Howard Eskin is like a stink bug. His reporting lives in the voids between truth and fiction. His latest report – that John Middleton wants more power and is planning a takeover of the Phillies, who pushed out their beloved president while he was being treated for cancer – is a perfect example of this. To his credit, Eskin correctly reported that Middleton now owns 48% of the team. Fact. Reported. Nice job. But the rest of his report lives in your wall, waiting to emerge when the weather turns cold, because you can’t really disprove that Middleton wants to take over the team and, someday, may eventually do so. And you can’t disprove that David Montgomery’s leave of absence was convenient for the Phils if, in fact, they’d prefer he not make so many of the decisions. Those are voids. That’s where Howard thrives. He multiplies in those things. If you stomp him out in one area, another one of him will pop up in another area. It’s like if Burger King put their mascot in a Whack-A-Mole game. He’ll use words like wants and trying the Phillies are trying to trade for Jose Bautista – to construct these elaborate stories that sound juicy, but when you think about them, contain very little substance. He can go on TV and claim that BILLIONAIRE OWNER WANTS CONTROL OF TEAM AND THINKS NICE GUY CANCER PATIENT IS BUFFOON, and you can’t really prove him wrong, even if his insinuation is so wildly out of bounds.

Anyway, Jayson Stark called in to Mike Missanelli’s show today to help Missanelli shred Eskin and, more specifically, his report.

Stark said that the Phillies aren’t just denying the report, but that they’re “angry.”

“[Howard’s claiming] that the Phillies are basically firing a guy with cancer, that they’re using cancer as an excuse to push out someone who was beloved by everyone there,” Stark said. “I can’t find anyone who will even remotely corroborate any of this.”

Maybe not. But they can’t disprove it either. There’s a void! And Howard’s found it.

“Two people told me flat-out that Gillick would never have taken this position if he knew what was going on.. and I totally believe that,” Stark continued.

For his part, Missanelli was eager to stomp on this particular Eskin.

“I thought this guy would go quietly into the night… and then some TV station hired him,” Missanelli said. “I did my part.”

That TV station is where Eskin made his report last night, oh and also where I’ll be appearing tomorrow morning– FOX 29*, where Eskin is the lead sports anchor. Awwwwkkkkkward.

*This is an Eskin issue, not a FOX 29 issue. FOX 29 Weekend is a great and fun and light show for a weekend morning and you should watch it and write in and tell them how much you love their pale blogger. Hashtag innocentface.

Audio via 97.5