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Doug Gottlieb: If Stephen A. Smith Were a Journalist, He’d Ask Rob Manfred About Trevor Bauer

“It is your duty as a journalist to ask a fair but hard question. A fair but hard question, and they didn’t ask any of them.”

Jordan Bondurant

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A photo of Doug Gottlieb
Courtesy: Scott Shapiro

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was a guest on First Take on ESPN on Wednesday, and FOX Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb wished Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo had asked Manfred more pressing questions.

Manfred was asked about a range of topics from the new rule changes, to this year’s playoffs and the attendance woes for the Tampa Bay Rays.

On The Doug Gottlieb Show later Wednesday, Doug said Manfred wasn’t going to speak on pitcher Trevor Bauer’s situation and for good reason. Manfred’s team probably pre-screened the questions before the interview, and since Mad Dog also hosts High Heat on MLB Network, there was a good chance in Gottlieb’s eyes that Russo wasn’t going to bring Bauer up.

“But what happens is the PR person sets up the interview, and Jason Stewart – our esteemed producer – knows this because previous to this job his previous big job was working for FOX Sports. And this is how the business works,” Gottlieb said. “You get a big guest, and they’re like, ‘Hey you can’t ask about…’ and then you have to make a decision as a show unit, or as a company, are we still gonna have him on?”

Gottlieb added that it was likely Trevor Bauer was a subject off limits anyway. Still, Doug offered a criticism of Stephen A. Smith for not at least bringing up hard issues for the commissioner to discuss. He said the most embarrassing part was that Stephen A. has claimed he’s a journalist and he’s bigger than anything ESPN alone. Yet he didn’t want to hold Manfred’s feet to the fire.

“It is your duty as a journalist to ask a fair but hard question,” Gottlieb said. “A fair but hard question, and they didn’t ask any of them. And look, I’m only pointing out Stephen A. because he had Manfred on.”

“I’ve made mistakes, and I don’t have a journalist’s background, I do know most of the rules. I’ve made open mistakes about it,” he added. “But the one thing I will never do for you the listener or you the viewer, when you watch this stuff on any of our social media stuff, is I can’t play scared. I played scared in basketball. Scared to miss a shot.”

Doug later said he made it a point to himself to play smart in radio but don’t play scared.

I don’t have all the evidence. I don’t know all the facts. All I can do is react to what Trevor Bauer has been able to produce,” he said.

Doug Gottlieb suggested that Stephen A. could’ve phrased the question in a way that would have at least given Manfred a chance to detail what process, if any, Bauer would need to follow to get back with an MLB club or at least address the latest developments.

“And that’s all Manfred had to say today,” he said. “Ask me a question and then say, ‘Look this is all new information. We’re still gathering it. We want to give all of our players a chance to be heard and defend themselves and then we’ll make a determination.'”

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KNBR’s Brian Murphy Speaks for First Time After Paul McCaffrey Laid Off

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’.”

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A photo of Paul McCaffrey and Brian Murphy
(Photo: KNBR)

Earlier this week, KNBR underwent a round of layoffs, affecting a pair of programs on the Bay Area sports station, including the departure of longtime morning host Paul McCaffrey. His longtime partner — Brian Murphy — has taken to X to share his thoughts.

In a thread to X, Murphy shared his admiration for McCaffrey, whom he hosted Murph and Mac with for 18 years.

“Paulie Mac is my guy, will forever be my guy. The best thing I could ever wish anyone is that you get to work with someone as loyal, energetic, funny, consistent as the guy his Jersey buddies call ‘Smack’,” wrote Murphy. “So much love.”

He then shared that everything listeners and fans of the program have shared on social media has been read by the duo, and thanked them for the outpouring of love and support.

Finally, Murphy addressed his future. Fill-in host Dieter Kurtenbach shared on Thursday he did not have a definitive answer about Murphy’s future with the Cumulus-owned station.

However, Brian Murphy has shared he will return to the airwaves on Monday morning.

“I’ll be back Monday morning on KNBR with our guy Markus (Waterboy) Boucher,” Murphy wrote. “Come on. It’s Niners-Eagles. Wouldn’t miss it. As Paulie Mac’s board itself would say: The show goes on.”

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Mike Mulligan: Sports Radio is More Difficult Than Other Formats Think

He shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

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Mike Mulligan
Courtesy: Illinois Entertainer

On Friday morning’s edition of Mully & Haugh on 670 The Score in Chicago, co-host Mike Mulligan outlined the difference with music radio that hosts are not continuously talking to the audience, instead taking mic breaks and then interspersing commentary with different songs.

Filling in for David Haugh on Friday’s edition of the program was Gabe Ramirez, who used to work in the format with B96 as the host of its morning show. Mulligan’s assertion about the differences between the two formats resulted in a conversation about the differences between the grenres, with Ramirez explaining the difficulties that music radio hosts face on the air.

“The music station’s still creating content,” Ramirez said. “You get to have a guest – since I am going to defend my music stations – you get to have a guest and toss them a softball question and listen to them rant for five minutes.”

Mulligan disagreed with this perspective, conveying that he does not feel their program provides guests with easy questions. Additionally, he shared that he has worked with people on morning shows that he has seen come to a station fully hungover who play music and proceed to sit on the couch.

“As a former sportswriter, we sit around and we talk about sports,” Mulligan said. “We talk about the sports we cover and we talk about other sports.”

“You have to talk about Justin Fields seven days in a row,” Ramirez replied. “As a morning show for music, you have to come up with new content every day.”

Rather than taking umbrage towards the response, Mike Mulligan explained that the key to effectively performing his job is being able to discuss important stories of the day even when they are not the headlines. Furthermore, he expounded on the commitment that it takes to watch the amount of sporting events and to be properly informed on the action so he is able to take the air.

“That I will agree with,” Ramirez said. “I’ve told people this – they ask me, ‘What’s the biggest difference?’ The prep, without question, is way more difficult in sports radio because everyone that’s listening to you already knows the answers and you have to be equally if not more informed in all of those things.”

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Minnesota Twins Set to Tab Cory Provus as New TV Voice, Kris Atteberry as Lead Radio Announcer

Provus has been the radio voice of the Minnesota Twins since 2012.

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Minnesota Twins

After Dick Bremer exited the Minnesota Twins TV booth in October, the search began for his replacement. The MLB franchise didn’t have to look far, though.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus is reportedly set to become the new TV play-by-play broadcaster for the club, according to a report from Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Provus has been the radio voice of the Minnesota Twins since 2012. Many immediately tabbed him as the club’s replacement for Bremer, who retired after 40 seasons as the lead television voice of the American League club. Before joining the team in 2012, Provus worked for the Milwaukee Brewers as the number two broadcaster after spending two seasons as the radio pregame host for the Chicago Cubs.

Meanwhile, Kris Atteberry has been signaled as the person set to replace Provus inside the franchise’s radio booth. He has served as the pregame and postgame host for the Minnesota Twins Radio Network since 2007. Atteberry joined the club after spending five years calling games for the then-Independent St. Paul Saints from 2002-2006.

While the television and radio broadcast crews appear set, questions remain about where the team will televise its games in 2024. The club’s contract with Bally Sports North has reportedly expired, and it has yet to sign an agreement with the bankruptcy-laden RSN, or with a local over-the-air television station.

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