Week in Review: California Love

The Sox are feeling the Golden State this week with beauty queen Heidi Watney, who will replace Tina Cervasio when not skydiving, taking boxing lessons or dating me.

Woodland, CA's own Dustin Pedroia brings the laser show to Fenway to dispatch Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Former Oakland star Miguel Tejada sets the stage for the first real internal Me and Pedro argument over ESPN's "gotcha" TV program.

Fairfield, CA's Joe Thurston starts on Patriots' Day after a harrowing escape.

Sox fan Conan O'Brien looks to Burbank, while the douchey forces of Fallon sign to take over his chair. Heidi said she'd rather turn off the TV than watch. So I probably shouldn't complain.

(Greatest. Beat. Ever.)

Why I'm Pro E:60

Of all the things Me and Pedro disagrees about internally, it looks like nothing was more immediately divisive that ESPN's "outing" of Miguel Tejada as a 33-year-old. Blogging partner Be Gold described the interview as a (my words) pointless ambush, whereas I applauded.

Well, the fallout from the story is beginning, as ESPN has published a piece about what Tejada's false birth certificate means for him, mostly in the context of steroids investigations. ESPN has to walk a fine line when it comes to celebrating sports and covering them, and often it does a horrible job of letting fans know where fun begins and news ends. My blogging partner wasn't the only one who didn't like the Tejada interview; my roommate saw it and was nonplussed by it. And I understand this reaction to a point, even if it wasn't mine: "ESPN has gone out of its way to be fun and hip and non-confrontational, and now this?" is what I imagine was going through people's heads. Again, not mine: I know good journalism when I see it, and this was it. ESPN had Tejada cold, and they sat him down, presumably by invitation, and asked him about it. He didn't answer. What's the big deal?

I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but I think we've got the wrong idea about what is and is not important in baseball because of the steroids scandal. We don't mind seeing Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens attacked, because they're jerks, but the others aren't worth dealing with. So when we see Miguel Tejada get attacked by an institution that caters to MLB so relentlessly like ESPN, we get confused. At its core, ESPN should be about covering sports as news, and whatever you think of Miguel Tejada, the fact that he — or someone — doctored his birth certificate so that he could earn millions of millions of extra dollars seems like sports news to me. If the New York Times broke this story, we'd applaud them for it, only that happens behind closed doors. It's the old sausage factory saw here: you might like journalism, but you might not like how it's done. This is how it's done. Good job, ESPN.

Like 60 Minutes, only terrible

“A trip to the Dominican Republic uncovers Miguel Tejada’s secret and shadowy past."

Bravo, ESPN, bravo! That was very funny. Oh, wait, you’re serious? He lied about his age and we caught him! But wait, there’s more! Not only did he lie about his age, he also lied about HIS IDENTITY! In the mid-nineties Dominican doctors combined Félix Fermín's brain, José Uribe's hands, Pascual Pérez's love of banned substances, and Izzy Alcántara's nefarious nature to create Miguel Tejada. Kinda like RoboCop, but on the juice.

If I had any faith in that clown I saw ambushing Tejada on SportsCenter, I'd think maybe this feature would take the issue seriously and attempt to get to the root of why it is that Dominicans are so desperate to get a contract that they lie about their age. You know, instead of playing gotcha with elderly shortstops. But I doubt it.