A couple of sons of owners who have moved into team control might wish to think about hiring a spokesman. First, Reds president Phil Castellini:
“He did open up that talk asserting that the Reds were a nonprofit organization,” said Tracey Johnson, a season ticket holder and Rosie Reds member. “I’ve worked for 501(c)(3)s and I was appalled, to say the least. It went down from there. He was very much trying to really back up, ‘hey, we’re trying and the system is fixed against us.’”
TheAthletic.com
Then John Angelos of the Orioles makes the mistake of telling a reporter how to do his job rather than issuing a “No comment”:
Neither of these incidents represent the first time these people have performed poorly speaking publicly.
When players were receiving DUIs, I suggested that they hire a driver. Ride services appear to have taken care of that problem. I suggest these owners hire someone who can speak for the owners.
No one is good at everything, and dealing with the press and the public can be harrowing. There are people who are good at this, people who can convey optimism about a season, support for the fans, and support for the players. They can successfully deflect potentially embarrassing questions so the owners don’t get pilloried in the press.
Castellini and Angelos might be perfectly fine owners, but they should leave the talking to someone else. Otherwise, they better win.
In the early days, sports team owners were already successful businessmen and the team was more of a hobby. Maybe it could even lose some money as a tax write off, but still it was usually something that had to stand on its own legs.
Heck, Steinbrenner was a successful shipbuilder, but now the Yankees are the kids’ own corporation.
The Steinbrenners appear to do it right. Hal speaks when he needs to, but he doesn’t put himself out front publicly much.