John Kruk Again Confirms that He's a Fool

by mike42 on May 17, 2005 8:45 AM EDT in News Comment 2 comments

Sometimes I wonder if the analysts on ESPN do any research or spend any time preparing for their on air rants. Then my suspicions that they often don't, or at least that John Kruk doesn't, are confirmed by statements like this:

ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk tried to contact Jim Mecir on Monday to apologize for comments he made about the Marlins reliever on Sunday's show.

Kruk, apparently unaware that Mecir was born with club feet and walks with a slight limp, questioned the Marlins for bringing in what appeared to him to be an injured pitcher.

Mecir, who gave up five runs in Sunday's loss to the Padres, is not injured.

One would think that Kruk of all people, a guy who survived testicular cancer and later endured plenty of ribbing for the lasting effects of his treatment, would have a little compassion or respect for things like this.

Apparently not though. It doesn't really make it any better - actually, it may make it worse - but Kruk's fault is probably that he went on the air unscripted and unrehearsed. That probably adds some refreshing nature to the show, but it also opens up Kruk and ESPN to saying something foolish like this.

UPDATE: Other than watching him pitch, I know nothing of Jim Mecir. From the comments over at Baseball Primer, it sounds like Mecir is a pretty good guy (check out comment #17 for the original comment, which I'm quoting here):

I have a young nephew who has no feet. He gets around pretty well w/ prostheses and even kicks a ball around the yard. But as he entered kindergarten, other kids were making fun of him & it was really affecting him (mostly older kids, not his classmates.)

I met Jim in Seattle a couple of yrs ago and explained the story. The following morning he handed to me a personal letter to my nephew, filled with encouragement & support. Through the grapevine I later learned that Mecir has showed similar kindness to a host of other youngsters, all while shunning recognition.

It sounds like Mecir is a bigger person than most of us (well, at least me). I doubt he's bothered by what someone like Kruk said. That doesn't make Kruk any less of a fool though.

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