M.I.A. - Detroit Free Press Tigers beat writer, Anthony Fenech

[MWmetalhead]

Recall that there was a dust-up between Justin Verlander and Anthony Fenech last summer.

The Freep sports editor shortly thereafter went to bat for Fenech, writing a lengthy article alleging Mr. Fenech had never committed any journalistic transgression (certainly not willfully) against Mr. Verlander or any other major league player.

Spring training is getting underway. No sign of Fenech at freep.com. Off season? Not a single article from him. Twitter? Inactive, since last July 20.

Evan Petzold seems to be the primary person covering the Tigers beat these days at the Free Press.

So, that begs the question - Dr. Fenech quit? Was he fired? (Gee - that sure would be weird after how his editor went out of his way to stick up for his employee.) Is he on leave due to some sort of debilitating medical issue? Curious minds would like to know!

[fuzzpower]

Fenech’s bio is still on the website.
Petzold is young and probably works cheaper.

[65memories]

Don’t know if this has any bearing on the situation, but the Freep recently named a new Sports Editor.

[Matt]

No one cares, except an insurance adjuster creep that for some reason people pay attention to.

[MWmetalhead]

It's interesting to me, only because of the dust-up with Verlander (which made national news), followed by the paper's vocal defense of its employee, and now he has suddenly vanished.

Makes me wonder if Fenech truly was guilty of malfeasant behavior.

[MichMash]

Jeff Moss' last post on the Detroit Sports Rag site, dated Dec. 31, 2020, was regarding this very topic. He seems to not know anything more about this than anyone else does.

http://detroitsportsrag.com/where-is-anthony-fenech/

Petzold and Jeff Seidel seem to be the only Freep scribes handling Tigers duty nowadays.

[Matt]

Jeff Moss' last post on the Detroit Sports Rag site, dated Dec. 31, 2020, was regarding this very topic. He seems to not know anything more about this than anyone else does.

http://detroitsportsrag.com/where-is-anthony-fenech/

Petzold and Jeff Seidel seem to be the only Freep scribes handling Tigers duty nowadays.

Why would anyone want to give that psycho stalker more traffic?

[MichMash]

DSR posted an update on 02/25/2021 on the Fenech saga (link provided but also copied and condensed below for y'all who won't traffic there yourselves, because I don't see it reported anywhere else):

http://detroitsportsrag.com/anthony-fen ... the-freep/

Fenech's bio also has been removed from the Freep web site.
___________________________________________

"Anthony Fenech No Longer Works At the Freep
Posted on February 25, 2021 by admin

The DetroitSportsRag.com has been able to confirm that Tigers’ Detroit Free Press beat writer Anthony Fenech no longer works at the paper. Fenech’s dismissal from the Freep ends a bizarre saga regarding his employment there.
(...)
The DSR has learned through multiple industry sources that Fenech’s problems started at the end of the 2019 baseball season. The Freep believed that Fenech had not been acting responsibly in his duties as the Tigers’ beat writer.
(...)
But I was told that Fenech’s juvenile behavior led to Fenech being removed from the Tigers’ beat and placed on Detroit Pistons’ coverage.
(...)
Anyway, being moved from the Tigers to the Pistons was seen by the paper and by Fenech as a demotion.

But something occurred between the time of the slapdown and Fenech actually beginning the Pistons gig full time. Somehow, Fenech received a last-minute reprieve from Thomas and ended up back covering the Tigers. But in true Fenech fashion, he fucked that up as well.

I have been told the last straw was when the baseball season reconvened in July after the COVID-19 delay.

Fenech brought pizza to the park to share with lord knows who during the team’s training camp at Comerica, which was a violation of the strict COVID protocols put in place by the team.

It seems he compounded the issue with another prank the next day regarding pizza and that soon after these HILARIOUS hijinks, Fenech was removed from the Tigers’ beat and placed on the “Breaking News” desk.

But after having that job at the paper for a few weeks, Fenech disappeared off the face of the Earth. I have been told by several acquaintances of Fenech that he is not answering text messages and that phone calls to his cell go directly to voicemail(...)"

[MWmetalhead]

The media jerks in this town nearly in unison threw Verlander under the bus and believed the (perhaps kakamamie) explanation given by the Freep's sports editor regarding Fenech's conduct.

I bet there was a lot more to that kerfuffle than meets the eye.

Too bad it wasn't Chris McCosky from the News who was given the hook. His work is insufferable at times.

Well, that solves that mystery. Thanks for the info.

[Bobbert]

Fenech always impressed me as snarky smart aleck. Knows baseball really well, but always kind of a jerk. None of the DSR's reporting about him has ever surprised me.

[Matt]

DSR posted an update on 02/25/2021 on the Fenech saga (link provided but also copied and condensed below for y'all who won't traffic there yourselves, because I don't see it reported anywhere else):

http://detroitsportsrag.com/anthony-fen ... the-freep/

Fenech's bio also has been removed from the Freep web site.
___________________________________________

"Anthony Fenech No Longer Works At the Freep
Posted on February 25, 2021 by admin

The DetroitSportsRag.com has been able to confirm that Tigers’ Detroit Free Press beat writer Anthony Fenech no longer works at the paper. Fenech’s dismissal from the Freep ends a bizarre saga regarding his employment there.
(...)
The DSR has learned through multiple industry sources that Fenech’s problems started at the end of the 2019 baseball season. The Freep believed that Fenech had not been acting responsibly in his duties as the Tigers’ beat writer.
(...)
But I was told that Fenech’s juvenile behavior led to Fenech being removed from the Tigers’ beat and placed on Detroit Pistons’ coverage.
(...)
Anyway, being moved from the Tigers to the Pistons was seen by the paper and by Fenech as a demotion.

But something occurred between the time of the slapdown and Fenech actually beginning the Pistons gig full time. Somehow, Fenech received a last-minute reprieve from Thomas and ended up back covering the Tigers. But in true Fenech fashion, he fucked that up as well.

I have been told the last straw was when the baseball season reconvened in July after the COVID-19 delay.

Fenech brought pizza to the park to share with lord knows who during the team’s training camp at Comerica, which was a violation of the strict COVID protocols put in place by the team.

It seems he compounded the issue with another prank the next day regarding pizza and that soon after these HILARIOUS hijinks, Fenech was removed from the Tigers’ beat and placed on the “Breaking News” desk.

But after having that job at the paper for a few weeks, Fenech disappeared off the face of the Earth. I have been told by several acquaintances of Fenech that he is not answering text messages and that phone calls to his cell go directly to voicemail(...)"

Why would you want to give that mentally ill insurance adjuster clicks?

[Gertner]

I gave him 5 just because of your post.

Love me some Jeff Moss

[Matt]

I gave him 5 just because of your post.

Love me some Jeff Moss

Why? He belongs in a mental health facility.

[Bryce]

I gave him 5 just because of your post.

Love me some Jeff Moss

Why? He belongs in a mental health facility.

Maybe he's here under the pseudonym SG?

[Matt]

I gave him 5 just because of your post.

Love me some Jeff Moss

Why? He belongs in a mental health facility.

Maybe he's here under the pseudonym SG?

Interesting theory! I think SG is the Jeff though: https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/0 ... pence.html