Stop Saying Commish Rob Manfred Hates Baseball

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It is a universal truth that commissioners of pro sports leagues will face deafening boos when they appear in public. Rob Manfred, MLB’s commish, is no exception. A lawyer and seemingly mild-mannered bureaucrat, Manfred has become one of the most hated figures in American sports thanks to a number of public gaffes and unpopular responses to baseball’s various scandals. Today, Don Van Natta takes us inside the world of Rob Manfred (after sitting down with him nearly ten times this year!) and what Manfred thinks his job really is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Don Vanetta, you sat down with the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred nearly 10 times
0:06.3	so far this year, which is a conspicuously significant amount of access for a story about
0:11.3	any major sports commissioner.
0:13.8	And you clearly did not shy away from actual tough questions, but one of them felt especially
0:21.0	pointed.
0:22.7	What did you ask him?
0:24.1	I asked him, do you hate baseball?
0:30.5	We saw repeatedly during the lockout that says Rob Manfred hates baseball.
0:35.4	It seems almost preposterous to ask this.
0:37.6	Do you hate baseball?
0:38.7	No, it's the most ridiculous thing among some fairly ridiculous things that get said
0:46.3	about me.
0:47.5	That one does rub me the wrong way.
0:48.9	I have to tell you the truth.
0:51.7	It does rub Manfred the wrong way, and it's because there is a large group of people
0:57.3	absolutely convinced he hates baseball.
1:00.4	He's bored by baseball and he's killing baseball.
1:03.1	It's not just fans.
1:05.3	It's many players that I spoke with.
1:07.9	Some agents, former executives are all convinced Rob Manfred does not have baseball's best
1:14.3	interests at heart.
1:16.4	He obviously found the concept of him hating baseball.
	...

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