CSF Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 APNewsBreak: Fox Fires Lyons for Comment By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer 48 minutes ago DETROIT - Fox baseball broadcaster Steve Lyons has been fired for making a racially insensitive comment directed at colleague Lou Piniella's Hispanic heritage on the air during Game 3 of the American League championship series. The network confirmed Saturday that Lyons was dismissed after Friday's comments. He has been replaced for the remainder of the series by Los Angeles Angels announcer Jose Mota. "Steve Lyons has been relieved of his Fox Sports duties for making comments on air that the company found inappropriate," network spokesman Dan Bell said. Lyons had been working in the booth for the ALCS alongside Thom Brennaman and Piniella. A call to Lyons' cell phone was not immediately returned Saturday. In the second inning of Friday's game between Detroit and Oakland, Piniella talked about the success light-hitting A's infielder Marco Scutaro had in the first round of the playoffs. Piniella said that slugger Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez needed to contribute, comparing Scutaro's production to finding a "wallet on Friday" and hoping it happened again the next week. Later, Piniella said the A's needed Thomas to get "en fuego" _ hot in Spanish _ because he was currently "frio" _ or cold. After Brennaman praised Piniella for being bilingual, Lyons spoke up. Lyons said that Piniella was "hablaing Espanol" _ butchering the conjugation for the word "to speak" _ and added, "I still can't find my wallet." "I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now," Lyons continued. Fox executives told Lyons after the game he had been fired. Piniella, approached before Saturday's Game 4, declined to comment on the situation except to say: "No, he's not here today." This was not a first-time offense for Lyons, nicknamed "Psycho" during his nine-year big league career as a utilityman that ended in 1993 with the Boston Red Sox. Hired when Fox began broadcasting baseball in 1996, Lyons was suspended without pay in late September 2004 after his remarks about Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Green is Jewish and elected not to play one of the two games at San Francisco that took place during the Yom Kippur holiday. The network apologized for Lyons' remarks at the time. Lyons, 46, was a career .252 hitter with 19 home runs and 196 RBIs for Boston, the Chicago White Sox, Atlanta and Montreal. He was a first-round draft pick by the Red Sox, 19th overall, in 1981. ___ AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker contributed to this story. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxPhan7 Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 OK, i didnt see the game yesterday but I have read the article three times and I still dont understand what was so offensive about what Psycho said. Could someone please explain it for me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie hayes Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 QUOTE(SoxPhan7 @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 05:05 PM) OK, i didnt see the game yesterday but I have read the article three times and I still dont understand what was so offensive about what Psycho said. Could someone please explain it for me? It's the wallet comment, confirmed by the 'don't want to sit too close bit'. Implying Spanish speakers are thieves. I guess I watched the wrong two games. I hate it when I miss the fireworks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 And he was in the running for the Sox radio gig. Cue the Singelton sucks post. And since I'm hijacking, I will input now. Farmer is worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlliniKrush Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) And he was in the running for the Sox radio gig. Cue the Singelton sucks post. And since I'm hijacking, I will input now. Farmer is worse. Agreed. Singleton has some potential, farmer is just annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 If Lyons were a more notable analyst this never would have happened. Fox probably has been looking for an excuse to remove him. Hell, considering how much time has elapsed since the initial comments, not ONE article had been written about the remarks. I doubt many were legitimately offended. Keith Hernandez, for example, was torn apart only hours after he criticized a woman's role in baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbeFroman Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 Steve Lyons is GREAT announcer/analyst. I't take him over any of our broadcasters... tv or radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie hayes Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 06:17 PM) If Lyons were a more notable analyst this never would have happened. Fox probably has been looking for an excuse to remove him. Hell, considering how much time has elapsed since the initial comments, not ONE article had been written about the remarks. I doubt many were legitimately offended. Keith Hernandez, for example, was torn apart only hours after he criticized a woman's role in baseball. Another possibility is that Piniella was pissed at the comments and Fox decided they'd rather burn their bridges with Lyons than with Piniella. Pure speculation, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 (edited) I'm as annoyed by the politically correct turn our society has took as the next guy, but you can't say THAT in front of the world in October. Psycho deserved what he got. Edited October 15, 2006 by whitesoxfan101 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baines3 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 I always thought he was a good analyst but you can't make comments like that on the air and get by with it. As much as I alway liked Lyons, he got what was coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSoxfan1986 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 I was wondering why he wasn't there today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 Oh come on. Pinella is talking about finding wallets and Steve says that, and gets fired for it? This world has gotten too damn sensative, PC or whatever bulls*** you want to call that. It's not like he called him a wetback or something. If it was Lou that got upset, I am suprised that the crazy sob could rememberwhat was said the next day. I swear he sounds either drunk or senile (or both?)every time I hear him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 I was watching game when Lyons said his speel and it was just him rambling to make a comment to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 Piniella's Hispanic? I thought he was Italian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo's Drinker Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 Pinella sounds like he sould be a commentator for college football, slow and stupid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipps Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(Jimbo @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 02:21 AM) Pinella sounds like he sould be a commentator for college football, slow and stupid When you sober up tomorrow afternoon your gonna read your posts and feel a little embarrased.lol.The funny thing is you probably think you are saying some really insightful things right now.this is great.keep them coming.lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo's Drinker Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(shipps @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 02:54 AM) When you sober up tomorrow afternoon your gonna read your posts and feel a little embarrased.lol.The funny thing is you probably think you are saying some really insightful things right now.this is great.keep them coming.lol im serious, he sounds like one of the espn announcers..I am not ripping his intelligence, just the annoying tone of his voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipps Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(Jimbo @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 03:15 AM) im serious, he sounds like one of the espn announcers..I am not ripping his intelligence, just the annoying tone of his voice. ya,he is a pretty boring oldman.he always sounds like he is telling a story about "back in my day". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo's Drinker Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(shipps @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 03:18 AM) ya,he is a pretty boring oldman.he always sounds like he is telling a story about "back in my day". haha i do see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 01:52 AM) Piniella's Hispanic? I thought he was Italian. I believe his family originated from Spain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(Kalapse @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 07:11 AM) I believe his family originated from Spain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 05:17 PM) If Lyons were a more notable analyst this never would have happened. Fox probably has been looking for an excuse to remove him. Hell, considering how much time has elapsed since the initial comments, not ONE article had been written about the remarks. I doubt many were legitimately offended. Keith Hernandez, for example, was torn apart only hours after he criticized a woman's role in baseball. I think this is a great comparison. Hernandez was honestly offended about Calabrese's presence in the dugout and ranted about it in a very inappropriate fashion, and was able to retain his job. Lyons made a racially insensitive remark(which i dont condone in any way at all), and got fired almost before the broadcast was over. Why is offending the hispanic/spanish portion of the population a fire-able offense, but offending the entire female portion of the population gets you reprimanded? Strange set of rules in baseball broadcast booths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 One was also on network TV and the other wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 08:30 AM) One was also on network TV and the other wasn't. Honestly, does either matter? It wasnt as if we didnt know what Hernandez said within minutes of the broadcast. Everyone heard about it anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 15, 2006 -> 09:47 AM) Honestly, does either matter? It wasnt as if we didnt know what Hernandez said within minutes of the broadcast. Everyone heard about it anyways. It shouldn't, but this is baseball's showcase. There's a lot more people going to hear about this one without even trying, as you even have non-baseball fans watching these games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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