated” and other negative things at him. And they were right on the money.”
Are you serious, John? One bad start and CC is anathema? It may turn out that CC isn’t worth the money – you know, years down the road – but to write something like that with such finality is breathtaking. Breathtakingly stupid. Just. Wow.
want to know what heyman is?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=douchebag
@neal s – Date was fine. Her knowledge of sports pretty much ends where it begins. She said she actually was interested in the game innings 1-9, something she hadn’t had the experience of before. Something about the Orioles being awful and never winning. It was a pretty quiet date, I was trying to make conversation while I kept score… I was telling her about the different players, trying to make it somewhat interesting for her while not letting my obsession for baseball cross any weird lines. Difficult task believe it or not. She sounded genuine when she said she had a good time, I’m sure that if she didn’t want to spend time with me doing something she cares nothing about, she wouldn’t have agreed to go. I’m pretty happy about that.
@PhilR8 – Heyman is probably one of those guys who believes in writing as an act of provocation, in “taking a stand” with everything you publish. Problem with doing that is that you end up staking out astoundingly stupid positions.
I guess you could say I shouldn’t talk, given that he makes a hell of a lot more money off his writing than I do. But I’m not sure I’d want to become wealthy if it meant I’d have to also become an idiot.
@Greg – sounds like a good time to me. Congrats and good luck with it.
@neal s – Have you seen that commercial that runs in movie theaters now, the Sprint one where it tells you to turn off your cell phone ringer? It starts out with a poor writer selling his first script, and over the course of the next twenty seconds, the producers call him a few times to tell him they are changing it in ridiculous ways. Except the writer is getting a spray-on tan and shopping for ferraris as he gets the calls, and with one look at his Amazon supermodel girlfriend, he happily concedes to have his script torn to pieces.
I will say that if it meant being wealthy, I’d probably be an idiot, too. Just sayin.
@PhilR8 – if we’re talking Ferrari wealth then maybe all bets are off. That said, most writers of any sort aren’t getting there. And having made the rounds in Hollywood once or twice, I can tell you that selling a script or two (which I have not done yet, but I’ve been around those who have) definitely won’t get you there. That’s not as glamorous a life as it might seem.
There’s no doubt that in terms of sports writing there is something to be said for just going balls out and stoking the flames, as Heyman seems to like doing. If I tried to adopt that approach it’d come off as disingenuous. Which it would in fact be.
Ah, yes, Heyman. Yes, he’s an idiot of the first order. His articles are normally some sort of propoganda for NY teams, and he is devoid of any depth in his reporting of baseball, a game that requires both depth and mathematical precision to fully understand.
The fact is that the Orioles crushed the Yankees, who played sloopy defense, and lack team speed. They are an aging club whose best years are behind them, and whose minor league system has nothing in the pipeline at this time. That’s reality, but reality has never been Heyman’s strong suit.