[SuperJon]

They just announced on Sportscenter that Harold Reynolds was no longer with the company. No explanation was given.

[Sly Fox]

He was fired. As someone who has been unemployed in recent years, I have nothing but sympathy for him finding livelihood as soon as possible.

That said, he was overrated. And he was an abomination when it came to the CWS.

[jcmanson]

I heard that too, and found it kind of strange. I liked him for the most part.

[A.G.]

Sly--I have to disagree with you. Harold was phenomenal at the CWS and the LLWS. He will be missed in this starship destroyer.

[SuperJon]

I agree with AG. I liked Reynolds. Joe Morgan could be fired tomorrow and I wouldn't care, same with John Millers. I just want to know why Reynolds was fired.

[Sly Fox]

You guys have to be kidding me? Morgan & Miller are awesome. Of course I have a strong bias toward Little Joe after groing up in Cincy in the Big Red Machine days.

As for Reynolds at the CWS, he rarely bothered to do ANY research so he was mispronouncing nearly every name and delivering the most inane commentary on the planet. At least with MLB he had an inkling what he was talking about. If you are part of a relatively big event like Rosenblatt, you should at least act like you care enough to learn a little about the teams.

[LU'sbestmanger]

i liked him because it seemed like he was right about everything. everything the guy says is true

[bigsmooth]

whoa sly, where are you coming from?? i think sometimes your biases cloud reality. reynolds is a solid MLB guy. as far as the CWS, i thought he did a good job. i believe many have pronounced players names wrong. when he first started at ESPN, i thouhgt he was horrible, but he grew into the position, and really brought some insight to baseball tonight. comparing reynolds to morgan/miller is not really fair, as he mainly does baseball tonight. im sure we will land on his feet..probably over at FOX.

[Rocketfan]

I agree for the most part with Big Smooth, however i have and still do think Joe Morgan is horrible and i mute the TV when he decides to open his mouth( i actually had to mute it because my wife got tired of me yelling " thats the darn dumbest thing i have ever heard" at the TV). Sorry Sly he is awful.

[TIMSCAR20]

HR had too many sexual harrassment complaints against him and he was let go. This from Elliot in the Morning a DC radio show that is broadcast here in Richmond. It is Ironic that HR (human Resources) had to lower the boom on HR (Harold Reynolds).

And for the record I like Joe Morgan. My brother used to say that he was 5-8 but 2 feet was all head back when he played with the Reds

[Realist]

I liked Reynolds, but can't stand Morgan. Morgan always has his favorite teams and will not speak highly of anyone else but the Giants, Reds, and a couple others.

[givemethemic]

Baseball tonight was boring last night!!!!! I really like Harold, I think could land one of 2 places....TBS has playoffs now in the new MLB deal or Fox would be the other place... Miller and Morgan work great together I got no probs with them

[SuperJon]

I heard the sexual harrassment last night but was too tired to get out of bed and post it.

Joe Morgan thinks he knows everything about baseball. He completely blasted Bobby Cox the other night for trying to bunt with a runner on first and no outs in the late innings of a 1-1 game. Hmm, who has more credibility, Cox or Morgan? That one's not hard. He plays favorites and is just bad.

John Miller goes so far to try to pronounce names right that he ends up butchering them anyways.

[BJWilliams]

My only thing is Harold obviously did something right to last 11 years at ESPN

[jcmanson]

I don't have much a problem with Joe or Harold. I did like HR much better than Joe. He will definitely land a job somewhere.

[Rocketfan]

What about Omar Miniaya ( sp ? ) hiring him for the Mets TV Network Color commentary guy for next year. Thats a huge market that is going to want a recognizable name in the box during a game. But i wouldn't want to move to TBS if i were him, thats a large step DOWN in my mind.

[givemethemic]

Well TBS is step down from ESPN, but at TBS would really be a focal point there and will have a ton of playoff games under the new contract and they actually have the rights to any tiebreaker games this year

[givemethemic]

There is always 2 sides to every story and here is Harold's

NEW YORK (AP) - Harold Reynolds was fired by ESPN from his job as a baseball analyst after he was accused of sexual harassment, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The former Gold Glove-winning second baseman, a member of the "Baseball Tonight" team for 11 years, said he didn't do anything to warrant his dismissal and wants his job back.
"It was a total misunderstanding," Reynolds told the Post. "My goal is to sit down and get back. To be honest with you, I gave a woman a hug and I felt like it was misinterpreted."

The newspaper, quoting sources, reported that the woman is an ESPN employee.

On Tuesday, ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said Reynolds, 45, made his last on-air appearance for the network Sunday night. ESPN refused to comment on previous reports that Reynolds was dismissed, or to provide any details regarding his departure.

"All I can say is he is no longer working here," Krulewitz said.

Reynolds, who played 12 major league seasons, joined ESPN in 1996. In addition to his work on "Baseball Tonight," he also covered the College World Series and the Little League World Series.

ESPN already was dealing with the loss of another baseball analyst, Peter Gammons, who has been off the air since he was stricken with a brain aneurysm on June 27.

[givemethemic]

From the New York Post

July 26, 2006 -- After being accused of sexual harassment and fired by ESPN, former "Baseball Tonight" analyst Harold Reynolds said yesterday he doesn't think he did anything wrong and is still hoping to regain his job.
"This was a total misunderstanding," Reynolds told The Post. "My goal is to sit down and get back. To be honest with you, I gave a woman a hug and I felt like it was misinterpreted."

Reynolds declined to give any more details. The woman who accused Reynolds of the sexual harassment is an ESPN co-worker, according to sources.

Yesterday, ESPN confirmed The Post's report that Reynolds had been fired, but they would not comment any further.

"He no longer works here," ESPN VP Josh Krulewitz said.

Still, Reynolds is hopeful ESPN executives will change their minds. Besides being with the network for 11 years, Reynolds had just signed a new six-year contract to remain in Bristol and he recently got married.

Reynolds limited his comments, because he didn't want to go into too many details for fear of saying something that could hurt his chances of reversing ESPN's decision.

Reynolds, 45, started with ESPN after a 12-year major league career.

ESPN has been vigilant about sexual harassment because it reportedly has been a problem in Bristol for years. In 2000, the book "ESPN: The Uncensored History" reported rampant cases of harassment of women. Most prominently mentioned was Mike Tirico, who was even suspended at one point.

Tirico, though, never was fired and now is one of the main faces of the network. This fall, he will be ESPN's new voice for "Monday Night Football." Since the book's release, ESPN has denied its validity.

ESPN is known for giving its top on-air employees warnings. There are many cases where ESPN executives have chosen to provide on-air personnel with second chances.

Last NFL season, Michael Irvin was charged with a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Despite Irvin's past problems, he was only suspended for a weekend and that was mostly because he did not immediately report the incident to ESPN executives.

Earlier this baseball season, Rick Sutcliffe conducted a rambling on-air interview while intoxicated. Sutcliffe was only suspended for one game.

Without Reynolds, "Baseball Tonight" will continue to have an unfamiliar look. The show was already dealing with the loss of its other fixture, Peter Gammons, who suffered a brain aneurysm last month. Gammons is recovering nicely, but is not scheduled to return soon.

Karl Ravech is still the show's main host. He will be joined by the other mainstay, John Kruk, on most nights. Ex-Mets GM Steve Phillips, who already was seeing more time in place of Gammons, figures to become an even more integral part of the program.

ESPN also can call on Orel Hershiser, Jeff Brantley, Tino Martinez, Orestes Destrades, Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney as replacements for Reynolds.

"We'll get contributions from everybody from our deep commentator pool," Krulewitz said.

[A.G.]

Hershiser, Destrades, and Martinez are a JOKE. Absloutely BRUTAL. Kruk and HR had the best interactions.

[Rocketfan]

Agreed, a HR/Kruk arguement had a real feeling of ligitimacy as opposed to some of these staged differences of opinions.

[Sly Fox]

Let's see, who has more credibility? A mediocre career 2nd baseman from the Mariners or the greatest second baseman to ever play the game? Tough call.



And while I can't confirm why HR was officially shown the door, the rumors fit perfectly in line with his "style" off camera in my experience.

[thesportscritic]

I thought Harold was a solid analyst on ESPN. He was a good broadcaster for baseball in my opinion.

[A.G.]

Sly, you look at it from an insider's perspective--the rest of us are looking at HR from the fan's perspective. As a fan of the game, HR was top notch, IMNSHO.

[Sly Fox]

That's fair. Everyone has a right to their opinion. I agree that Reynolds was strong for the most part as a personality on Baseball Tonight.

I'll bet they wind up finding someone with a stronger personality to join the show before the season is over ... perhaps they'll get a current big leaguer to help them with the playoffs.