Orioles reliever Randy Myers sent this letter to The Sun this week (the letter was edited slightly for space):
Dear Editor,
I'm writing this letter in response to an article written about me on Monday by one of your columnists, Ken Rosenthal. I feel this letter is now necessary since his continual antics of blasting me in the press since last year have not subsided and his twisting of the truth to sway public opinion seems to me as being vindictive toward athletes and myself.
Ken Rosenthal also doesn't appear to have the professional courtesy to write his negative columns when we're at home so the athletes he blasts can defend themselves with the local press. And he continues making issues out of non-issues to try to stir up negative reactions toward athletes and me personally.
In response to his latest antics, Ken Rosenthal has tried to cloud the issue that we have the best record in the American League and that we're winning as a team. And it seems to me that instead of talking about that, he [made] statements far from the truth.
An example of this is the situation that occurred Saturday where the game had to be stopped while I was in the middle of my delivery due to music being played over the public-address system. As anyone who has played baseball knows, this immediate stopping of your throwing motion can cause injury. And in this case, I was slightly injured, but the game continued. After the game, I was asked and made the statement that this had happened before and doesn't need to be happening. And whoever is responsible ought to be fired.
A statement was made by the responsible party that it was a mistake that happened and it was unfortunate. OK. Fine. End of issue. But no. Ken Rosenthal decided he wanted to write a negative story about me and is trying to make an issue of this.
And when Ken Rosenthal makes a statement that I don't care about the working public, this shows his stupidity and the fact he knows nothing about me or what I'm about as a person.
Whether it's working in the hay fields, working as a machinist, auto mechanic, salesperson at Kmart, a dishwasher in a restaurant, being a floor sweeper at a company or many other jobs I've held in my life, I know what the working-class family goes through.
And I'd be more than willing to put my background up against Ken Rosenthal's to see who really knows more about and understands the situations they, the working family, live with daily.
Now, in response to the statement I was told Ken Rosenthal made concerning the Baltimore Orioles and the tradition of passing out Mother's Day flowers, he flat-out lied to the public. With his statement that every non-injured player went and passed out flowers, this simply wasn't the case. It's not true. I know for a fact our starting pitcher on Sunday was in the clubhouse preparing to pitch. So every non-injured player wasn't handing out flowers. A lie. Trying to mislead the public for what reason? It appears so that he can continue his vindictive ways toward me.
Even though all the reporters who I talked to on Saturday knew I was injured, which would have excused me from the presentation of flowers on Mother's Day, Ken Rosenthal picked me out of the whole team and pointed a finger at me and commented that I didn't care about the Orioles and mothers. Because I'm trying to prepare for a game one hour before it starts and trying to recover from an injury sustained only the day before, I'm out of touch with reality? How stupid does Ken Rosenthal think the public is to buy into this charade? Ken Rosenthal has for whatever reason a chip on his shoulder toward Randy Myers.
I know that I have to accept his opinions because he is a columnist, that he can write whatever he wants. But to change the facts and the truth to mislead the public, this I cannot sit still for.
Sincerely,
Randy Myers
Editor's note: We acknowledge mistakenly reporting that all non-injured Orioles participated in the Mother's Day flower giveaway. Scott Erickson, as the starting pitcher, was not expected to participate. As to Myers' references that he is being continually targeted, Rosenthal has written three columns focusing on the pitcher since Myers joined the team in December 1995.
Pub Date: 5/14/97
