The highly favored Atlanta Braves got knocked out by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS in Game 4 on Thursday night, completing a 4-0 sweep of lower seeds in the second round of the Major League Baseball postseason. While the Phillies benefitted from some red-hot hitting from Nick Castellanos, it was the drama happening inside the Braves clubhouse that improbably became the main story of the series.
To get you caught up, Jake Mintz of Fox Sports reported comments from Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia taunting Bryce Harper after Atlanta’s Game 2 victory. That led to Harper responding in kind after hitting a home run in a Game 3 win. The Braves took umbrage with Mintz reporting a comment that was not said during a formal interview or press session, but occurred (obviously) with members of the media within earshot. It all culminated when MLB Network’s Alanna Rizzo went on a blistering rant during Thursday’s episode of High Heat against Mintz calling him a ‘jackoff’ and basically accusing him of parachuting in for the postseason and publishing gossip for clicks.
After that video went viral, scores of people working in national and local baseball media came out to defend Mintz, the job he does covering the sport year round, and clapped back at Rizzo’s declaration that what’s said in the MLB clubhouse must stay in the MLB clubhouse.
This need to stop. Arcia said it. He wanted people to hear it. Once Media walk in, it’s not a “sacred place”. It becomes “Be careful what you say out loud” space. He was puffing his chest, feeling good.Stop blaming the guy that reported it and start blaming the guy that said it. https://t.co/iNr6wXKzUK
— Lou Merloni (@LouMerloni) October 13, 2023
Jake is the biggest baseball homer I’ve met with the exception of Kurkjian. And he’s earned his stripes. It was an open clubhouse and he did his job. There are plenty of places to go if you don’t want people to hear you. Lay off my dude, he’s damn good for the game.👊🏼@Jake_Mintz https://t.co/Xy9IuV3t3w
— Kyle Peterson (@KP_Omaha) October 13, 2023
Nah.
If Jake was doing this to “make a name” for himself, he wouldn’t have put that in the fourth sentence of the 21st paragraph of a 24-graph story.
Critical thinking > boot licking https://t.co/8DzUX4rgN9
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) October 12, 2023
The "jackoff blogger" in question is a BBWAA member who has been covering games in his home market AND on the road all year. This is not just cruel, but miserably ill-informed. https://t.co/JrgY7yTZ8a
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) October 12, 2023
Jake Mintz and his Highschool buddy started a blog about baseball because they love the game. They’ve worked harder than anyone I know to cover the game we all love in a fun way. Jake takes the time to get to know players and has done a great job over the past decade as a… https://t.co/4kGmExHNoZ
— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) October 12, 2023
Rizzo utterly embarrassed herself here in every way. Just an atrocious set of unforced errors. https://t.co/ULqvHQOOhh
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) October 13, 2023
In the name of all that is holy, can we stop blowing this dumb bullshit so massively out of proportion? And can these miserable gate-keepers, such as this one employed by the league's network, stop pretending the clubhouse is either a combat zone or a UNESCO world heritage site? https://t.co/0ULCu4AzTU
— Dayn Perry (@daynperry) October 12, 2023
In fact, people from all around sports media and not just the folks that cover baseball chimed in to defend Mintz from Russo’s barbs and stick up for his reporting.
When reporters are allowed in a clubhouse it is not a “sacred space.” Miss me with this ridiculous bs https://t.co/fjIwiqvFM5
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 12, 2023
Just pure (and very generic) contempt for reporters here. https://t.co/9sh5hi3o79
— Bryan Curtis (@bryancurtis) October 12, 2023
the people who reported this were from [checks notes] fox sports and the washington post, and they did a great job. because it’s their job to report what they see and hear https://t.co/YyftMlZTgu
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) October 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/mikesisak/status/1712685983055937735
Finally, Chelsea Janes, baseball writer for the Washington Post, also shared more about Arcia’s original quotes stating that she was in the clubhouse and heard the comments as well. In fact, she said Arcia knew that his comments were being captured by media members present in the locker room.
Hey there, I’m the other reporter who reported what Arcia said in the clubhouse Monday night. I didn’t name him because I didn’t see who said it. But I’m sick of watching people, particularly colleagues in the media, criticize my friend @Jake_Mintz for it. A
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 12, 2023
1) He yelled the phrase when cameras and recorders were rolling. I have audio. Had he done it at a slightly different moment, a camera sending an interview live to the truck might have caught it. Would you be eviscerating that network? Or would you say,
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 12, 2023
And 3) HE SAID ATTABOY HARPER. It wasn’t a slur. It wasn’t hateful. It was trash talk and the only reason anyone cares that it got out is because they know it would motivate Harper to beat them. Which implies the Braves do not feel they can handle a motivated Bryce Harper and are
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 12, 2023
I didn’t say something sooner because I thought this was overblown. And frankly, I thought it wouldn’t help. But I am genuinely disgusted by the way some media members are acting like a reporter was in the wrong for this. He wasn’t.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 12, 2023
And if the Braves let this be the story of their series, that’s on them. Win and it goes away. Period.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 12, 2023
While there were some tweets and voices in support of Rizzo’s word, the vast majority of sports media defended Mintz’s right to report on Arcia’s taunt of Bryce Harper in the Braves locker room. The fact that Rizzo went off to such a profoundly personal degree against his reporting on such an innocuous thing was truly stunning. Given the reaction of sports media, it appears as if journalists are going to continue to do their jobs and not treat MLB clubhouses as though they are some kind of secret society. Next, maybe we can do something about hockey teams being so weird about the logos on the floor of their locker rooms.