The weekly Gabe Kapler/Angelo Cataldi interview was already must-listen radio, but with the Andrew McCutchen injury and Jean Segura “hustle” talk stinking up the Delaware Valley this week, the June 7th interaction between Phillies manager and talk radio charlatan was even more entertaining than usual.
Cataldi didn’t waste any time getting into his usual bullshit, greeting Kapler before saying this:
Cataldi: “It’s been a crazy week in Philadelphia, Gabe. Lots of harsh criticism, I can’t lie to you. It’s been a rough week for the manager.”
Kapler: “Has it? I’m excited to talk to you about it, Angelo. Let’s roll.”
That makes me laugh right off the jump, the audacity of Cataldi to speak for somebody else, to presume to know how they’re feeling.
Angelo started with some generic questions about the road trip, Jay Bruce, and Jake Arrieta, then entered the Segura discussion with this, after the jump:
Cataldi: Let me get to the Jean Segura conversation because that has been a major topic all week in Philadelphia. First of all, in a general sense, we as fans look at this as a recurring theme, guys not running hard. And we don’t understand it because they make millions of dollars and only have to run a few times a game. Is it asking too much that they run hard every time?
Kapler: It’s not asking too much. I think it’s fair to demand that our guys run out of the batter’s box. But let’s address the Segura situation in isolation, instead of just acting like they’re all the same. Segura stumbled in the box. He didn’t have his feet under him. Once he got his balance, he didn’t run as hard as he usually does. He acknowledged that. That’s what you asked for, right? He came out and said it publicly…
Cataldi: Yes he did.
Kapler: ..on the record. ‘I could do a better job, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, there’s no excuse for it.’ All of the things a player is supposed to do, he owned it.
Cataldi: Alright, but you lost Andrew McCutchen. His inability to simply do what you’re supposed to do cost you one of your best players. Doesn’t that factor in to the way you react to it?
Kapler: What you’re saying is categorically not true. Andrew McCutchen did not get hurt because Jean Segura did not run out of the batter’s box. What you’re saying is just not true. He got hurt because he got caught in a rundown, he planted his knee wrong, and his knee gave out.
Cataldi: There would have been no rundown.
Kapler: There’s a thousand things in the game that led up to that moment, variables that could have changed, that there would have been no rundown.
Cataldi: If he ran, Kinsler wouldn’t have dropped the ball.
Kapler: Hold on, hold on – do you want to go back to every other pitch? What if there was a strike called earlier in the game that should have been a ball, that changed the outcome of that at bat?
Cataldi: You’re trying to complicate a very simple issue. He would not have been in a rundown if – he didn’t run! That’s why Kinsler let the ball drop. If he did run, Kinsler would have caught the ball and McCutchen wouldn’t have been in a rundown. True! You’re trying to complicate a simple issue. He got caught in a rundown and blew his knee out.
I’ve got no problem with anything Cataldi says there. The Kinsler play happened specifically because he saw Segura wasn’t getting down the line. You can certainly connect those dots. It was a savvy play. Kapler was a little naive with some of those responses, imo.
But the reason Segura didn’t get down the line is because he twisted and stumbled on the swing. He was slow getting out of the box and he apologized for it. So when you add up the events that led to McCutchen’s injury, is this anything more than an unfortunate series of events? The conflict is more about whether or not Segura should have been punished, which Kapler and Cataldi argued about in the middle of the conversation. Then it carried on as this, which was transcribed by 94 WIP (probably Andrew Porter, h/t Porter):
Kapler: “What I see happened, like I said, Cutch (sic, Kapler meant to say Segura) stumbled out of the box. He didn’t have his feet under him. Once he got his balance, he wasn’t able to run as hard as he usually does. He acknowledged that and talking about acknowledgement, I’m acknowledging that. He can do a better job running out of the batter’s box. Also acknowledging that our center fielder at the time, our leadoff hitter, got hurt in a major way, and that sucks. I’m saying that’s not Segura’s fault and to say that is absolutely irresponsible.”
Cataldi: “Oh it is? Well then you better tell the whole city, because everybody thinks that was the reason.”
Kapler: “Angelo, you don’t speak for the whole city.”
Cataldi: “I talk to a hell of a lot more fans than you do.”
Kapler: “You talk to the guys that call in, the men and women that call in.”
Cataldi: “And the ones that email me and the ones that are on Twitter, and all of the other people. Are you trying to tell me you are more plugged into this city than I am? You’ve best on the west coast for a week, Gabe.”
Kapler: “I’ll tell you this, what you are plugged into are the people that call in to your show. Not all of the fans in Philadelphia like you represent.”
Cataldi: “We actually polled this question and 85-percent of the people said that Segura should be held accountable far more than you did. So that’s over five, six thousand people. That’s not enough either for you Gabe? How many do you need before you realize that you’re actually not in tandem with what’s going on in your city.”
Kapler: “Your sample, the sample that you are drawing from, is a very specific sample.”
Cataldi: “Last thing, would you do anything different this week, Gabe?”
Kapler: “I may have handled this show a little bit different.I got a little bit frustrated with you and I am very frustrated with you. Right now, I’m pretty perturbed. I think you didn’t handle this show in a fair and reasonable way, and that’s probably the thing I am most disappointed in, is the way you handled this show.”
Cataldi: “I’m disappointed in some of the answers, so I guess we’re equal in that.”
Kapler: “I look forward to next week, it’s going to be fun.”
Okay, so Angelo is generally a fantastic interviewer. He pushes athletes and coaches on issues that they should be pushed on.
But he loses me when he defaults to his “I speak for the fans routine,” which is stale and, quite frankly, arrogant, this belief that everybody in Philadelphia listens to his radio show based on the data sent to Nielsen by a handful of anachronistic PPMs in 2019. You speak for a loyal base of older radio listeners, and that’s about it. You don’t speak for anybody under the age of 35, and if you do, I’ve never met any of those people.
Angelo’s 30-year routine goes something like this:
- stir up fake outrage
- seek fake accountability
- fail to present facts or exercise critical thinking
- keep Philadelphia sports fans stupid
- profit
Also, Angelo doesn’t talk to anybody on Twitter. His Twitter account features the occasional hot take or observation, and that’s it. There’s no back and forth or interaction with fans. He doesn’t actually respond to anyone or engage in conversation, so unless Cataldi is answering direct messages, that’s also a lie.
And to cite a poll specific to his listener base is equally myopic, which Kapler rightfully points out.
Might be time for retirement, Angelo.
35 Responses
You are 100% wrong
Internet commenter sharing the same sentiment as a troll radio host and WIP callers? Shocked.
Please.
Me too
Angelo is an entertainer, and a poor one at that. He speaks for a very specific subset of philadelphia fandom, of which I am not one. His faux outrage-bit is exhausting to listen to. Glad to see that Gabe stood up to him here and put him in his place.
Lol. Totally forgot Ang was still on the air. I guess I’m just like all the other local sports fans. I only listen to 97.5.
97.5? Never heard of her.
best article ever. the steps are spot on. guy stinks
I’m no big Angelo fan. He is a rabble rouser but he is right on this. I’ve never called in but am in agreement and I feel that the 80% is probably close to accurate. There are tons of plays and that injury could have happened at any time but it 100% would not have happened on that play had Segura run hard.
Krukker: I lasted one season on ESPN until they realized the only thing my mouth was good for was stuffing pierogies into it. Schmitty: Back in my day, Danny Ozark used to have a pre-game show with Andy Musser, and let me tell you *chuckles* that could really get ornery. ‘Course there wasn’t social media back then. And we used to bunt a lot more. I just don’t get the game today. TMac: Oh, what a catch by a fan! Sign him up! Did you see that, Murph? AHHAWHAWHAWHAWHAW
Phillies Sunday Broadcaster Comments > Kate Devlin > fake Kate Devlin.
Great job by the Toronto Police Service, arresting that jerk for using offensive language. I wish America would follow Canada’s example.
Here here!!!
Freedom of Speech does NOT give you the right to offend me.
Damn, PJFCP is the ghost of CB past? How are you, old nemesis?
Let’s see how Jean Segura hustles when batteries are raining down on him from the upper deck.
Who the fuck names their son Jean anyway? Is he a fruit?
What’s wrong with you?
Great work Kinker. You nailed it for once about this creep Cataldi.
Ever hear of the Jean Jeanie , fuckface?
Angelo has become the old man that screams get off my lawn to all the kids before school …he’s never been a “great” interviewer, he just has no shame in judging people, so listeners think he’s doing something great. Great interviewers ask hard questions, no doubt, but they don’t scream at the person they are interviewing and judge their answers. Kapler is not by any means a polished manager but I think he’s doing an overall good job and I personally love how he doesn’t take BS from sports talk hosts that are just looking to stir people up. WIP has become the complete opposite of what Ed Snider intended.
Kinker, you did great work here summarizing Cataldi’s MO in this town.
Frankly, he is an embarrassment to the city. He is also an avowed Yankee fan and a closet New England Patriot fan.
Stan Hochman was 100% correct when he called Cataldi “a New England carpetbagger come south to make his fortune.”
Gabe handled this perfectly.
Cataldi speaks for white trash. Full stop.
What an embarrassment to Philadelphia Cataldi is. He acts the clown to drum up ratings but doesn’t have any actual sports knowledge. I try listening from time to time but he’s so embarrassingly ignorant that I have to turn him off. He actually is so loathsome he hurts Philadelphia, Kapler told him what he deserves – that he speaks for hardly any Philadelphia sports fans – myself and everyone I know disagrees wholeheartedly with Cataldi and his morning zoo and are in fact revolted by his unabashed ignorance in sports and general imbecile act. A few 60 year die-hards still listen to the show and that’s about it. Farzetta on the other station sucks completely, but despite this he’s better than Angelo the Buffon’s guffaws and chortles so I tune in there now. I only heard the interview thanks to Ritchie and Decamera’s show, which is excellent, what a contrast! Two intelligent people who KNOW sports. In the morning sadly we get a blowhard moron who knows nothing and speaks for just about NOBODY.
Angelo Cataldi is a butthead and knows nothing about baseball. I guess there was no Eagles news to talk about and he resorted to this. He is the reason I don’t listen to WIP anymore.
It is an extremely small subset that he speaks for, and they are the dopes of the city. I actually work with a guy that will come in each day and give the Cataldi rant like it’s his argument and the reply is always, you don’t really believe that shit, do you?
well, I’ve said it many times on this site that I can;t stand the Cataldi’s and Eskin’s (and Missanelli’s) of the local radio “talent”that is shoved down our throats every day. I stopped listening to his show and missed the interview. I am 100% with Gabe on this one. Even if he believes that Segura should have been hustling, there is nothing to do or say about it after the fact. It happened, he learned a very valuable lesson, and we move on. It’s disappointing that Cutch gt hurt, but that’s sports. Segura was one of the stars of the game yesterday, so I’m glad he played. If it happens again, or appears to be a pattern, you bench him. But for a first offense? NO! As I said earlier this week, hardly any player in baseball would run out a pop fly to second. Anyway, Cataldi does NOT speak for me and rarely has. He is very good at what he does and has been able to get the sheep to follow him and keep feeding his bank account, but not me. Since Angelo has been doing this in Philly, the teams have one two championships…..I don;t think it’s a coincidence either. He thrives on negativity and that’s his MO. He wanted Charlie fired, he wanted Doug fired, he wants Brett fired, and now he wants Gabe fired. Hmmm, is there a pattern here?
Cutch, seriously are you part of ball club, using the nickname that the other players/managers use when speaking about hin….sound like the typical tool.that does listen to all the sports talk “talent” but will not acknowledge it because you are jealous that you can’t do something that for a living, frustrated much there TS
Reality 2000-2009: Between 20,000 and 35,000 people at the Vet/Linc wearing McNabb jerseys any given home game.
is that there’s a lot of stupid fans in this town. i’ve had eagles season tickets for 20 years and i never wore that dog’s jersey.
I’m glad Gabe told Cataldi that he was basically full of sh*t when it comes to the fan base.
Now if only Doug Pederson can work on Pop-Pop to stop him from infecting the lemming Eagles fans of his inaccurate opinions.
Angelo. .The biggest piece of shit ever. I never could take Gabe but the way he defends his players is admirable. Chestnut Hill guy put it perfect today on Ritchie and camera. Nobody who calls in to that piece of shit Angelo is the voice of me. or Philly. I love JRoll and Jean Segura and I am 65 years old. I also payed and coach American legion. Fuck the piece of shit Angelo
Really love when piece of shit Angelo is on Vacation. Al rocks.
Spot on! This is why I tuned out Cataldi 15 years ago!
I tho ught Cataldi was retiring this year and moving out to California. Why is he still here?
Cataldi is a cancer to the city. He knows nothing about sports yet shouts loudly his worthless drivel, so utterly oblivious to reason that he doesn’t realize how ignorant he is, the worst kind of clueless blowhard.
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