The whole Dempster-Guillen-Mike North affair is further evidence that ballplayers need to stay on the field and not in the media. Let’s face it, the only person who benefits from all of this is North who gets free publicity for his radio show.
I’m sure the pitch to Dempster to do the show sounded appealing. “Come on the show. Talk about Cubs. Give an inside look.” The usual spiel. But when something like the Barrett/Pierzynski debacle happens, do you think North is going to shy away from getting Demp from saying something he probably shouldn’t? Doubtful. I envision North with a widening smile his face egging him on.
Dempster, for the record, claims he never said some of things Guillen was upset about and the two of them have patched things up. Meanwhile, North reaps the benefits.
A few in the baseball world have called for North to air the tapes from Dempster’s original broadcast to “clear the air” as whether he made the offending comments. To what end? What purpose would it serve other than to draw out this already old storyline? If Guillen and Dempster are man enough to put this behind them then we should be too.
The only thing Dempster should be concentrating right now getting hitters out. Not what he what he’ll be saying on his next show.