Big League Stew - MLB

Big League Stew

Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:00 pm EDT

Network PR says Steve Phillips is 'no longer working for ESPN'

By 'Duk

The network wonks may have waited until the New York tabloids were preoccupied with a busy day of Yankees and Giants news, but the result is the same. 

Steve Phillips is no longer an employee of ESPN. 

That's according to the Twitter feed of ESPN PR man Mike Soltys, who posted the following message about the baseball broadcaster and ex-Mets general manager late on Sunday evening: 

"Steve Phillips is no longer working for ESPN. His ability to be an effective rep of ESPN has been significantly & irreparably damaged."

The news ends at least one aspect of the soap opera that started last week when it was revealed that Phillips engaged in an alleged affair with a 22-year-old production assistant from ESPN. Brooke Hundley later harassed his family by contacting his son over the Internet and showing up at their Connecticut home to deliver a letter to his wife that detailed the affair.  

After firing Harold Reynolds back in 2006 for some inappropriate hugging (a move that caused the network to settle out of court on Reynolds' wrongful termination lawsuit), ESPN did the right thing here by ridding the ESPN studios and the Sunday Night Baseball booth of Phillips' presence. Carrying on a relationship with a subordinate less than half his age (Phillips is 46) seems like enough of an offense, but throw in the fact that Phillips is married with children and ESPN's decision was a rather easy one.

Some will undoubtedly greet this news by dancing on the grave of Phillips' career — I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone say they liked his sometimes-illogical analysis — but when you consider what his wife and family are going through, it's much too sad for that. A lot of us wanted ESPN to forever shush Phillips, but certainly not under these circumstances.   

Related: BallMedia

digg delicious
more

142 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. -pp
    1. Posted by -pp Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:19 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    He really should have called David Letterman for advice, and for the name of his agent and "people." If he had, he would still be employed, beloved by his network and fans, and attract hot women to still appear on his show!
  2. Ari
    2. Posted by Ari Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:23 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    good for ESPN....punish the cheating doucherr
  3. Robert C
    3. Posted by Robert C Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:23 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Guess he wasn't enough of an asset to ESPN. One of the Mike's from Mike and Mike in the morning could get away with this....but not this dude.
    Moral - if you are gonna screw up, make sure you are very valuable to your company.
  4. chrisnegro17
    4. Posted by chrisnegro17 Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:24 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    thats what he gets for trading kazmir for victor zambrano. may he forever be cursed
  5. ddeb7
    5. Posted by ddeb7 Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:30 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Bill Clinton was the President of the United States and had sex with a girl just as young as the girl in this story, not to mention it was in the Oval Office. What makes what Steve Phillips did any worse? I'm no fan of Phillips, but I take no pleasure in how he was dismissed. His wife and family are who he has to answer to.
  6. Tiberius
    6. Posted by Tiberius Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:31 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Hey Steve, don't let the doorknob hit you where the dog should have bit you.
  7. Andrew H
    7. Posted by Andrew H Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:36 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    geez.......the girl he was banging was gross, kinda figured even Steve Phillips could do better than that.
  8. Halsa
    8. Posted by Halsa Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:38 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    This guy was not an asset. He always seemed like an extra guy in the broadcast booth.
  9. Thomas
    9. Posted by Thomas Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:40 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Lets see; he face a harassment lawsuit when he was with the Mets, and now got fired for having an affair with a 22 year old women. I'm thinking this guy is a bit of weirdo, eh?
  10. * * * * * * * *
    10. Posted by * * * * * * * * Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:07 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    oh hell, everyone is doing it .......!
    for instance, we're probably just weeks away from finding out that Frank and Jamie are sharing a lover.
    the only suspense is in whether its a man or a woman.
  11. joecas7
    11. Posted by joecas7 Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:14 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    he'll get a job with MLB network
  12. Aaron H
    12. Posted by Aaron H Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:15 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    There is a god!
  13. Griffin
    13. Posted by Griffin Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:10 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    I don't blame ESPN for firing Phillips. They have their reputation to worry about. I mean, if the girl was hot, ESPN would have been ok with what he did. But the chick is seriously homely looking.
  14. MarkM
    14. Posted by MarkM Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:13 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    Duk's an [profane] because he makes statements that make zero sense? I've watched baseball coverage on ESPN for lo these many years and Phillips was LIGHT YEARS ahead of other broadcasters on other Networks. You want to have a laugh? Check out Dick (I suck the BIG ONE) Stockton on today's broadcast of the NO-MIA game. That guy has more lives than a 100 year old cat. He must have photos of some BIG WIG because he is the WORST broadcaster of ALL-TIME (and I've been listening to that ditwad for at least 30+ years). Phillips was excellent at his baseball analysis moron - I was a very good player myself. If your a loser that was picked as Manager of the HS team and now you write for a living I can understand your confusion.
  15. Verdo
    15. Posted by Verdo Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:14 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    lol
  16. Mike P
    16. Posted by Mike P Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:14 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    who cares about him having sex with some women... he was a godawful analyst who understood nothing about baseball.
    The fact that he got paid to talk about baseball on TV was a disgrace every day. That he used to be a MLB GM is beyond insane.
  17. hassan r
    17. Posted by hassan r Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:34 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    a lot of haters, get a life you mouth......s
  18. John S
    18. Posted by John S Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:41 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    Dear Steve Phillips (aka MarkM),
    I'm sure you have more to worry about than what someone is writing about you on Yahoo Sports.
  19. Hitman
    19. Posted by Hitman Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:50 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    If he had gone on primetime TV and denied that he had sex with that woman he would still have his job. Not only that, but he could of then gone on the "speachmaking tour" and have been catered to while being paid large sums of money to talk.
  20. frankford58
    20. Posted by frankford58 Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:51 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    He should have been fired years ago!
  21. Alan
    21. Posted by Alan Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:57 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    well the affair and any affair was wrong--you don't get married to cheat. cool fire him--however i thought he did a decent job in the booth--actually i think joe morgan and john miller are average at best--he was no worse than them. there isn't one broadcaster i can think of but vince scully who is really great. our announcers in detroit are below average and their baseball knowledge --historically speaking is really poor. bob costas knows his stuff and hjis new toupee is cute!! good luck steve and get a really good lawyer!
  22. twink
    22. Posted by twink Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:00 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    all he talked about were the mets,yankees,and red sox im glad hes gone im sick of hearing about just three teams theres 27 more teams deuchbag
  23. Ash
    23. Posted by Ash Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:42 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    Steve had one affair with staff, Letterman had many affairs with staff. How come Letterman is still there and Steve gone? ESPN ethical, CBS not ethical?
  24. visitor
    24. Posted by visitor Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:44 am EDT

    Report Abuse

    You got to be kidding? firing over an affair.and trhe prsident of the united states has an affair married and a child and gets to keep his job...wow we hold sports casters to a higher standard than presidents...then we ask why this country is so messed up???makes you wonder!!!!

Big League Stew

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

'Duk

Big League Stew is an MLB blog edited by Kevin Kaduk. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
David Brown, Alex Remington, Steve Henson, Curtis Granderson, Jay Levin,

Teams

Customize to follow news and rumors on your favorite teams. [ Sign in ]

Related Photo Gallery

More MLB Photos »

Y! Sports Blogs

Big League Stew Recent Readers

(provided by MyBlogLog)