Last night a BBWAA-credentialed reporter from the Detroit Free Press was barred from the Houston Astros’ clubhouse by team security following the Tigers win over the Astros. The reporter -- who was almost certainly Anthony Fenech, who covers the Tigers -- was kept out at the request of Astros starter Justin Verlander. Here’s the scene as described by the Free Press. The article contains a photo, taken by Fenech, of the three Astros officials who blocked the door to prevent him access:
That after-the-fact access for the reporter came only after he called Major League Baseball who, in turn, called Astros officials, presumably, to tell them that they cannot bar credentialed media.
It’s unclear at the moment what the beef is between Verlander and either the Free Press or the reporter. For what it’s worth, I follow Fenech and, while he’s a bit more witty and, occasionally, cutting than your average beat reporter, he’s self-effacing and doesn’t do cheap shots. Though he talks often about former Tigers and has made a point to highlight Verlander’s post-Tigers career whenever relevant, to my knowledge he hasn’t said or done anything specific to tweak Verlander in the past.
I will note, though, that last night, about eight minutes before Fenech was barred access, the Free Press Twitter account sent this tongue-in-cheek tweet out. It’s unclear if he or someone else at the paper wrote it:
#BREAKING: Justin Verlander once again pitches Detroit Tigers to victory, 2-1 in Houston https://t.co/JGfaBOmliI
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) August 22, 2019
Maybe that pissed off Verlander, who is known to be active on social media and is usually pretty aware of what’s being said about him. Hard to say.
What’s easy to say, though, is that no matter what has hurt Verlander’s fragile ego, the Astros barring the reporter from the clubhouse is in blatant violation of the agreement between Major League Baseball and the Baseball Writers Association of America, which ensures access for credentialed reporters. Verlander doesn’t have to talk to the guy -- he doesn’t have to talk to anyone he doesn’t want to talk to -- but the team honoring Verlander’s wishes to bar access is totally unacceptable and, frankly, about as low-rent as it gets from a media relations perspective.
We’ll probably hear more about this later today.
UPDATE: Verlander speaks:
I declined to speak with the @freep rep last night because of his unethical behavior in the past. I reached out to the @freep multiple times before the game to notify them why and to give them an opportunity to have someone else there. Ironically they didn’t answer.
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) August 22, 2019
This is irrelevant, of course. Verlander can choose not to talk to the Free Press if he chooses not to, obviously. But The Astros are not permitted to bar the paper access, even if their ace pitcher requests it. So now we wait to hear from the Astros on the matter.
UPDATE: And now the Free Press speaks, contradicting Verlander:
Hey, @JustinVerlander: I would like to know who you have contacted @freep about telling your side of the story. My reporter has not heard from you directly, nor have I.
— Chris Thomas (@ByChrisThomas) August 22, 2019
My email is listed on the article we published last night.
I am more than happy to speak with you about it. https://t.co/vAbN86rNfY
