Girardi within his rights to give 1st interview to non-NYer

Did Joe Girardi willfully betray New York’s baseball media by giving the first interview since he was dumped by the Yankees to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic? Of course it’s Girardi’s right to yakk to the media member of his choice. And there is no doubt Rosenthal, who also works for Fox Sports, is one of the best in the business. Yet some local scribes, speaking privately, were miffed that Joey Loose Leafs didn’t grant his “first” interview to one of them.

One voice, ESPN-98.7’s Michael Kay, who is also the TV voice of the Yankees on YES, let his feelings be known loud and clear. And he sounded like he was speaking on behalf of The Scorned Lovers Club.

“He (Girardi) essentially flipped off the entire New York media that has been covering him since 1996,” Kay said on the air. Would Kay have felt so bad for the rest of the media if he had gotten the first interview with Girardi?

The Kay-concocted narrative here is Girardi went to Rosenthal for the express purpose of sticking it to a local media that wasn’t always kind to him, a media he sometimes would get prickly with throughout the decade he managed the Bombers.

Yet there could be other reasons Girardi granted the interview to Rosenthal. One could be he trusted him implicitly. He also could have perceived Rosenthal and The Athletic as a sympathetic place to land. Or perhaps he knew that he was in a no-win position. No matter who he gave the interview to, someone else was going to be ticked. If he gave the one-on-one to the beat writer from a particular newspaper, the other beat writers would’ve freaked.

The only way Girardi could have handled this with ultimate equality was to hold a press conference. And after how it went down with the Yankees, it’s not a reach to suggest catering to the local media was not on the top of the list in Girardi’s binder.

Kay, on the air, was either very passionate or downright angry about Girardi’s treatment of the media. At one point in his soliloquy, Kay indicated there was a personal element here. He said beyond their professional connection he considered Girardi “a friend,” who even attended his wedding.

“When I saw him get interviewed on The Athletic I texted him (and said) ‘since you’re talking now I would like to get you on the (radio) show,’” Kay said. “So, his (Girardi’s) agent called me back and said Joe has a (radio) exclusive (contract) with WFAN through December.”

Kay (voice rising): “Joe couldn’t call me and tell me that?...He couldn’t call me himself and tell me to go crap in my hat?”

That would be an ugly sight. Seriously though, Girardi was under no obligation to any particular media outlet. Now, his only obligation is to himself, his family, and how he positions himself for his next gig. At some point in time he will be ready to talk again.

Maybe even to Kay.

FAN SIDE

During his Girardi rant, Kay said if he was running WFAN “I would be red hot” over Girardi talking to The Athletic “because they (WFAN) pay him a lot of money” for a weekly appearance and have him under contract through December.

This did not seem to matter to Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa, who took the situation in stride. When a caller asked why Girardi has not yakked with Francesa, the pontiff said: “We have discussed it with his agent. We are pursuing it.”

So, expect to hear Girardi on FAN sometime before Dec. 15.

‘TAKE’ THAT

In early October, TV ratings expert Donald John Trump said ESPN’s ratings have “tanked.”

The president must not be paying attention to what’s happening on “First Take.” It must not be on his massive viewing schedule. In October, the show, featuring Stephen A. Smith, MeMax Kellerman and Molly Qerim, had a 53% increase in overall viewership over last year, averaging 465,000 viewers. Also, “First Take” more than tripled the numbers recorded by the Skip Bayless-led “Undisputed” on FS1, which averaged 151,000 viewers.

Obviously, the “First Take” cast has everything to do with the audience numbers, but don’t discount the contribution of Will (Super Sub) Cain. While his conservative opinions put him on ESPN’s list of Endangered Species, he has the unique ability to get under, way under, the skin, of both Smith and Kellerman.

Friday, Cain was on the entire show while Kellerman was on assignment for HBO. Was it just me, or was SAS’ face showing major trepidation, especially when he had to go up against both Cain AND Tim Tebow.

Nice stuff.

SILENT GASBAGS

History was made on CBS’ “The NFL Today” last week.

After James Brown reported on Texans owner Bob McNair’s “Inmates” comment, he then offered an opinion, and Nate Burleson put his two cents in too. So, now it was time to hear from Phil Simms, Bill Cowher and N.J. Esiason, right? Not quite — the trio of Gasbags, who have opinions on everything, reserved their right to remain silent. Did NFL politricks keep them from yakking? Their silence was strange, very strange. The Foxies reported strong viewership numbers for the seven-game World Series. That’s good news for the network but just as meaningful for Major League Baseball is that a robust 38 of a potential maximum 43 postseason games were played this Fall… Now that he’s running Fox’s baseball coverage is there any doubt David Ortiz will return to the postseason studio in 2018? What a disaster… We like this Joel Klatt guy. The Fox college football analyst doesn’t tread lightly. After Ohio State (vs Penn State) was called for a delay of game he didn’t hesitate to take down Urban Myer. “That,” Klatt said without hesitation, “is a coaching error.” Very nice.