Tuesday, February 24, 2009

"Such a Bad Guy for Such a Long Time"

Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman piles on in a WLW Radio interview reported by MLB Rumors via Baseball Musings:
An unsubstantiated suspicion that Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden may somehow be connected with the supposed fraudulent taking of kickbacks from young player prospects "comes as no surprise to me," says Hall-of-Fame Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman.

Brenneman -- who covered the Reds during Bowden's rocky tenure as general manager in Cincinnati -- suggested to son Tom Brennaman in a recent broadcast commentary for WLW Radio that a history of arguably dubious dealings by Bowden indicates something may be amiss.

"That guy has been such a bad guy for such a long time that what goes around, comes around," said Brennaman, who has a reputation for outspokenness if not being altogether blunt.

Bowden -- reported by SI.com to be included in a federal investigation into the skimming of signing bonuses paid to player prospects from Latin America -- has denied any wrongdoing. No accusations against him have been substantiated, and no charges were filed against him as the result of his reported questioning by the FBI concerning related matters last year.

Bowden has become the center of a firestorm of publicity after it was revealed that Nationals player Esmailyn Gonzalez received a $1.4 million signing bonus after purporting himself to be a 16-year-old though he was actually 21. The Gonzalez rift is unrelated to a skimming probe, according to published statements attributed to Nationals president Stan Kasten, who stands behind Bowden.

A number of controversies involving trades and other personnel decisions have followed Bowden through much of his career, perhaps none greater than his firing of popular Reds manager Tony Perez after a lapse of just 44 games during the 1993 season.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

At this point you could put the title 'Because Why Wouldn't ya?' right under the Fire Jim Bowden banner.

Steven said...

I really can't think of one reason. Really.

estuartj said...

So some old announcer from Cincy doesn't like JimBow, this is new how? Does he have anything to say about HOW Bowden has been such a bad guy for so long?

I hate slander! Even if JimBow is as bad as he (and everyone else) says, if you aren't willing to be specific, just keep it to yourself!

John O'Connor said...

It's not slander if it's true.

Steven said...

If this many otherwise reasonable people have such scathingly nasty things to say about you, from Hal McCoy to Kevin Towers to Marty Brennaman to Ron Oester to Jeff Shaw to John Manuel...

Flavour said...

It may seem petty, but if Bowden is finally fired, could you take up the crusade to get the gold trim removed from the Nats logo and lettering... it just bugs me

Flavour2 said...

BTW, I feel a little guilty about that last post so just wanted to say how much I enjoy the blog. I assume it is a labor of love but I appreciate the work you put into for us all to enjoy. But I'm serious about the gold trim, its gotta go.