FanHouse HaroldReynolds

The Dominican Republic was considered one of the favorites to win the World Baseball Classic, but Felipe Alou's squad was shockingly eliminated in extra innings on Tuesday night by the Netherlands.

Over the last seven days there seemed to be a lot of back and forth between the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners for the services of one Ken Griffey Jr. Last Thursday the word was that Junior was going to be returning to Seattle, and the only thing in the way was passing a physical. A few hours later, Griffey came out and said the report wasn't true.

Then on Tuesday the report was that Griffey was going to Atlanta where he could be closer to his family, as he'd reached a contract agreement with the Braves and was just waiting to pass a physical. Once again, a few hours later Junior said it wasn't true. Finally on Wednesday Ken signed with the Mariners, but who helped him decide between legacy and family? Well, any bitter Braves fans should probably direct their ire at the great Willie Mays.

Veteran first baseman Sean Casey is retiring from baseball after 12 years in the major leagues. Casey played for the Red Sox in 2008, but is best known for his time with the Reds, where he earned the nickname "The Mayor" for his genial and friendly nature in the clubhouse and at first base with opposing baserunners.

Casey was never the prototypical slugging first baseman, but he made up for it with a solid glove and a career .302 batting average. He's almost certainly not going to be the only experienced free agent to be forced into early retirement because of a lack of interest this winter, but he is one of the first noteworthy names to hang 'em up.

The good news? Casey will take his considerable good guy talents to the brand new MLB Network, where he'll join Harold Reynolds and company in their so far successful attempts to make John Kruk and the rest of ESPN's Baseball Tonight crew obsolete.

Don't believe me? Read the headline, chumps!

Here's the formidable Opening Night talent roster: studio hosts Greg Amsinger, Victor Rojas and Matt Vasgersian, reporters Trenni Kusnierek and Hazel Mae, insider Jon Heyman and studio analysts Barry Larkin, Al Leiter, Joe Magrane, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds and Mitch Williams.

Yep. Jon Heyman. If you're not familiar with Mr. Heyman, this should fill you in.

This afternoon's Dugout is after the jump.

Slowly, but surely, what started as slight concern about maple bats has grown into a full-grown issue. The furor is thus: maple bats splinter and spray far more than their ash counterparts, while the performance advantages that many players believe maple afford them are largely imaginary. (Baseball players are kooks like that.) Still, good luck convincing them.

Consider Cal Ripken and Harold Reynolds -- not players, per se, but former ones -- as among the "no-big-deal" chorus:

"I think they might be making a little bit too much out of it," Ripken said Tuesday.

"They don't use as thick a handle anymore and the bats are a lot lighter. ... The head of the bat is a lot bigger, and it's going to break," Reynolds said. "I don't think it's maple or whatever substance they might be using to make the bat. I think it's more in the design that the players are using now."

That would be all well and good, lads, except the science -- explained pretty clearly in this passionate Jeff Passan piece -- is straightforward. Ash bats crack. Maple bats break. And neither is better than the other at enhancing power. It's really not so hard, nor is it worth risking lives over.

Back in April we reported that Harold Reynolds was returning to the television airwaves for the first time since his controversial dismissal from ESPN. Unfortunately, his big return was to local cable, meaning unless you lived in the Big Apple, chances are you couldn't see his work on Sportsnet New York.

Soon, though, he'll make his long-awaited return to the national stage, as Michael Hiestand of USA TODAY reports that TBS is bringing Reynolds on board as an analyst. He'll make his network debut in the studio on Sunday as All-Star rosters are announced, and he'll be a part of the network's regular-season coverage thereafter. Hiestand reports that TBS is in talks with Reynolds and Dennis Eckersley to do their postseason coverage, as well.

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Reynolds' dismissal from the four-letter network, I think viewers will be happy to have him back on TV. Quality announcers and analysts are surprisingly few and far between, and it's a shame that one of the game's best has had to sit on the sidelines for as long as he has.

Previously on FanHouse:
ESPN and Harold Reynolds Reach Settlement
John Kruk Reportedly Avoids Awkward Phone Conversation with Harold Reynolds
Harold Reynolds No Longer Unemployed

Exiled to the internet realm, shudder, after being fired by ESPN, Harold Reynolds is bringing his game back to television. On the heels of last week's settlement with the network of his claim of wrongful termination, Reynolds signed a deal to appear on Sportsnet New York, the cable home of the New York Mets.

Reynolds will make his debut Friday night on the pre- and post-game shows for Mets-Braves, the first of about 20 appearances this season.

Reynolds must be quite excited about his return to the medium but he'll likely stick to firm handshakes and hearty hellos when he meets his new colleagues. As you'll recall, it was a hug he gave to a female intern, described by Reynolds as "brief but innocuous," which precipitated his departure from the Bristol gang.

It's a boon for Mets watchers. SNY has collected a good group of announcers and Reynolds will only add to one of the better local broadcasts in baseball. The limited engagement will also keep his TV skills honed for the eventual launch of MLB's own baseball network where Reynolds, who's been working for MLB.com, should be a major player.

If there's any bad news about HR's return to the airwaves, it's that it's a local cable channel for just a handful of games and without Peter Gammons. Baseball Tonight hasn't been nearly as enjoyable since he left, mostly because no one has been able to match the Gammons/Reynolds duo for passion, knowledge and sheer enjoyment for talking baseball.

Perhaps the craziest news in the whole Harold Reynolds did he or did he not give an inappropriate hug to a female intern fiasco was the fact that after Reynolds decided to pursue legal action against ESPN, we learned the trial wasn't going to hit court until 2009. Seemed like quite some time to wait for HR to state his claims.

But, it looks like it that day will never come as ESPN and Reynolds have reached a settlement.

Details of the agreement, which was reached last week, were not released.

"This was a matter of principle," Reynolds, who now works for MLB.com, said in a statement. "I stood on principle and didn't waver. My goals were met. Now I can put this behind me and concentrate on the game I love."

Whether or not HR should have been terminated from his outpost at ESPN -- I suppose there's really no way to know for sure if he got extra grabby, sans some videotape evidence -- as baseball fans, we're clearly at a loss for Reynolds not being on Baseball Tonight anymore. Him and Peter Gammons were the best thing that network had going.

It's a shame he's been relegated to MLB.com. Godspeed, Harold.

Also see: Awful Announcing

As Harold Reynolds continues his work over at MLB.com -- is anyone checking him out over there? -- his court date vs. ESPN has been set. And it's um ... not for quite some time. Try February 2009. Via the Portland Tribune:

Reynolds is asking for up to $15 million for breach of contract, wrongful dismissal and defamation of character after the network dismissed him in July 2006 on sexual-harassment charges. The Corvallis native and former major league All-Star second baseman, who worked for ESPN for 11 years, will begin depositions next month.

This season, Reynolds has been doing a three-day-a-week podcast on MLB.com called "Lineup Card With Harold Reynolds." Once his case is settled – and it probably will be out of court – Reynolds hopes to return to broadcasting.

By the time this thing goes to court -- or actually is settled out of court as the PT blurb on this seems to indicate -- the whole ordeal will be so far down the line of ESPN employees doing (alleged) inappropriate things it will be but a blip on the radar. Reynolds has feverishly denied this thing from the start, so if he's telling the truth about it all, more power to him.

Previously at FanHouse:
Harold Reynolds tag

HT: Awful Announcing.

Regular purveyors of the sports blogosphere are most likely already hip to this interview, but if you don't fall into that category, let me catch you up to speed.

Will Leitch, he of Deadspin fame, accepted an invite to interview new MLB.com employee Harold Reynolds on Friday. Today, he transcribed the interview on his site. HR talked with Will about a myriad of topics, including whether or not he's heard from some of his former ESPN colleagues.

Kurkjian and Peter (Gammons) have called, and I speak with them a lot. Ravech has tried to contact me a couple of times. The main people I worked with were Peter, Karl, Krukie and occasionally Kurkjian, and everybody's contacted me except for Kruk. I'm not gonna sit here and slam him, though.

I think what has happened with most of the people at ESPN is, because of the lawsuit, a lot of people are afraid to get in touch with me. It's not that they don't like me. I understand.

I don't know if I necessarily agree with Reynolds' assessment that people are afraid to talk to him because of the lawsuit. You know, I'm sure it's just John Kruk is busy creating rock operas and such. But anyways, come on fellas. Look at that picture of both of you. I feel the love. Someone make a move and pick up the phone. The world awaits.

Previously At FanHouse:
Harold Reynolds Is No Longer Unemployed
John Kruk Is With Leather