Dexter Fowler is having a disastrous season, that’s for sure. He’s hitting under .200 and has been supplanted in right field by Harrison Bader. There is the possibility that he could be traded or Designated for Assignment, which would lead to him being available to any MLB team.
John Mozeliak, St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations, decided to publicly question Fowler’s effort and dedication in a podcast by, conveniently, Cardinals TV announcer Dan McLaughlin.
When asked about Fowler’s struggles, Mozeliak went on full blast saying, “it’s been a frustrating year for everybody involved, and here’s a guy that wants to go out and play well.
“I think he would tell you it’s hard to do that when you’re not playing, and not playing on a consistent basis. But I’ve also had a lot of people come up to me and question his effort and his energy level. Those are things that I can’t defend.
“What I can defend is trying to create opportunities for him, but not if it’s at the expense of someone who’s out there hustling and playing hard. I think everybody needs to take a hard look in the mirror and decide what they want the next chapter to look like.”
It sounds to me that Mozeliak is appealing to the Cardinal Nation base that is looking for a scapegoat, and all the better that it’s a black one.
With all the problems the Cardinals’ have, beginning with manager Mike Matheny, Mozeliak blasts Fowler without providing any information to back up his inflammatory comment.
What people have approached him and questioned Fowler’s work ethic? Are they fans, players or management? What game or play stands out as one where Fowler was loafing?
By the way, Mozeliak ripped into Fowler just as he was going on paternity leave. That took guts.
If you think I’m ranting, I’ll let Yahoo Sports columnist Liz Roscher share her thoughts with you.
“Mozeliak’s statement about Fowler is mind boggling. In response to a question about what the Cards can to do get Fowler going, Mozeliak responded by saying absolutely nothing about baseball. He didn’t talk about how Fowler has been hitting, what more he could be doing, or what the Cardinals could do to help him,” she wrote.
“He could have dug into Fowler’s stats even a little bit and found that his batting average on balls in play is .201. That is far, far below the league average, which typically sits in the low .300 range. It means Fowler has been getting really unlucky whenever he hits a ball in play — fielders have been finding his balls and they haven’t been squeaking through for hits.
“He doesn’t explain why he’s doing this, he doesn’t cite any examples of times when Fowler hasn’t given what Mozeliak perceives to be 100 percent, he just says he can’t defend Fowler when people question his ‘effort’ and ‘energy level.’
“It’s easy to understand why Mozeliak (and the phantom fans he mentioned) would be frustrated with Fowler. He’s a high-salary player who’s having a bad season, and the Cardinals are struggling. But for Mozeliak to go on the radio and essentially say that he thinks Fowler has been struggling because he doesn’t care enough, that’s pretty galling.”
Fowler reportedly “liked” a Facebook post that included the podcast interview, signaling that he is aware of Mozeliak’s comments.
Also, for every anonymous fan or follower of the team that questions Fowler’s effort, I’m sure there are two that question how Mozeliak has managed to not only keep his job, but also get promoted last season.
On Tuesday, the Post-Dispatch helped Mozeliak clean up his own mess by quoting him as saying, “I would not make too much of this and really what I was trying to say is, I hear what our fan base is saying and I hope our players understand it as well. But there is a time to get this right and to win.”
The story by beat writer Derrick Goold wrote, “Mozeliak reached out personally to Fowler on Monday to explain his comments, and he said the outfielder was receptive to the explanation.”
Too little, too late.
Hargrove picks SLU over Mizzou
Terrence Hargrove Jr. gave East St. Louis and SLU basketball fans something to cheer about last week – and left Missouri with disappointment.
Hargrove announced that he would not transfer from East St. Louis and play for the Flyers next season. He also ended rampant speculation by giving a verbal commitment to SLU over Mizzou and several other Division 1 schools in an ongoing recruiting battle.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here (East St. Louis),” Hargrove told the Belleville News-Democrat.
“Me and my teammates, we’re in the gym everyday working out, trying to get better. We had a great record this summer (24-4). I know all about the rumors about me transferring to places like Chaminade, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m happy here.”
Washington Wizard’s all-star guard Bradley Beal attended Chaminade, as did Boston Celtics rookie sensation Jayson Tatum. Hargrove is playing for the Bradley Beal Elite AAU team, which includes Belleville West senior E.J. Liddell, the reigning Illinois Mr. Basketball. They are scheduled to play in the heralded Peach Jam Tournament July 11-15 in North Augusta, South Carolina.
Belleville West was also a rumored destination for Hargrove, but he’s sticking with the Flyers and is proud to be a member of Beal’s AAU team.
“It’s a great challenge for me to be able to play with Bradley Beal Elite. You become a better player by playing against great competition each day. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every time you step on the floor,” he said.
“I’m here (in the gym) and/or the weight room every day, getting stronger.”
Maybe Sam Snelling of the Mizzou-oriented Rock M Nation unwittingly helped Hargrove make up his mind with what he wrote last week.
“With Hargrove’s move to the BBE this summer, many thought his recruiting would take off. He struggled early to find a role on a loaded team, playing behind elite 2020 recruit Moses Moody on the wing and Liddell manning the combo forward spot,” Snelling wrote.
“With those early struggles, Hargrove just hasn’t seen his stock take off the way most of us expected. The Tigers are in good position but as roles change and other players emerge, they may be able to slow down the recruitment with Hargrove and hope they can still turn to him if things don’t pan out with a player like Malik Hall.”
Whoops. Now it’s possible Mizzou could land neither Hargrove or Hall.
The Reid roundup
Schnuck’s Markets is now a sponsor of The Charlie Tuna Show, which airs from 8-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday on 590 The Fan. Beginning next week, Tuna will broadcast a series of Thursday shows from urban Schnucks locations in the city and north St. Louis County… Of the five African nations that qualified for the World Cup, none advanced to the Round of 16. Senegal tied with Japan in Group points but became the first team in tournament history to fall victim to the Fair Play tiebreaker. It had more yellow card fouls than Japan… Edwin Jackson, who played an important role in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2011 World Championship, is now pitching for his 13th Major League team. He won his first game with the Oakland A’s last Saturday, a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians… Lewis Hamilton was atop the Formula 1 driver standings until his Mercedes team race analyst totally blundered last Sunday in Austria. Mercedes passed on an early pit stop, which later led to Hamilton’s car losing fuel pressure. He is now one point behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel… Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher was not a fan of former coach Kevin Sumlin’s office or spring practice routine. He said Sumlin’s dark office, “was like a damn nightclub,” and he ended background music during spring practices… Boston Celtics rookie Robert Williams tumbled in the draft because of concerns about his commitment. He responded by sleeping through a conference call the day following the draft. He then missed a flight last Friday and was absent from the team’s first Summer League practice, which included Jayson Tatum, who is working with the team… Somehow, the best team in the NBA ended up with one of the best free agents in the NBA. Welcome to Golden State, Boogie Cousins… This longtime Los Angeles Lakers fan doesn’t think LeBron James will bring a title to L.A. anytime soon. In fact, if the Lakers don’t add another star or top-notch talent, they might not make the playoffs next year… Kudos to Magic Johnson for showing up at James’ L.A. home the minute free agency officially began at 9:01 p.m. Saturday on the West Coast and sealing the free agency deal.
Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest and is a New York Times contributor. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on 97.1 Talk.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
