Tejada is a liar (is 33 rather than 31)

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Thanks to don1481 who is at work but can't post, I have a link:

 

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24186591/

 

 

(added information to thread title --1992)

[lcbj68c]

Kudos to him for coming out and telling the truth.

[sbrylski]

Tejada was a liar.

[Brian the Automator]

No offense, but hasn't everyone here lied?

[jason21nl]

If I was a poor kid and I had the chance to do what he did, hell yeah I would. Good for him for coming clean and getting it off his chest.

[lcbj68c]

I agree with that sentiment Jason. i've told my share of lies, especially when 19 years old. Throw in a chance to make millions and I can't turn my nose up at what Tejada did.

[Klements Bratwurst]

So when does Soriano tell us that he is 37? His legs are falling apart!

[RyDogg66]

I wonder if his pants are on fire.

[razzzorsharp]

This is a lie that could have gotten him a couple extra million. I think there is a difference between his lie and my lie to my wife about not breaking the picture frame with a baseball.

[jazzytrav]

Yeah, it is nice that he came clean. And at the age of 19, I might have done the same thing. But 14 years is an awful long time to learn between right and wrong, and it conveniently came 1/2-way through a huge contract. I don't like to be a pessimist, but I also don't like to be a sucker.

[Schlitz001]

It looks like it was more of a case of Tejada getting busted in an interview with E-60, rather than Tejada being a nice guy and admitting it. I'm not saying that I blame him for doing it. He's certainly not the first, but don't think that Tejada wanted this info out there.

 

Here is a link to the video of Tejada walking out of the interview.

 

EDIT: Insert link.

[1992casey]

Tuesdays, when starting a thread, please take a moment to let us know what's behind a link. That'll give members an indication if they want to click through. A thread title calling a player a liar and handing us an URL doesn't cut it.

[bullox]

Wow, he really looked terrible in that E-60 interview.

[BrewCrewForever]

Yeah saw the E-60 interview tonight. He looked really bad, the only reason he came out and told Houston today was because the interview is airing this coming Tuesday.

[chuckywang]

I kinda think Tejada got ambushed here. Of course he looked bad in the interview. He had absolutely no time to brace himself and think about how to handle this situation.

 

To me, ESPN looks like the bad guy here. What they should have done is to notify Tejada off camera that they obtained his birth certificate and was going to release it. Then, ask Tejada to do an interview about it. There was absolutely no reason to take him by surprise on camera with it (other than sensationalism).

[bullox]

There was no reason outside of selfishness for Tejada to lie about it in the first place. He got what he deserved.

[jazzytrav]

To me, ESPN looks like the bad guy here. What they should have done is to notify Tejada off camera that they obtained his birth certificate and was going to release it. Then, ask Tejada to do an interview about it. There was absolutely no reason to take him by surprise on camera with it (other than sensationalism).

I think it makes both of them look bad. There's no reason ESPN couldn't have gone about it a different way and confronted him off-camera. At the same time, Tejada could have just looked at the camera and said, "You're right, I lied and I'm very sorry." Instead he decides to untuck his shirt (what was up with that?) and walk off the set.

 

I found the last question pretty interesting as well. The interviewer asked, "Does the federal government know about this?" I imagine this would effect things outside of baseball.

Of course he looked bad in the interview. He had absolutely no time to brace himself and think about how to handle this situation.

He had 14 years to brace himself. I don't feel bad for him.

Edit: Anyone else find it interesting that ESPN got their hands on a document from the Dominican government before MLB did? Especially with so many questions regarding the age of some players?

[chuckywang]

What's really interesting is this article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3351418

 

Specifically, this part:

The Astros' media guide lists Tejada's birthday as May 25, 1976. However, in addition to the birth certificate produced by ESPN, the Chronicle reported that Tejada's green card, driver's license and other legal papers in the United States list his actual birthday as May 25, 1974.

 

How could the Astros not know about his actual birthday if it's on his legal documents? I suppose his W2 also lists his real birthday of 1974, so how could this have been hidden until now?

 

BTW, Tejada was untucking his shirt to take his mic off.

[adambr2]

It doesn't look to me like he came clean so much as he was backed into a corner and had to just make the best out of it that he could. At least he took responsibility, but he didn't really have any choice but to.

 

It may not seem like that big of a deal to us, but if I'm the Astros GM, I'm ticked. My expensive superstar SS, who I thought was a good 2-3 years away from declining, is very likely going to start showing signs of decline soon.

 

Can they put a clause in an MLB contract to void $$ or years off the contract if age is proven to be misrepresented?

[dadofandrew]

HOU should be furious, as they thought he'd be 33 at the end of his deal, not now. His decline will very likely come fast and hard. As if the Astros didn't have enough problems.

[jazzytrav]

The Astros' media guide lists Tejada's birthday as May 25, 1976. However, in addition to the birth certificate produced by ESPN, the Chronicle reported that Tejada's green card, driver's license and other legal papers in the United States list his actual birthday as May 25, 1974.

 

How could the Astros not know about his actual birthday if it's on his legal documents? I suppose his W2 also lists his real birthday of 1974, so how could this have been hidden until now?

Yeah, this is just getting more weird. Someone in the organization had to have seen his green card or drivers license at some point. Almost makes you wonder if the organization knew about it but didn't want to tell the fans.

 

BTW, Tejada was untucking his shirt to take his mic off.

Thanks (slapping my own forehead) http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[bullox]

The best part of that interview was that he got his fake age wrong - he said he was 32. By his fake birth date, he would not turn 32 until May 25th. I guess 14 years isn't enough time to get your story straight.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Tuesdays, when starting a thread, please take a moment to let us know what's behind a link. That'll give members an indication if they want to click through. A thread title calling a player a liar and handing us an URL doesn't cut it.

My apologies.

[Fatter than Joey]

HOU should be furious, as they thought he'd be 33 at the end of his deal, not now. His decline will very likely come fast and hard. As if the Astros didn't have enough problems.

 

You would think teams would sort of assume that players from Latin America could be lying about their age. They probably either knew, and didn't want their fanbase to know, or someone did not do their due diligence.

[Kurt]

I'm looking forward to the day they find out that Albert Pujols is really two or three years older than he says he is. You really think he was only 20 when he broke into MLB and that today he is only 28? Not a chance.