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All-Star disappointment

I’ve been a fan of Kenny Rogers since he came up with the Rangers as a young, long haired, wild throwing lefty setting up another wild throwing lefty — Mitch Williams. Some 17 years later, he’s the 40-year-old ace of the Texas Rangers, easily their best pitcher of the last year and a half.

It seems like the Rangers only make news when it’s them being a national spectacle for all the wrong reasons. The whole A-Rod fiasco. The Frankie Fransisco “hmm, now seems like a good time to chuck a folding chair into the crowd” fiasco. And now the Kenny Rogers fiasco.

You don’t have to follow sports to know the Rogers story — he attacked a cameraman on the field before a game in Arlington, as every news outlet from ESPN to CNN was quick to report. No way to claim you didn’t do it — only a dozen reporters and cameramen caught the incident. Rogers tells a cameraman to “get that camera out of his face.” Of course, it wasn’t in his face — the cameraman was on the part of the field he is allowed to be on before the game. Rogers was a good 10 feet away, when he turned around and told the cameraman to turn off the camera again. The cameraman didn’t. So Rogers got up in his face, and tried to shove the camera off the man’s shoulder. That failing, he grabbed the camera, threw it to the ground, and kicked it for good measure.

The action was bad. But I am honestly not sure Rogers thinks he did anything wrong, which is the most disappointing part. Rogers needed to step up and do the right thing — and he didn’t.

He started by waiting a week to hold a press conference to give his official apology. I can deal with that, but even in his apology, I was left unsatisfied.

“I offer my sincere apologies to (cameramen) Larry (Rodriguez) and David (Mamelli). An incident should never occur. To all my fans, my teammates and my family, I am truly sorry for any disappointment that I’ve caused you.”

Rogers should have left it at that, elaborating only briefly. But he kept going, and that’s when he said what upsets me.

“I’ve got 17 years in the major leagues. With all my experience, regardless of the circumstances, I should have acted professionally.”

I think that Kenny Rogers still believes he was wronged. What were these “circumstances”? The cameramen being on the field, where they’re allowed to be? The Rangers leaking that they thought you might be dogging it by not pitching against the Angels? (Rogers broke a bone in his non-pitching hand after punching an innocent water cooler.) It shouldn’t matter. The circumstances should be a non-issue. He says they’re a non-issue, but by awknowledging that there were circumstances, he opens a hole for his defense.

Yes, he did ask the cameramen to not shoot him. And if the cameramen were following him at his home, at dinner, etc., then I would be on Kenny’s side. Celebrities do deserve some privacy when they’re away from their workplace.

But Kenny Rogers was on the baseball field, in uniform. The cameraman was standing where he was allowed to stand. Part of being a Major League baseball player is that you have cameras on you when you’re at work. The cameraman did nothing wrong.

Rogers felt he deserved to play in the All-Star game. I see his argument — he was voted in, and it is his right to go since the rules did not state he wasn’t allowed. But he should have declined.

In the All-Star game media feeding frenzy, Rogers metions the players’ support in the All-Star vote — that took place before he went after the cameraman. The support of the Rangers fans that cheered for him in his last start. (Rogers was booed during the All-Star game.) That should have all been moot — the All Star Game should be for the heroes of baseball, and as of right now, I don’t believe Kenny Rogers fits that bill.

Is there more to the story of why Kenny was so upset? Probably. It’s hard to know the exact circumstances he refers to.

The bottom line is once again, the Texas Rangers are in the national spotlight for the wrong reasons. And I’m tired of it. I was Mark Texiera to get more attention. A great young baseball player (with a home run in the All-Star game) that looks like he has fun playing the game. Gritty Michael Young. Hank Blalock, who moved out of his house so R.A. Dickey could live in it until R.A. found his own house, saying that with a small child, he needed to move into a house, not a hotel.

I’ve followed Kenny Rogers for a long time — and he’s a great story in and of himself. A man who picked strawberries and expected to grow up and grow strawberries. It’s too bad that’s not the story this week — a 40-year-old strawberry picker playing in the Major League All-Star game. Instead, it’s a 40-year-old with anger management problems pitching in a game many felt he should have sat out.

Wed July 13th, 2005 12:44 am

Filed under Texas Rangers