4/20/2009 04:22:00 PM

My Letter (Read On Air!) To Bruce Drennan Of STO

Posted by Mark McCray |

UPDATE 5:03pm: Just talked to a friend who said all he did was call me a clown and said that my email wasn't even worth reading...I take back the commendation I gave him down below this update. And hey Bruce, I'm a clown?!


Just got back from class, and remembered that I had sent a letter to Bruce Drennan of Sports Time Ohio about his (and other local media outlets)incessant whining about the treatment of the Cleveland Indians by the umpires and national media over the weekend.

I turned the show on about 45 minutes ago (an hour into it) and heard Bruce read an email from a "Yankees fan from New Jersey" apologizing for my letter, so apparently Bruce read it on the air, for which I commend him because I openly challenged him to do so.

Now, I would first like to make it very clear that this email was not meant to be disrespectful to Mr. Drennan, but only to point out just how bad his whining had become.

I sent the email last night after about two hours of listening to nothing but whining from him and his callers about the way the Indians were treated on this trip to Yankee Stadium.

I know he has a fairly long show, but when all you can do is whine about the umpires blowing calls and the national media (namely Joe Buck/Tim McCarver who we Yankee bloggers openly make fun of) not giving the Cleveland Indians GUSHING coverage of their "record setting" inning on Saturday, it got very old and just wasn't sitting very well with me.

So I sent him this email...below you will find it in it's unedited entirety. If you feel this is a disrespectful letter, I apologize to you, but Mr. Drennan doesn't preach very well about the Yankees over here in Ohio.

I hope you as true Yankees fans understand why I stood up for us.

Thanks,
Mark

Bruce-

Quit whining.

If you have any credibility, you will read this on air and respond to "the other side of the story."

#1- You didn't get the 3-2 ball called on DeRosa on Friday because Wedge was yelling at the umpire from the dugout to the point where the umpire had to actually turn around and tell him to shutup. You really think your going to get a close 3-2 ball called on the best closer in baseball after yelling at the umpires all day?! Don't think so. It doesn't matter what team you put in that situation, when you yell at the umpires all day, you aren't getting the close calls it's common baseball knowledge.

#2- The only reason the Indians even had three runs today was because of a blown strike call on Choo from the home plate umpire. Had the umpire made the right call, the side would have been retired and Garko never gets a chance to hit a 2-run homerun. Let's be fair, Bruce.

#3- I don't care what you say, the ball that Posada hit would not have been caught by Crowe. Even if the fan interfered (which MLB.com has upheld he didn't), he was on the descent when the fan reached out. The ball was heading over his glove.

#4- You want to talk about how McCarver and Buck have a New York bias, and I will refer you to the Colin Cowherd Law Of Professional Sports Economics. I heard the radio announcer from the Cleveland broadcast literally pee his pants over his "excitement" of a "record setting inning". Talk about unprofessional! You act like it is Game 7 of the World Series, but really it's still the first month of the season. There is a lot of baseball to be played before you act like that broadcaster did. It was pretty embarrassing. The Indians are a 4-9 team in last place in the worst division in baseball playing against the New York Yankees in their brand new billion dollar stadium.

Outside of Cleveland no one wants to hear about your mediocre baseball team. That is why the bias exists.

5 comments:

Pete Craven said...

All very good points. Being an Indians fan who lives in New York, it is also frustrating having to listen to the buffoons on the YES network, mainly Michael Kay! I,m glad that I have the Sports package so I can listen to someone like Bruce Drennan. Knowledgeable not condescending. After all aren't we ALL homers?

Mark McCray said...

Thanks for commenting, Pete.

You know, it's baseball. Nothing is going to be perfect as far as the umpires making the right call 100% of the time. That is why no one in baseball wants to take the human element out of the equation.

That is what makes the game so great. Today you may get the call, tomorrow you don't. Get over it, it's a fact of baseball.

MLB has replay, they used the replay, and MLB held up the call of the umpire. What more is there to say?!

Why cry around about it?!

As far as Buck and McCarver and all national sports broadcasters go, of course they are going to cater towards the major advertising markets like New York, Boston and L.A. Get over it, it's a fact of life.

That's the only point I was trying to make.

Thanks for stopping by, Pete!

Mark McCray said...

FYI- Was fortunate enough to catch Bruce Drennan admit the Indians were in last place in the worst division in baseball. I mean, I told him this like 2 months ago and he called me a jerk. Oh well!

Anonymous said...

Came here from your YouTube video. Most Cleveland sportscasters will always complain about the new York media. Drennan has his shtick and he sticks to it. Get over it, it's a fact of life.

My complaint is that sometimes guys like McCarver don't even bother to watch the instant replay while they are running their mouth...BK in Ohio

free bookmaking software said...

I don't know why people can comment about some letter. I hate when programs only read the best letter and leave behind those letter with constructive criticisms

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