Steve Lyons insists he is not a bigot. Lou Piniella says the controversial 2006 broadcast incident involving the two was “way overblown.”
While they both worked as baseball analysts for Fox Sports, Lyons joked on the air about Piniella’s Hispanic heritage during the third game of the American League Championship Series. The executives at Fox were not amused and Lyons was fired immediately for the remarks, which were labeled racially insensitive.
“I’m not over it,” Lyons, who handles color commentary for a limited number of Dodgers games, said Monday at Wrigley Field.
“I still don’t think I did anything wrong. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction.”
In the second inning of Game 3 of the 2006 ALCS between the Tigers and A’s, Piniella talked about the success of light-hitting Marco Scutaro in the first round of the playoffs. Piniella went on to say that A’s teammates Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez needed to contribute more offensively. Piniella referred to Scutaro’s unexpected production as being similar to “finding a wallet.”
Later, Piniella said Oakland needed Thomas to get “en fuego” (hot), because he was currently “frio” (cold). Broadcast partner Thom Brennaman praised Piniella for being bilingual.
Lyons interjected in butchered Spanish that Piniella was “habla-ing Espanol,” and then added, “I still can’t find my wallet. I don’t understand him and I don’t want to sit too close to him now.”
After the game, Piniella, Lyons and members from the Fox Sports technical crew enjoyed dinner in Detroit’s Greek Town.
“We were at dinner, actually, when I got fired,” Lyons recalled. “Lou had just talked to me about it and he said: ‘That stuff we were talking about … me stealing your wallet … that was the funniest stuff we did all night.’ Then my phone rang and I found out I was being fired five minutes later.”
Piniella corroborated Lyons’ story and insists he was not offended by the on-air wisecrack.
“It was overblown and he meant absolutely nothing by it, except a funny line,” said Piniella, who was hired as Cubs manager shortly after the incident (Oct. 17, 2006). “I certainly didn’t even give it a second thought. Probably, if I had been a little sharper or a little quicker, I would have come up with a good rebuttal.”
Lyons realizes now that a casual relationship with a fellow broadcaster may not translate well to the listener.
“I have to understand that I am not only talking to Lou, that I am talking to millions of people that might be offended by a statement that I might make,” Lyons said. “I just didn’t believe that I crossed that line. There is a higher standard, there is no question about it. Obviously, I got caught on the back end of that.
“I guess the silver lining there for me is that I received almost 100 percent support from the public.”
Overheard
Lyons, nicknamed “Psycho” for his eccentric personality as a utility player with the White Sox, Boston, Atlanta and Montreal, was working part time for the Dodgers when Fox Sports fired him.
“It wasn’t like I was a weekend hire for Fox,” Lyons said. “I had been there for 11 years. I won three Emmys. I paid my dues and I did my job. So it still hurts. But as a person you have to go on or you will let it kill you forever. The monetary concerns were … that was about 80 percent of my salary.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the Dodgers organization for standing up for me and saying that they think I didn’t do anything wrong. Certainly the Los Angeles market that is so heavily dominated by Hispanic viewers … if they didn’t think I did anything wrong, then obviously you have to put some faith in that.”[Being retained by the Dodgers] was huge for me, because if they had let me go, I would have been an ex-broadcaster and labeled as a bigot, basically. That isn’t anything fun to be tagged to your name.”
Lyons said he would love to have an opportunity to work full time in Chicago. He works only about 40 road games a year for the Dodgers, handling some travel dates for 80-year-old broadcast Hall of Famer Vin Scully. Lyons also handles some pregame and postgame shows.
“I’m only 47 years old, I need to work. It just doesn’t feel that I am working that much,” he said.
Sight seen
Cubs coach Ivan DeJesus hugging Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa before Monday’s game. The two were involved in one of the most influential trades in Cubs history. On Jan. 27, 1982, the Phillies and Cubs exchanged shortstops, with Bowa going to the Cubs. The Phillies also threw in a young infielder named Ryne Sandberg.
Local attractions
Gail Martin, the daughter of Hollywood icon Dean Martin and the wife of Tribune sports columnist Mike Downey, sang “God Bless America” before the start of Monday’s game at Wrigley Field.
The last word
‘Guys who are boring will work forever because they are never going to get in trouble saying something that might be out there on the limb … a little bit more controversial or a little more critical.”
— Lyons, talking about his often unfiltered style
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fmitchell@tribune.com
