Harold Reynolds and ESPN No More...

As you have probably already heard, Harold Reynolds was fired from ESPN. His last show was Baseball Tonight on Sunday. No one is saying why he was fired, but the rumors are already flying around the Internet. A couple of thoughts:

* Everyone who I have talked with who knows Reynolds says he is one of the nicest people in the game. He was a former Roberto Clemente Award (RCA) winner while he was playing with Seattle. The RCA recognizes the player who has given the most time and energy to their community in a given year (it's a community service award). Reynolds understands the importance of being a positive role model.

* Why did he get fired? There are two rumors making the rounds. One is sexual harassment and two is that he did not get along with Steve Phillips, another commentator and someone had to go.

* I have read that Reynolds made inappropriate comments to a production assistant. He may have been warned before, but was finally let go this week. ESPN has been known as a place where sexual harassment has taken place. If you have a chance, you should read the book on the first 20 years at ESPN. You would be shocked at the amount of stuff that has gone on at that company. Think about it. The company is in the middle of nowhere, for years the staff was predominately men who played sports and enjoy watching sports. It is a recipe of disaster.

What doesn't make sense is that ESPN kept Mike Tirico around for years -- a well-known sexual harasser -- and Steve Phillips was fired from the Mets for making inappropriate comments. Um...am I missing something.

* The second rumor seems a little weak, but it is possible. Certain ESPN announcers put clauses in their contracts that other announcers cannot work with them. Karl Ravech, for example, has a clause in his contract that select ESPN announcers are not allow to host Baseball Tonight if Ravech is not available (This is a fact).

* How are ESPN and Reynolds going to handle this issue? Someone is going to have to release a statement in the coming days to control this story. Reynolds does not want inaccurate rumors floating around to tarnish his image.

It will be interesting to see how this story plays out.