Phillies Media: Journalists or PR Agents?
May 19, 2025
The essence of journalism is getting answers to the public’s biggest questions, regardless of the discomfort it brings to either the reporter or the newsmaker.
I repeat this basic truth right now in the hope that someone – anyone – covering the Phillies will start doing his, her or their job. Because, based on the past week, they are all making a very smooth transition to public relations.
Three times in the past seven days controversies have surfaced with no answers, or even a semblance of trying to get them.
When did the Philadelphia sports media stop asking tough questions? What happened to the Stan Hochmans, the Ray Didingers, and yes, even the Angelo Cataldis?
(I hear the last guy is writing a blog now. Who knew?)
The biggest news was the 80-day suspension of the Phils’ best reliever, Jose Alvarado, for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. Even worse, Alvarado will be forced to the sidelines in the playoffs as part of the punishment.
How could this happen? How could a team with a renowned training staff and an aggressive front office allow a key player to take a drug that was on the banned-substances list? Did Alvarado ignore team protocols by taking a weight-loss aid without authorization?
All good questions, no?
Good luck getting any answers.
Other than Alvarado saying he was trying to lose a few pounds last winter by taking the pills, we have no idea how such a stunning development could have happened. All we have is a boilerplate official statement from the organization:
The Phillies fully support Major League Baseball’s Joint Prevention and Treatment Program and are disappointed to hear today’s news of Jose’s violation.
GM Dave Dombrowski did make himself available, for no fruitful reason. He said that players “are responsible for what (they) put in their bodies.” Really? Then why do the Phillies have an aggressive off-season training program?
This is where a thorough grilling is essential. And this is where the Phillies fawning media fails repeatedly. Trying to assess blame for a potential season-turning development is a fan tradition here, but for years the process has been nothing more than a guessing game.
The Phillies media is too busy kissing asses to bother with actual journalism.
Need further proof?
If you weren’t watching the first game of a doubleheader on May 14, you know nothing about this situation because no one in the media – no one – has mentioned it since it happened.
It was the bottom of the fifth, two outs, in a scoreless game against St. Louis. Backup catcher Raphael Marchan looped a short fly to right center, where the outfielders converged as the ball landed between them and bounced a few feet away.
If Marchan were running at all, instead of jogging lazily toward first base, he would have reached second without having to slide. He wasn’t. He was pulling up at first by the time the ball had nestled in the grass.
All I could think was, Marchan plays at the most twice a week. He gets maybe seven or eight at bats a week. And still it’s asking too much for him to run hard to first base?
To his credit, during the game broadcast John Kruk briefly lamented the lack of hustle, but then quickly passed it off as commonplace in the modern era of baseball. It never came up again – on the broadcast or in the media.
After Marchan’s gaffe, the cameras did flash to manager Rob Thomson, whose stone face remained expressionless.
Later, when asked about the play . . . .
Just kidding.
He was never asked about it.
Here are exactly the questions I would have posed during his next contract-mandated appearance on WIP if I were still there:
As a manager credited with creating a winning culture in the clubhouse, how can you justify a back-up player – or any player, really – not hustling?
Didn’t Marchan’s laziness negatively impact the other players on the team?
If even a part-time player won’t hustle, who will?
The third example is a bit more obscure, but no less important. Again, we may never know what the story really is because the media doesn’t want to rock any boats.
Aaron Nola had a career-worst appearance last week against St. Louis when he gave up nine runs and 12 hits in 3 2/3s innings. His earned-run average this season is 6.16. His salary is $25 million. He will be making that amount for the next five seasons after this one.
Two days after that thrashing, Nola went on the Injured List with an ankle sprain. He said he hurt it two weeks ago during agility drills but said nothing publicly in the intervening time.
Nola went on to pitch adequately (5 innings, four runs) against Cleveland right after the alleged mishap, then got annihilated by the Cardinals.
Is this a phantom injury? He showed no signs of favoring the ankle during two pitching appearances, surrounded by five days of preparation. He was listed nowhere as injured. But suddenly, after the worst beating of his career, he was hurt.
At no point during Nola’s brief interview after going on the IL did anyone raise any of these issues.
Hey, come on. Nola’s a good guy. He wouldn’t fake an injury.
That’s the impression these reporters leave after yet another strange development that fans deserve to know more about. Nowadays, the people covering all of our teams in Philadelphia – and especially the Phillies – seem more interested in their own comfort than in serving the people who read and listen to their work.
Woodward and Bernstein are still alive.
But the era of aggressive journalism they inspired is dead.
At least on the Phillies beat.
I have a couple of confessions to make.
First, I have taken pride through all my years in the media for pulling no punches. It’s why I avoided any personal relationships with the sports figures whom I often discussed in the newspapers and on radio and TV. It’s also why I never hesitated to ask tough questions.
Well, two weeks ago, I pulled a punch. I wrote a short speculative piece on what I thought the Flyers (and my former co-host Keith Jones) were going to do with the vacant head-coaching position.
I decided at the last moment not to run it here, out of respect for Jonesy. In my 50 years in the media, I enjoyed working with no one more than Keith Jones, a man with no enemies. So I pulled the punch.
Unfortunately, I guessed right this time about his intentions. Last week, the Flyers president and his GM Danny Briere named ex-Flyer Rick Tocchet the new head coach.
Now I feel obligated to offer, verbatim, what I wrote two weeks ago:
The more I root for my old pal Keith Jones, the more I cringe at the current state of the Flyers. Jonesy may be the nicest person I ever met in my lifetime, and far, far smarter than his radio image back when he was a co-host on our show.
But the past two years seem to have entangled him in a Flyers culture that has produced zero championships in half a century, most of which was punctuated by a code of silence and an epidemic of nepotism.
Now the president of the Flyers, Jonesy was open and fan-friendly like no other former player I ever encountered during our 20 years together. These days, however, when the Flyers need the public’s interest more than ever, he has shrunk from the spotlight.
Why? I can’t answer that question. My best guess is, this dumb strategy comes right from the top, the corporate world of Comcast that has never been known as a sports-franchise owner that valued accessibility or accountability.
And while I’m guessing, I must say I would be shocked if the next Flyers coach were not named Rick Tocchet.
Thanks to Jonesy, Rick was a regular guest on our show for years, often regaling our audience with charming stories of his heartwarming love for soup. Given his close kinship with Jonesy and his vast experience behind the bench, Tocchet seems like a perfect fit for the Flyers.
But he is not.
The last thing the Flyers need right now is another former player taking over a top position in the organization. The parade of names is endless: Clarke, Holmgren, Hextall, Briere. The only thing they all have in common is the lack of Philadelphia parades they had after their playing days.
I really, really hope Jonesy breaks the chain this time and brings in a coach who will chart a new direction for the organization. I hope he (and GM Danny Briere) names someone with experience who has had no previous connection to the Flyers.
But I’m expecting history to repeat itself again.
I just wish it wasn’t Jonesy making the mistake this time.
My second confession is equally painful. Before I left my hometown of Providence for Philadelphia in 1983, my only real connection to Philly sports was my lifelong love of the 76ers, spawned by my obsession with my boyhood hero, Wilt Chamberlain.
In good times and bad (lately, mostly bad), I rooted as hard for the Sixers as any team in our city, despite loathsome ownership, clueless coaches and infuriating players.
Nothing could dissuade me from my loyalty – not owners Harold Katz and Joshua Harris, not coaches Doug Collins and Brett Brown and not even underachieving players Andrew Bynum and Ben Simmons.
But no more. When the Sixers pulled the plug on the 2025 season in March and reverted to their tanking ways, I began to develop a deep dislike for my lifelong NBA team.
For the first time in forever, I watched an entire NBA show last week when ESPN televised the draft lottery. (It was much shorter and more interesting than most of the games.)
And for the first time in my life, I rooted for the Sixers to lose, to drop below the first six picks so that they would have to relinquish their first-round pick to OKC. I didn’t want them rewarded for shortchanging their fans once again by losing games on purpose.
Of course, they won – in a sense. They will retain the pick and will have the third selection in the draft. Ugh.
Now that I am no longer a Sixer fan, my one consolation is that GM Daryl Morey will be making the pick.
Based on his record of failure, he will blow it again.
And that’s fine with me.