The Yankees have barred ESPN from media conference calls with managerial candidates, a retaliation for the network violating rules covering last week’s call on which it was announced Joe Torre had turned down a contract offer.
Jason Zillo, the Yankees’ media relations director, said Wednesday he told the operators conducting calls with Joe Girardi Monday and Don Mattingly Tuesday not to accept ESPN as an affiliation. He said the same policy would apply for Wednesday’s Tony Pena call.
“If the only dialogue ESPN is going to give me is that, ‘We are going to do whatever we want to do,’ it leaves me with very few alternatives,’’ he said. “I don’t take any pride in stiff-arming people. That is not how I like to do business.’’
ESPN angered Zillo Thursday when it played the conference call with team executives live on ESPN2, violating grounds rules that barred live coverage. He was further annoyed by an ESPN statement on the incident that appeared in Newsday and read:
“The most important thing to our fans was for us to provide this major sports news as it was breaking.’’ ESPN presumably meant sports fans, not fans of the network, but Zillo shot back with this:
“I don’t see many people walking around the streets with ESPN jerseys on their backs. I don’t know what fans they’re talking about.’’
Zillo said the ban applies to ESPN’s TV and radio reporters, including ESPN 1050. But he stressed he does not blame the reporters involved.
“I want to resolve this but they’ve backed me into a corner where I don’t have many options if they think they’re bigger than the organization they’re covering,’’ he said.
Zillo said he was not sure whether the ban would extend beyond Wednesday. “I don’t want this to be a long-term thing but I need the message to get out there. Their answer of ‘we do what we want to do’ is not enough.’’
READ MORE ABOUT THE YANKS' POST-SEASON MEDIA POLICIES BELOW
The fact the team is conducting media calls with the managerial candidates is unusual for any pro team, as is the accessibility of Hank Steinbrenner during the process.
“It’s due in part to the fact we have a number of media outlets combing Legends Field,’’ Zillo said. “Instead of them chasing down Joe Girardi or Don Mattingly or Tony Pena at IHOP trying to get a quote from them, we’re trying to do this in some type of organized fashion . . . I think it’s a win-win situation.’’
Even the manager search has been overshadowed for the team’s public relations staff by the death early Sunday morning of Matt Wasser, 22, an intern in that office this season who was killed when a drink driver crashed into the taxi cab in which he was a passenger.
Services will be held Thursday morning in Bridgewater, N.J. The family requested memorial gifts be sent in Wasser’s name to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, The American Cancer Society or Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation.
Comments (7)
Zillo is a little Yankee PR Nazi -- he is lucky the World Wide Leader still cares about the crumbling, bumbling idiots who pays Old Rocket Man a million a start..anyone who has dealt with the Yankees PR pukes know that Zillo is beating cleanup in for the All-Napolean complex team
ESPN is a World Wide Leader in Schlock.
I'm suppose to feel bad for these greedy millionaires when guys are putting there lives on the line for 40K a year and they can't afford to bring there son to a ball game. The Yankees don't even want fans they want corporate boxes. Sorry Levine just showed the true colors of yankee blue to the world and it's green. Bye Bye . Let's Go Mets..... Hopefully the corporate boxes cancel and they are left empty not over Torre and A-Rod MLB is out of control .
Gary, you realize you are changing your allegiance to a team that has sold its stadium name to a bank? No matter where you turn, all these guys see only the dollar signs.
Come on. "Gary" is completely full of crap.
He should root for the Devil Rays if he wasn't so full of dog poo
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