Bucs’ Cervelli says he wants to catch
CHICAGO — Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle was taking photos of Wrigley Field on Saturday morning, but don’t expect to see them on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
Hurdle is not a big fan of social media, as he explained before the game against the Cubs.
“The more time I spend on social media means the less time I am social with the people I really do love and care about and the things I really want to enjoy in life,” he said.
The subject was broached when Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli wrote on his Instagram account Friday that a report on a Pittsburgh website quoting him saying he was done with catching was erroneous.
“Saying that I quit from my catcher responsibilities is inaccurate,” Cervelli wrote. “My hope is to catch again.”
Cervelli, 33, has been out since late May with a concussion and has suffered at least six over his major league career, which began with the Yankees in 2008.
Cervelli told reporters Saturday that he wants to “feel normal as a human being” again, but denied saying he doesn’t want to catch again.
“That was a misunderstanding,” he said. “I never said it. It never came from my mouth. … I want to play, and I’m open to catch.”
Cervelli said he did not believe he was being interviewed by the website DK Pittsburgh Sports.
“If you want to do an interview, you better pull out a cellphone [to record it],” he said. “Because I believe if you’re [going to] do something for more than one minute, you don’t have a computer in your head. You’re not going to put the right words. I didn’t know it was an interview.
“I’m not mad, man. Everyone has a different way to approach [the job].”
The reporter, Dejan Kovacevic, stood by his report.
Hurdle confirmed Cervelli never has said he doesn’t want to catch again and went
“I never said it. It never came from my mouth. … I want to play, and I’m open to catch.”
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli
into a lengthy criticism of the media. Hurdle said he believes the media is different than when he played, saying “your interaction with the media has changed dramatically to the relationships” built between players and reporters today.
“It’s a completely different landscape,” he said. “There seems to me more urgency in getting something out rather than being accurate today, to get it out first.
“I was brought up if you have an encounter where you don’t feel you’re represented well … that you went to that person personally and looked them in the eye and asked them. ‘Here’s what we talked about. Here’s what I said. It was brought to my attention, or I read [it] differently. Is there an agenda behind this? Is there something else behind this? Because that is not the conversation that we had.’
“And that did happen on occasion. And I can remember one time it was blown aside where the guy really didn’t care what I wanted to say, and another time a guy apologized profusely and said it won’t happen again. That’s all you can do. I can’t control what you say, what you think or what you write.
“I do know I’m here and know what I say when I say it to you. How you take it, what you want to do with it, that’s up to you. And you’re accountable for that. You’re responsible for that. We’re held accountable for everything we do. … It’s really not my responsibility to know if you’re held accountable or you’re responsible for the things you say.”
Hurdle said he didn’t know about the Instagram-fueled controversy until Saturday because he doesn’t follow his players on social media.
“I don’t creep people,” he said.