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The Bucks (Pa.) Local News is reporting tonight that Phillies fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of 22-year-old prospect Domonic Brown, who had an .880 OPS over three minor league stops in 2009.

It is also reporting he is "JUST AN IDIOT" for spelling his first name that way.

Wait, whaaa?

In an online version of this story — "Phillies' hot stove is heating up" — the third paragraph suggests Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro could have a plan that entails making prospects Brown, Michael Taylor and Kyle Drabek part of a new core group for the club.

The assumption seems reasonable enough, but the paragraph also contains a note the writer presumably left for copy editors regarding the unusual spelling of Brown's first name — Domonic.

(*NFP: DOMONIC IS SPELLED RIGHT, HE'S JUST AN IDIOT*).

Hoo, boy. 

NFP means "not for publication." Yeah, no kidding this wasn't for publication. As anyone who has worked for a newspaper can tell you, employees are reminded to not make "dummy" headlines or write notes within stories that, if actually published, would prove embarrassing.

But people do it anyway.

The note was removed in another version of what otherwise appeared to be the same post, which was bylined by Matthew Fleishman. The "IDIOT" version linked above remained online concurrently as of 11:30 p.m. EST.  (UPDATE: The story has been updated with an apology from Fleisman. "The only idiot in this case is me," he writes.)

There's no way a paper from Bucks County, outside of Philly, wants to insult one of the Phillies' finest prospects. Or even one it its lesser prospects.

OK, even saying something like that about Eric Bruntlett(notes) would have been wrong.

Letting out the insult was unintentional — but it still got out:

(That deserves another "hoo, boy," doesn't it?)

Another thing or two:

• After years of being polite and letting people misspell his name, Brown actually told the press last season they've been getting it wrong. So, he's aware of the ... issue. The Fightins reported this last August. His MLB.com bio is correct, but Brown's Baseball-Reference page still spells his name "Dominic." Or, like a non-idiot might, the Bucks Local News would report.

• Also, unless you go to court as an adult to change it (see Chad Johnson), nobody ever names him- or herself. It's the parents, obviously. Don't hate on Domonic because his mom and dad went for a different spelling.

• I'm not even sure there's grounds to call the parents "idiots." If you sound "Domonic" out, even though it kind of looks like "Demonic" (which might bother me) it actually makes some sense to spell it alternatively like he does.

• Nothing ever is worth saying in ALL CAPS — unless it's "UCLA," or "BOOM!" And even then.

The real lesson for young journalists: Leave a Post-It note next time.

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22 Comments

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  1. Maury
    1. Posted by Maury Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:42 am EST

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    I have no idea why the print industry is under pressure. Why, with all concentrating on filing good reports and all.
    Couldn't the guy have had the smarts to pick on Coco Crisp?
  2. Shad
    2. Posted by Shad Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:44 am EST

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    From the context of it, it sounds like to me that the editor and writer might have been having a spat about the spelling, rather than calling the player an idiot. It would just be bizarre, unprofessional, and downright mean if the writer who did not even interview the kid just up and decided to call him an idiot in his article's notes. Either way, someone is in big trouble.
  3. HotCornerHero
    3. Posted by HotCornerHero Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:13 am EST

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    I'm pretty sure this story is taken way out of context, I agree with what Shad said, the "idiot" part is more then likely, written about the author by the editor, and not Domonic Brown himself.
    Either way though, this is proof that you need at least two editors.
  4. This is Dave, Hello There!
    4. Posted by This is Dave, Hello There! Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:15 am EST

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    Shad, you might be right -- although your impression is different than mine.
  5. Johnny Appleseed
    5. Posted by Johnny Appleseed Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:49 am EST

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    If you're desperate for a job, there's an opening for the position of Editor-in-Chief at The Bucks Local News in Pennsylvania.
  6. Frank K
    6. Posted by Frank K Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:42 am EST

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    Journalism students are taught all about cultural awareness and sensitivity--it's part of a liberal arts education after all...the fact that this embarrassing quote made it to print is simply proof that the writer and/or editor are lazya**es running on fumes in a profession disintegrating before our eyes. Nice work guys. Is someone going to apologize to Brown?? Would you expect an apology if that happened to you?
  7. Eric
    7. Posted by Eric Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:52 am EST

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    this is worse than jamarcus russell
  8. rorkeb
    8. Posted by rorkeb Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:52 am EST

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    When you write about how well other sportswriters write, you may want to be more cognizant of verb and subject agreement.
    One of your bulleted comments is "I'm not even sure there's grounds to call the parents "idiots.' " The noun "grounds" is plural therefore you should use "are," not "is."
    And concerning your last bullet: GO WASHINGTON CAPS.
  9. Mike
    9. Posted by Mike Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:45 am EST

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    its about time the phills got rid of their 4 oldheads and are experimenting with the remainder of their bench and their minor-leaguers.
  10. Travis R
    10. Posted by Travis R Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:40 pm EST

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    "Shad, you might be right -- although your impression is different than mine."
    Your "impression" makes absolutely no sense. It's quite obvious that "He's just an idiot" is referring to an editor that keeps thinking Domonic's name is spelled with an i. Otherwise he probably would've referenced that he was actually talking about the person, saying something like, "That is how Domonic spells his name, he's just an idiot," instead of just Domonic is spelled right. It must be an incredibly slow news day if you resorted to writing an entire blog post about how this newspaper "insulted" a player, when there is actually no proof of that at all.
  11. This is Dave, Hello There!
    11. Posted by This is Dave, Hello There! Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:13 pm EST

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    Travis, it's not obvious at all that "He's just an idiot" refers to some unnamed third person, especially considering the consistent misspelling of Domonic all over the media. And the post isn't just about how it insults Brown, but that it was published in the first place. If it's just banter in the office, it's not news. But they published it. That's the news part.
  12. schmenkman
    12. Posted by schmenkman Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:37 pm EST

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    The author has apologized for the "bad joke" in the linked story (the first link above).
  13. Chris
    13. Posted by Chris Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:12 pm EST

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    I think it's pretty obvious he's referring to Domonic when he says he's just an idiot. But I don't think he really means he's an idiot. It was just a funny way of reassuring the editor that this was in fact the spelling.
    That being said, a post-it note would have sufficed. or an email.
  14. schmenkman
    14. Posted by schmenkman Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:21 pm EST

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    Chris, the first sentence was enough to reassure the eiditor that it was spelled right. The second one was too stupid for words.
  15. goldsac
    15. Posted by goldsac Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:44 pm EST

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    The NFP comment was made off-the-record, so I don't really think we need to castrate the writer for this. Just as Obama shouldn't be faulted for his comment about Kanye West. Off-the-record information exists in a different realm than that on-the-record. NFP means "I've no intention of representing this comment publicly". This is clearly the fault of the editor, not the writer.
    While we're at it, let's all continue to pretend that Jhonny Peralta's name isn't the least bit funny either.
  16. Terry G
    16. Posted by Terry G Fri Nov 20, 2009 5:27 am EST

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    While we're on the subject of funny names, how about Chone Figgins?
  17. Darclye
    17. Posted by Darclye Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:16 am EST

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    What's next, will some moron sportswriter hate on Wisconsin WR Nick Toon for selling out as his name is blatantly nothing but a promo for a cable tv channel?
  18. Rob R
    18. Posted by Rob R Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:38 am EST

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    Another all-capsable word is "SUH-STAMP!"
    Tailgate Tested! Tailgate Approved!
  19. mikez34
    19. Posted by mikez34 Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:08 pm EST

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    The way I read that was the "idiot" was between author and editor.
  20. schmenkman
    20. Posted by schmenkman Fri Nov 20, 2009 3:56 pm EST

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    #19, "The way I read that was the "idiot" was between author and editor. "
    --------------
    Nope. The author later apologized to Domonic Brown for the "bad joke". See the first link in the post, the apology is at the end of the linked article.
  21. PaulT
    21. Posted by PaulT Sat Nov 21, 2009 1:21 am EST

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    Your defense of the parents is really disingenuous. "It sounds like it's spelled that way!" That's not a defense, that's WHY they're idiots. They didn't know how it was spelled, they didn't bother to look, they just sounded it out. They're idiots, and they saddled their kid with a misspelled name. They should have a talk with Dwyane Wade's equally stupid parents.
  22. mrsjackson747
    22. Posted by mrsjackson747 Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:53 pm EST

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    My oldest sons name is domonic. same spelling. i have only had one person actualy mispronounce his name in 6 years... demonic. i still dont get where people see dominic/ domonic/ dominick and end it with a " q " sound.

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