Tag: rob dibble stephen strasburg

Strasburg responds to Dibble’s comments about father’s alleged e-mail

April 9, 2011 /
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitches to the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning of their MLB interleague baseball game in Washington, in this June 23, 2010 file photo. According to the team’s website, Strasburg has a significant tear in his ulnar collateral ligament will likely require Tommy John surgery, the team announced in a conference call on August 27, 2010. Picture taken June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Gary Cameron/Files (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

Friday I posted a story from the Washington Post that included comments by Rob Dibble on how he believes an e-mail sent by Stephen Strasburg’s father to Nationals’ owner Ted Lerner was the reason he was booted from the MASN broadcast booth in D.C. last year. (The alleged e-mail stemmed from some comments Dibble made on air after Strasburg hurt his elbow during a game last year and the broadcaster told him to “suck it up.”)

After hearing about Dibble’s comments about his father, Strasburg took to Twitter in attempts to set the story straight:

For those of you wondering my dad doesn’t even have the Lerners’ email… Actually was a fan of Dibble believe it or not

Actually, if I’m deciding between whether or not to believe that it was Strasburg’s father that wrote the e-mail or one of Dibble’s fans, I’m going with Strasburg’s father. I wouldn’t put it past Lerner to a) give his e-mail to the franchise’s father and b) try to get Dibble off the air after he made some controversial comments about said franchise. But maybe that’s just me.

Either way, the whole situation is ridiculous. As I wrote yesterday, MASN hired Dibble to share his opinions and you don’t give Rob Dibble a job without taking a risk that he’s going to say something controversial. This is the same guy who was once involved in a brawl with then-manager Lou Pinella following a Reds game during his playing days. You hire Dibble to be a little edgy.

Alas, like all ridiculous stories, this one will die off soon enough. I actually think the only reason Strasburg responded to Dibble’s comments is because he’s hurt and isn’t pitching. If he had to take the hill in less than five days, I doubt he would be worried about anything that comes out of Dibble’s mouth. (Or at least I hope he wouldn’t.)

External Sports, MLB

Rob Dibble: Starsburg’s dad got me booted from broadcast booth

April 8, 2011 /
Washington Nationals’ pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Nationals Park on August 15, 2010. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

A year after he told Stephen Strasburg to “suck it up” after the Nationals’ starter injured his elbow (which resulted in him having Tommy John surgery), Rob Dibble is opening his mouth again.

According to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post, Dibble claims that he was let go at MASN because of an e-mail that Strasburg’s father wrote to the Nationals’ owner Ted Lerner.

“Listen, it’s their team, they acted in their own interests,” he told FoxSports.com columnist Mark Kriegel. “And I’m gonna tell you something that I’ve never told anybody before. It was basically Strasburg’s father [who] e-mailed the owner and basically was offended by what I said.

“Now remember, I said that on my own radio show on another network, and his father e-mailed the owner and the owner wanted me out of there. so that’s the bottom line. So that should end it. I want Stephen to go on, never have my name brought up and have a great career. I had a great career, I had fun, had a great seven years, and it’s sad for me that people still associate me with him. There should be no association with him.”

As Steinberg points out, if Dibble doesn’t want his name to be associated with Strasburg then he shouldn’t be telling a national audience that the young pitcher’s father is the reason he no longer works for MASN. That’s just dumb.

That said, if Dibble is telling the truth then this entire situation is ridiculous. A father of one of the younger players got his feelings hurt so he wrote an e-mail to the team’s owner to get him kicked off air? Oh, brother. Is Strasburg’s father going to write an angry letter to every person who criticizes his son over his career? Because if he writes in to TSR, I’ll delete. I swear to God I’ll delete it.

Dibble is a loudmouth with little or no tact, but he shouldn’t have been let go for speaking his mind (regardless of whether you think he was wrong to tell Strasburg to “suck it up” or not). I mean, that’s what MASN paid him for, right? You don’t hire Rob freaking Dibble to sit there like Monte from the “Major League” movies and you certainly don’t fire him for being brash. Again: He’s Rob Dibble.

This isn’t high school athletics and millionaire players (or their fathers for that matter) shouldn’t be protected from the stinging words of the big bad media.

External Sports, MLB

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