breaking news: a latin american ballplayer lied about his age.

E:60, i've watched 60 minutes and you're no 60 minutes.

-dan

I can't really defend Tejada because he did in fact lie. However, there's a time and a place for those kinds of accusations. Calling someone for an interview under false pretenses is dishonest and irresponsible. I hope there is some locker room backlash toward ESPN for this.

While I agree both that conducting an interview under false pretenses (which I immagine is indeed the case) is pretty sick and that this is not a particualrly big deal, I actually found this video to be hilarious, which probably isn't the reaction ESPN wants for their "serious" journalism.

Post age-gate and after more stringent immigration regulations after 9/11, I think Tejada will be one of the last to have his age change without a birthday. But it will always come up with the types of contracts given out to 16-year-olds in Latin America.

E:60 is trash. That show is not journalism.

ESPN? Overhype its own story??? No freakin' way!!!!!

lol piling on but E:60, please stick to things that actually matter. the certificate was filed when he was a boy, not when he was born, so that date could be false too. he could be 35 or 29. who cares? especially for baseball players who can play to their 40s.

Nonetheless, if he negotiated his most recent contract while claiming he's 31 (or whatever age he said he was when he signed), he negotiated in bad faith and the contract may be able to be tossed in court. Age is actually relevant to a baseball player's projected performance, so it's entirely reasonable that it should matter.

Given that it's a stupid contract in the first place, they might well look into this, although I'm sure the thugs in the MLBPA will racketeer it up enough to make it very difficult for the Astros, if they try.

ESPN breaks the lid on this bullshit "story," but there's still no mention of Reggie Bush.

After seeing this story, I wonder which element of this "story" is more important: Miguel Tejada lied about his age, or you can watch the entire interview on E:60

Fucking scumbags. This is not news.

I'm sorry, but... hookares? Why is this a story?

Damn you Disney....your theme parks are fun, yet I detest your tv networks. That leaves me in a quandry.

Way to just ambush the guy. Why just go on air with the "news" and wait for him to comment. Why embarrass him over something that doesn't even have a whole lot of importance? It's not like they discovered proof of ARod juicing or something. (although on second thought, I wouldn't care about that either).

espn 60 is garbage.

Danny Almonte is not impressed.

Almonte should be impressed, look how long Miggy got away with it ;)

Seriously though, it is relevant as far as people have said. At 31, you probably still have two prime years ahead of you, and teams know this and will pay for it. At 33, you probably have no prime years ahead of you, and aren't likely to be worth as much. What kind of news do you expect ESPN to break? Peace treaties in the middle east? The broke a sports story. It is what they do. Maybe it's not a big story, but it is entirely within the scope of what ESPN should be covering.

I've been reading some places where some people are saying ESPN's treatment of him is borderline or plain racist. Thats Bullshit. He's a public figure that committed fraud and this kind of disclosure is fair game. Its all good when they sandbag stuffy, white rich owners for being greedy but when our fantasy league darlings or hometown and ethnic heroes are under the gun, it's racist or media exploitation. And to his credit, Tejada gave his explanation and took responsibility for it like a man.

The reporter did his job by reporting and uncovering the truth. And ESPN has a right to report AND advertise THEIR STORY how they want to. Even if the story becomes 1 week old and no watches.

I can't believe AA hasn't dropped anything related to the XMas Ape/WaPo shitstorm...

I linked to it yesterday and spoke to him Anon. Don't know what I can add that isn't already out there.

Anon@ 12:09: get used to it, because as a loyal Bruins fan, i know full well that ESPN is never going to investigate Reggie Bush. considering their dependence on the Reggie/USC hype machine, it's just not gonna happen. it'd be like breaking the news that derek jeter purchased HGH... would ESPN really hype that kind of story?

meanwhile, UCLA hires rick neuheisel and everyone jumps on his past "transgressions" when neuheisel WON a lawsuit against the NCAA for wrongful termination. it sucks, but ESPN has never been afraid to play favorites.

@ Scoops and That's my story

I don't have a problem with ESPN breaking a sports story. It's the manner in which they did it that bothers me. They ambushed him for the benefit of their show. That is totally unethical. Completely unethical.
They're trying to really stick it to him so they can plug their E:60 show.

Total bullshit journalism. I can't believe it, but I feel sorry for Miggi.

All of the knuckleheads who are more upset about ESPN doing an ambush interview than they are that Tejada signed a $72 million deal under knowingly fraudulent pretenses... y'all need to get a grip, and some perspective.

Anon if you think 2 years makes that big a deal to the Astros then you're the knucklehead. The man is a beast. I don't need any of your "perspective". As a broadcast journalism professional I know ESPN is setting journalism back with this kind of bullshit.

If you think 2 years doesn't make that big a deal in baseball, then you haven't been paying any attention at all to the SABR guys and all the work they've done to enlighten people (you) who don't know what they're talking about.

What ESPN did was dumb, lame, etc. Nobody's defending it. However, what Tejada did was fraudulent - you know, fraud. The kind of thing that's all illegal and stuff. The kind of thing that you don't do when signing 8-figure deals unless you're a slug.

"...plus, the Sports Guy is back."

Bill: Where am I?

On another Vegas trip with Hench and J-Bug and Jacko I presume?

Leave it to a "broadcast journalism professional" to overblow the importance of the presentation of the news compared to the story itself. Way to go, Captain Self-Congratulatory.