The commissioner’s office is reportedly looking into pictures of the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier giving the middle finger to photographers during batting practice on Monday. Ethier explained to the Los Angeles Times that he was annoyed by the incessant clicking and lost his temper.
“If you’re going to stand there and take the same picture for 15 minutes, what’s the difference between the first and the 15th minute?” Ethier asked. “It just got kind of annoying. I guess I slipped up, and that temper you guys sometimes like to write about got ahead of me and I didn’t use my head and use the best judgment in that situation. I made a mistake of it and it’s unfortunate.”
Ethier apologized. Sort of.
Advertisement“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s a dumb incident. Obviously, it’s an age when someone can’t wait to plug their flash drive in their computer and get their 15 minutes of fame off of something and try to make a name for themselves. Obviously, this is what this person is about. You have to always watch your guard and watch who you’re dealing with out there.”
Was Ethier being baited? Because that’s what he seems to be alluding to. But if the photographer(s) weren’t saying anything to him, then the fault likes solely with him. No one is going to make a name for themselves simply by taking a photograph of a baseball player. And when a player flips off the photographer, the only person getting their name out there is the player—and for the wrong reasons.