9/11 Remarks Reportedly Ruin Bobby Valentine's Shot At TBS Gig
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine won't be joining TBS' playoff broadcast team due to his controversial remarks on the Yankees and their response to the 9/11 terror attacks, according to Neil Best of Newsday.
Valentine was "sunk" by comments made on the 12th anniversary of 9/11, Best reported.
"Let it be said that during the time from 9/11 to 9/21, the Yankees were (not around)," Valentine told WFAN radio co-hosts Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on Sept. 11. "You couldn't find a Yankee on the streets of New York City. You couldn't find a Yankee down at Ground Zero, talking to the guys who were working 24/7."
Bobby V was skewered that night by ESPN's Keith Olbermann. But he doubled down during an appearance on NBC Sports Radio on Sept. 12: "(Yankees president Randy) Levine can just come up with a photograph of somebody at a firehouse or a funeral or at someone's house."
TBS has teamed up Olbermann, former MLB pitcher Pedro Martinez and sportswriter Tom Verducci for its studio show during baseball's postseason. On Sept. 13, the Boston Globe reported that Valentine was "expected to be part of the program, too."
"Bobby was one of a number of candidates being considered for the role, but we elected to go with the team of Keith, Pedro and Tom and we're very excited about that combination in-studio for us," a TBS spokesman told Newsday.
Olbermann "was not anxious to work with" Valentine, according to the New York Daily News.
Valentine is the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. He worked some pre- and post-game shows this season on SportsNet New York, the television home of the Mets.
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