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So Hideki Okajima had a horrible game and didn’t feel like talking about it to the media afterwards. The world then came to an end.
Not speaking with the media makes him cowardly, unprofessional and not accountable for his actions.
That infuriates me. There sit the media, proclaiming that they “don’t care” if Okajima talks to them or not, and hiding behind the words of being “accountable” and that putting the fans into the middle of the dispute by saying that it is they who suffer in this situation.
At least that’s what most of the Red Sox reporters will tell you. Question them at all, and you’ll get Dan Shaughnessy calling you a “fanboy” in his next column, and trying to convince you that by not talking to the media, Okajima is personally snubbing YOU, the fan. The media is just a humble conduit between the fans and their heroes, the ballplayers. That’s their story anyway, and they’re sticking to it.
Newsflash: I, as a fan, don’t particularly want to hear what Hideki Okajima has to say after the game. He stunk the place up. I know it, he knows it, and nothing he says is going to make anyone feel any better about the situation.
I also don’t feel snubbed, no matter what Dan Shaughnessy says.
In the heat of the moment, it’s usually best to take a step back before you speak, which is what Okajima likes to do in these situations, as he explained to ESPNBoston’s Gordon Edes the next day.
While I appreciate that the media has a job to do, I sometimes think that they overlook or take for granted their subjects and the backgrounds from which they come.
Hideki Okajma does not speak English well (if at all), and needs a translator when he does speak with the media. Imagine how incredibly uncomfortable you would feel trying to respond to questions in a foreign language about your own failures through a translator. Can you even imagine it? I don’t think so.
Yet, Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet posted on Twitter: “As has been his cowardly habit for most of his 3 years in Boston when he doesn’t pitch well, Hideki Okajima refuses to answer questions.”
I’m not sure I can blame Okajima, really. McAdam’s accusation also seems to insinuate that Okajima has talked to the media after great performances. Does anyone remember an instance? I don’t. In fact, I can’t remember a single specific instance in which I remember Okajima talking to the media after a game.
And it doesn’t bother me in the least. When was the last time you saw an athlete interviewed and were blown away by the insight he provided you? Um, never? What was Okajima going to say in that situation? If he can come out, faced the media and said: “I just didn’t have it today guys, I don’t know what I was thinking on that bunt.” Would that have made everything OK with the media? Apparently so.
Save your faux outrage for the next time a player doesn’t hustle all the way to first base on an easy ground ball.
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