BAR: Just another day on the (expletive) job

MILWAUKEE — What's funny is my plan was to keep a running diary of Monday — starting, really, when I got back to my hotel around midnight on Sunday night — and post it today to give readers a glimpse into the day of a traveling beat writer.

You got it a different way, I guess.

It was supposed to be a typical day — and Monday was anything but. As a reporter, you want to report the news and stay out of it. Trust me when I say that, because I woke up Tuesday morning to a call from CNN wanting me to go on TV and I told them no. I've told ESPN no. I've told some radio station in Toledo no. I've told everyone who has contacted me no. (And let me make it clear, nobody from WLW has contacted me — nobody, no matter what they say.) That would be me making myself the story. I am not.

I tried to convey that in my story I wrote on Monday on Bryan Price's outburst. It may have come off like grandstanding to some (and it did, I have the emails to prove it), but in my mind, I was trying to show the entire story. To me, the story is not that Price used 77 variations of the f-bomb, but he is a manager feeling the pressure of a rough stretch of games and a team on the edge of a closing window.

In his rant, Price was upset that facts were reported. And here's one thing I want to make perfectly clear: In the entire five minutes and 34 seconds, at no point does Price question or dispute the accuracy of the reports. I take great pride in that.

My job, whether Price agrees with it or not, is to provide accurate and timely information about the Reds to you, the fans. It's not to help the Reds win, it's so that the fans of the team are better informed. I stand behind my reporting 100 percent.

I understand why Price wouldn't want the Cardinals to know Devin Mesoraco wasn't available to pinch-hit, but let this also be clear — they knew already. How? They were situated across the field from the Reds. There are people in the stadium who saw Mesoraco's bags packed and shipped. It's a small community in a stadium. The Cardinals knew well before I did that Mesoraco wasn't going to hit. There are few secrets in this game, and because there's such an interest in these things, Price receives a fine paycheck.

I receive a fine paycheck as well, and my job is to do exactly what Price said it wasn't.

"Your job is not to sniff out every f——— thing is about the Reds and f—— put it out there for every other f——- guy to hear. It's not your job."

That is precisely my job.

And just as Price will not apologize for what he said, I will not apologize for doing my job. If he wanted to have this conversation in private, it would have stayed private. But to do it in a room with more than a dozen people, it's no longer private. And to do it in a room of that many people, most of them in the media industry, it is most certainly public.

In the end, I believe Bryan Price is a good man who has had a bad week.

Monday started off with a 5:20 a.m. alarm and it ended differently than I ever expected. But that's why I love the job. Although, I think the biggest lesson is, no good day ever starts at 5:20 a.m in St. Louis.

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

• Double-A: Pensacola 6, Birmingham 5: The Blue Wahoos scored in each of the final four innings to overcome a 5-2 deficit and defeat the Barons, with Seth Mejias-Brean doubling in the winning run in the top of the ninth. Mejias-Brean was 2 for 3 with two knocked in, and 1B Marquez Smith had two doubles in three at-bats with an RBI. 2B Ryan Wright was 3 for 5 with two doubles and a triple. Robert Stephenson gave up five runs on six hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out nine and walked two. [Box]

• High-A: Daytona's game was postponed due to wet grounds.

• Low-A: Lansing 11, Dayton 3: Tyler Mahle gave up four runs on seven hits over four innings, falling to 1-1. RF Aristides Aquino hit his first homer of the season and 1B Avain Rachal was 2 for 3. [Box]

THE ROTATION

1. To say this again, reporters hate to be the story, but if there's a reporter (or a reporter and photographer in this case) who deserves to be the story in Cincinnati, it sure as hell isn't me, but Sharon Coolidge. I don't know that I've ever worked with a more positive, outgoing and outstanding reporter than Sherry. She is a force of nature and a force of journalism. She and Liz Dufour delivered an amazing piece of journalism this weekend, and if you missed it, you must read it now. Here. Go. But the results of that story have been immediate and positive for the kids profiled. The results have come both from the system that has let them down and the people in our community who want to lift them up. This is amazing, important work. I'm proud to be in some small way association with Sherry and Liz.

2. Josh Hamilton could return to the Angels in June. [LA Times]

3. There was a live reading of Major League starring Thomas Lennon, Rich Eisen, Eric Stonestreet, Joe Manganiello, Brian Wilson and others. I wish I could have been there. [Paste Magazine]

4. I love ramen, I'm not sure I love ramen this much — a spa in Japan is offering a ramen bath. [Time]

5. Here's R.E.M. with guests. [Slate]