Were you as stunned as most A's fans by the news of Ken Macha's firing?
--Ronnie D. (Pleasanton, Calif.)
Nope. Not at all.
First clue: On the final day of the regular season in Anaheim, I told Billy Beane that Macha had praised him highly the previous day, pushing him for Executive of the Year. Then I basically lobbed him a softball, asking what he thought of the job Macha had done. Said Beane, "I think Ken did ... well, the whole staff, really, the whole organization ... it was a challenging year for everyone." Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Second clue: A player I won't name was grousing about Macha before Game 2 of the ALDS and finished his rant by saying, "That's why he's not going to be here next year." Players don't throw that kind of thing out unless they have some insider information.
Third clue: Macha himself, before Game 1 of the ALCS, told me he wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't back in 2007. I followed up by asking if he thought he'd be dismissed or if he was thinking about quitting. He thought he might get "traded."
The day before Macha was fired and the day that the firing was announced, a lot of prominent players went off on Macha and were very critical of his lack of communication, fire, etc. Why was this the first time that fans had heard of this kind of discontent? I'd imagine that as a beat writer who seems pretty plugged into the team, you'd have known that there were problems long before that. Why didn't you, or any of the other beat writers, get that out in the open earlier?
--Mitch K. (Houston, TX)
I've gotten this question quite a bit in the past several days, so I want to answer it as directly and thoughtfully as possible. Bear with me.
Did I, and other beat writers, know there were issues in the clubhouse? Absolutely. But as a beat writer, you have to be very careful in such situations.
The first thing you do is ask the player or players airing the beef if they're willing to go on the record and have their name attached to their quotes.
Sometimes they'll say no but give you the OK to use the information and assure you that there won't be any sort of backlash in terms of limited access. Then it's on you to decide if it's an issue worth addressing.
As for Macha, in every single case of a player ripping him during the season, I was told that the conversation was completely and unequivocally off the record. And you have no choice but to honor that. I can only speak for myself, but I'm guessing my fellow beat writers went through the same thing. Until, of course, the axe finally fell.
In short, nobody in the media was "hiding" anything or covering anything up. We were following the basic rules of the job.
Ken Macha was dismissed as manager of the A's on Oct. 16, two days after the A's were swept out of the playoffs by Detroit. (Elise Amendola/AP)
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Mailbag: Stunned by dismissal?
Mailbag: Stunned by dismissal?
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