Shea Hillenbrand: When Perception & Myth Trump Reality

If you see the words "Trump" & "Reality" in the same sentence, paired with the name Shea Hillenbrand, you're probably thinking the former MLB infielder will be a star on Season 2 of The Celebrity Apprentice.  Good guess, but you are incorrect.  Johnny will tell you what your consolation prizes are.  Meanwhile, for those of you still playing our game, there's another reason for the title above.  Want to hear?  Gather 'round, 'cause it's a secret.  I'm gonna whisper this, so pay attention.  "Shea Hillenbrand is a good guy."  You may now let the hair drop back over your ears.

Before we ever speak with someone who we've read about or seen on the television set, we have pre-conceived notions about that person.  We have already judged him or her to be funny or arrogant or aloof or obtuse.  We've judged them before one personal conversation.  Unlike Donald Trump, we can't fire them if the discussion isn't going well because of our judgement going in.  We must carry on, wayward son.

So when I got in touch with Shea, I had a pre-judgment in my head that it was going to be a tough interview.  This is the guy who, in 2006 while with the Blue Jays, almost got into a fist fight with his manager.  This is the guy who supposedly called Theo Epstein, GM of the Red Sox, a slur that degrades homosexuals.  This is the guy who spoke his mind while playing under Mike Sciosia in Anaheim because he was upset he wasn't playing enough.  This is a guy fans don't really like.

Would I like him?  Did I need to like him?

My question was answered before we even spoke.  I researched Mr. Hillenbrand and read about how he and his wife Jessica have rescued hundreds of animals - dogs, cats, horses, cattle - and given them homes on their farm, Marley Farms.  (Where do you think the dog goes in this economy when a family faces foreclosure and has to move into an apartment that doesn't allow pets?)  I read how the Hillenbrands designated 4 of their 25 acres to a non-profit organization for kids called the Against All Odds Foundation.  I saw video of Shea on local (they live in Arizona) news talking about their animals and their plans.  And I thought to myself, "Jimmy, true jerks don't do all this stuff."

So I called him up.  We spoke about everything.  I told him how the perception of him is negative and we went over the reasons why.  We talked about what really happened, from his perspective.

Now, I am not some investigative reporter. I've tried that here and it's a full-time job.  Fred Claire, former GM of the Dodgers, told me some matters about the famous Mike Piazza trade from LA to the Marlins back in '97, most notably that (this isn't new news) he didn't execute the trade.  It was done behind his back.  He had laid groundwork with then-Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski.  But someone at FOX, which owned the team at the time, did the deal.  I asked Fred if it was strange for Dombrowski to do the deal with someone other than himself, since they had talked about it previously.  Fred said, and I'm paraphrasing, "I don't think Dave did the deal for Florida."  I asked him who would have done it.  He didn't know.  So I reached out to the Detroit Tigers (where Dave's the current G.M.) and explained to the media department this paragraph.  Would Dave answer a few questions about the deal? 

No comment.

Now, Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein would have flown to Detroit and found Dave Dombrowski's house and finagled their way in there.  I'm not about to fly to Michigan when it's winter and it's cold and nobody's paying for my flight.  I may be a millionaire, but my wife isn't about to let me spend thousands of dollars to fly first class to a state that's shaped like a glove.  (If he had been in Italy, a country shaped like a boot, she may have had a change of heart.  As long as she could come.)

You'll be able to hear my interview with Fred Claire in March.

If you recall, I also interviewed Brian Boehringer, formerly of the Yankees, Padres & Pirates.  He spoke at length about issues he'd had with his agent.  It was very compelling.  From a listener perspective, it was edge-of-your-seat listening.  In fact, after we went on about another subject, Brian even came back and railed more about his former agent woes. 

Was it true?  It was from Brian's perspective.  But was it fair to his former agent, Bob Garber, to have this out there without his input.  I wanted to say yes, but that wouldn't have been right.  I can be lazy, but I like to be fair.  Even here, on Jimmy Scott's High & Tight, presented by a sponsor to be named later.  So I tried to get in touch with Bob Garber.  It took some doing, but he called me back.  Very gracious man.  Gave me his perspective.  There was balance.

Back to Shea Hillenbrand.  You're going to hear his interview in the next couple of weeks (I'll announce a date shortly).  In it, he speaks his truth which, from my perspective (I'm not the most objective guy in the world after interviewing someone), should overcome the perceptions of him.  For example, he spoke of one issue after our interview was complete.  I asked him about his trade from Boston in 2005 to Arizona.  It was alleged, like I said above, that he'd insulted Theo Epstein.  Shea explained the situation to me.  Basically, a Boston radio personality, who'd been hammering Shea and apparently been on him pretty fiercly, wore Shea down.  He said, "Trade me, ------."  He was not calling Theo this name.  He was calling the radio guy the name.

Does that make it right?  Nope.  Not to say I've never called people names, bad ones, in private.  Or that you've never done it.  It's something we do and then it's something we criticize others for doing.  The bottom line is, Shea just should have known better.  The comment was perceived as one about the Boston GM when it was about someone else.  Shea's own fault for making the problem in the first place.  He admits that.  The problem is, people haven't forgotten.

But what these same people also don't know is that Shea approached Theo at spring training some time after this had all gone down and apologized.  He explained the situation and Mr. Epstein said all was forgiven.  He understood.

But since the press didn't pick up on it, since there weren't any cameras or bloggers there to witness this exchange, nobody knows it happened and the poor use of words by Shea festers.

Am I going to call Theo Epstein to confirm this story?  Are there those of you who still won't forgive Shea for this?  No to the first, yes to the second.  I've learned that no matter how you try to trump reality, perception is the real reality.  Shea could run into a burning barn tonight and save 15 kids and 35 animals and there would still be some Blue Jays or Red Sox fan who comments, "Too bad he got out alive."

Yet it is Shea who is persecuted for saying something derogatory. 

As you can see, my Stockholm Syndrome has not abated.  I interview someone and feel compassion for them.  I end up liking them.  Why?  Well, they're honest with me.  They tell me things I don't know and didn't expect them to share, which is then transferred to your craniums via auditory canals.  Is that so bad?  Should I track down John Gibbons, Shea's former manager, and J.P. Ricciardi, his former GM (and still Toronto's GM) to get their reactions to Shea's comments about the circumstances surrounding their 2006 trade of Shea?  Would they respond to my question: "Were you mad at Shea for taking the full three days you'd given him permission to take during the season to adopt his daughter?"

My guess is that J.P. would pull a Dombrowski and "No comment" me through someone else.  Hey, the guy's busy trying to build a team for 2009.  I'm not sure if I'd want to re-hash all this stuff if I were him either.

Gibbons?  Well, he had issues with other players, not just Shea.  He's got his own public perceptions to deal with.  And as I think more, maybe he would be a great guy to talk to.  Do you think he'd answer this: "Why did you challenge one of your players to a fight?"  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I'd probably come out of a John Gibbons interview loving him too. 

The bottom line is this: Fans, teammates, media and front office management have perceptions of players based upon certain incidents.  Do these parties always find out the full story?  Or do they/we base our judgments on just what we've heard?  And, if you're a front office guy, let's say a Major League general manager, do you not sign a free agent like Shea Hillenbrand because of the guy you think he is?  Are you basing your judgment of him solely on your perception?  And if so, does this mean you're not making the right decision about this player because you don't know the full truth?

Probably.  I said that I'm no investigative reporter. My bet is that the 30 GMs out there aren't either.  And that means a guy like Shea Hillenbrand, who people think is a bad man even though he isn't, will likely spend the 2009 season on Marley Farms, doing better things with his life than hitting a baseball.  And if you ask him if that's okay, he'll tell you the truth. 

"Yes."