Giants OF Barry Bonds engaged a shoving match with USA Today
baseball writer Rod Beaton in the team's clubhouse before last
night's game in St. Louis. According to Mark Gonzales of the SAN
JOSE MERCURY NEWS, Beaton was waiting to interview Giants 2B
Robby Thompson, who was talking at the time with four Red Wings
players visiting the Giants. Bonds apparently took issue with
what he perceived to be Beaton's loitering, and told him, "Don't
be hanging out in my house." A later exchange resulted in Bonds
shoving Beaton. Bonds later said it was "miscommunication." But
Beaton, noting that Bonds did not apologize when they spoke after
the game, said, "Something has to be done. Writers can't be fair
game" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 5/10). USA TODAY noted the
incident in the Giants section of the paper's "NL Notes" column.
Beaton does not intend to file a complaint, and the paper
"considers the matter closed" (USA TODAY, 5/10). Columnist Mark
Purdy writes the post-strike "thaw" between MLB players and the
media is over and that many "big-name" players "apparently feel
they can say and do (or not say and not do) anything without
repercussions." He adds, "Guess what. That was true in the
past, back when baseball was the undisputed king of spring and
summer. But my gut feeling lately is, that's no longer a fact."
Purdy also refers to the shoving of a reporter from a national
daily newspaper as a "good marketing strategy" (SAN JOSE MERCURY
NEWS, 5/10).
