After audio of a pregame speech from Ron Washington that included some words from Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, was leaked to a website, the Rangers conducted an internal investigation to figure out who the culprit was.
Word came out Monday evening that the investigation was complete, and the culprit was indeed a member of the Rangers "traveling support staff."
My guess is, that member of the support staff, which must contain no more than 4-5 people, no longer has a job with the Texas Rangers.
Word is the employee recorded the speech, which is questionable in the first place but whatever, it'd be a cool, private keepsake had the Rangers went on to win Game 7. Then he apparently sent the audio to a "close friend" to share it. That "close friend" leaked it to the website.
No bueno.
What happens behind closed doors in an MLB clubhouse, or an NFL locker room, or an NBA or NHL locker room is strictly private. While it's an unwritten rule, it's a rule that no one should ever break.
"It’s unacceptable,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels told the Star-Telegram. “It’s a private meeting for the team, and a privilege to be a part of and a privilege to be in the clubhouse and have access to it. Very poor judgment. That’s not what that meeting was for."
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Thankfully for Washington, who used a lot of profanity in the speech, the national reaction to the speech and the trash-talking of St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter has been almost universally positive, as it should be. Tony La Russa was in the other clubhouse likely doing the same thing.
It's unfortunate, but that support staff member is likely already canned, and if he's not, he will be soon.
Everyone in that room will know who it was and no one in that room will be able to trust him ever again in a similar situation.
