As reported by The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore and Nats Insider Mark Zuckerman, according to a team spokeman Rob Dibble will no longer broadcast Washington Nationals games. The spokeman said the decision was "permanent."
Dibble has made news twice in the last month.
First, he made inappropriate comments about two women sitting in the President's Club talking during the game. Dibble suggested they were talking about shopping, rather than the game, and that their husbands shouldn't bring them to the game next time
"Those ladies right behind there, they haven’t stopped talking the whole game. They have some conversation going on. Right here [circling offenders with telestrator]. There must be a sale tomorrow going on here or something….Their husbands are going 'Man, don’t bring your wife next time.'”
Dibble issued an apology via his blog on MASN several days later, then on a broadcast the following day.
More recently, on his XM show, Dibble called into question Stephen Strasburg's fortitude after the pitcher was removed from the game with an elbow injury, only later to reveal the future of the franchise needed to have ligament replacement surgery.
"So for me, a little bit has to be put back on Strasburg here. Ok, you throw a pitch, it bothers your arm, and you immediately call out the manager and the trainer? Suck it up, kid. This is your profession. You chose to be a baseball player. You can't have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow."
According to a MASN spokeman, Dibble requested "a few days off" after the incident, citing the demands of a seven-month season workload. He has not returned to the broadcast booth since.
The source said there was no permanent replacement as of yet, and studio co-host Ray Knight would continue as the color analyst at least through the end of the current road trip with play-by-play man Bob Carpenter.
Dibble is a polarizing figure, with his "know it all, meathead ex-jock" schtick. The Nats and MASN knew exactly what they were getting when they hired the former "Nasty Boy" of the late 1980's and early 1990's Cincinnati Reds. But in the end, his mouth finally wrote a check his butt couldn't cash.
He made irresponsible comments about the Golden Goose, and for that the organization could do nothing but terminate the relationship. The only thing now is to wait for his XM show in the morning, for he's sure to leave a trail of fire now that word of his dismissal is public and there are no more ramifications to his employment.
