First, it was Jimmy Kimmel. Now it’s the New York Mets broadcasters, Gary Cohen and Todd Zeile who fans, well some fans, are targeting. And why? Because it was revealed that Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw left the team and missed a game because he thought it more important to attend the “memorial service” for Charlie Kirk.
Gary Cohen said, “I don’t want to talk about the politics of it, but the thought of leaving your team in the middle of a race for any reason other than a family emergency. Really strikes me as weird.”
Todd Zeile followed it up with, “It’s unusual, I think it’s unprecedented at least from my experience as a player, and I think it made it a little more unusual that it was not revealed until after it came to issue because he was thought to be in the dugout and maybe available, and was not, and that’s how it was revealed.”
The critics are abundantly Charlie Kirk followers, as made evident by the vitriol spewed against, specifically, Cohen, for having the audacity to criticize Shaw’s absence to attend Kirk’s “memorial service.”
Much like Kimmel had/has a right to commentary, so does Cohen and his color commentators. UNLIKE Kimmel, Cohen was not commenting on the politics of Charlie Kirk or Matt Shaw, rather, he was commenting on the fact that Shaw left the team during a pennant race for what most would find a less important event than others have, in the past, remained with their respective teams.
Now, if you follow Major League Baseball, players are granted permission to leave the team for many personal and family-related issues. This was not the case for quite some time, when players traditionally even missed the birth of their children, and other personal situations. That being said, MLB teams have been very flexible and lenient with giving players their personal space and time.
But the fact is that what was labeled a “memorial service” was not, in fact, a memorial service. Whether it was intended to be, or not, it was a “political rally.” Reportedly, the Kirk family was/is worth millions of dollars, and the family then raised, again reportedly, $7 million from a “memorial service?” Who does that? But then, that is ME starting to talk about the politics of it. So back on topic.
As a broadcaster, it is your job and duty to present what it going on down on the field. You are the eyes and ears of the audience. Matt Shaw was not in the lineup. He was not in the dugout. Why? He was attending an event (whatever you want to call it) that was not family-related or personal in nature. THAT is a story that should be told, and WAS told.
THE END!
