Rick,

Jamie did not make an accusation. Period. He used some strongly suggestive language, but that's it.

Consider the facts.

What he said was: "I don't know if he had money betting on the game or what." He was suggesting, true, but not accusing. Nowhere do we hear anything really accusatory like, "Yesterday morning I saw Angel outside the stadium talking to a known bookie and I saw him give him an envelope with some money in it."

That would be a blatant accusation, but he didn't do anything like that.

Jamie was trying to figure out why there was a balk call that he felt shouldn't have been made. Earlier he gave another possible reason for the call, and that was that maybe the umpire had something against him.

Should he get fined for that, as well? Let's get serious.

The fact that he gives two possible motives (maybe even more, if you want to count the "or what") for the bad call weakens somewhat the impact of just the one about betting or should weaken it.

And it has to be in that context that the comment be considered. I very seriously doubt that Walker believes Hernandez was betting and I doubt that very many fans watching the video thinks he does.

Much more likely, he was just letting off some frustration; after all, it's been a tough couple of weeks for the team. They haven't been playing well, and then to have the calls start going against them in critical situations just adds fuel to the fire. So that frustration, too, needs to be factored into any ruling in order for it to be fair for Jamie..

Were Walker's comments ill-advised? Yes, of course. Do they amount to an accusation? No, not even close.

He's likely to get fined ($5000, maybe as much as $10,000), but I think a suspension and public apology should be more like it. But because he even so much as invoked the specter of gambling--specifically, betting on the game, which is the greatest sin in baseball, he'll get hit with something.

Whether he should, however, is quite another matter.

(BTW, You'd better go back and check this video again for expletives, cause they're there. Did he had others besides these?)

Good Luck to you Rick, this blog and the Sports section won't be the same without you, who knows if it will BE at all.

A sad tale.

A sports writer deserves more than a cell phone call to the press box notifying him that he's out of work. Tribune/Sun could have shown more class than that. I thought the company was bankrupt financially, not morally.

Good to see Trembley show some emotion. It wasn't enough to completely fire the O's up, but I was glad to see him get upset...it was a horse ---- call, just as Walker said

So does the way Rick and Co were dismissed pretty much sum up the point of this blog. Sports writers are treated as second class citizens and not importnat enough to warrant a proper dismissal.

I keep reading how those in the newsroom were notified privatley in a conferece room. The sports writers get a call in the middle of a baseball game they are covering. Absolutley classless and unprofesional.

It's exactly like that southwest commercial where he flies to tackle his boss because he was let go over the phone. Can we assume David Steele is contemplating that at this very second?

If I still subscribed to the Sun I would cancel, but I have given up on the print long ago. It leans way to far in one direction.