Jim Souhan Responds to Criticism: “Untethered-From-Reality Bloggers are Trolls and Frauds”

By Eric Strack |

Updated: Sep 4, 2017

An article was written about a week ago from a StarTribune writer that I normally enjoy reading. He isn’t nice and he doesn’t give a shit what you think. I appreciate that. But, some of what Jim Souhan writes is there to stir the pot. He enjoys it. I wish he would just admit it.

He wrote one of those pieces last week about Miguel Sano.

Souhan: Pounds sneak up on injured Sano as Twins get back in race

He says that he meant no ill will on the piece. However, he admits he had the information, from his sources, for a while but didn’t bring it to light because Sano was playing so well…

So instead, he waits until Sano gets a shin injury. We have no idea if Sano’s weight contributed to his injury or his slow recovery but Souhan brought it out at a time, and in a way, that made it hard to doubt what HE attributed the injury to.

He wasn’t just criticized by bloggers but was also called out by both City Pages and NBC Sports.

City Pages: Miguel Sano hit a baseball into his shin, so Jim Souhan wrote about… his weight?

NBC Sports: Miguel Sano fouls a ball off his shin, so a columnist slams him for his weight

The local “bloggers” (I put them in quotes because I get good information from reliable bloggers just as much as I do beat writers or columnists.) were definitely not happy either. Some of them thought Souhan’s article was downright irresponsible. Their thoughts:

Star player gets hurt. Souhan calls them soft or blames them. Repeat. Star Tribune should be ashamed of this crap. https://t.co/yzXqJ7mvs5

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 21, 2017

I guess now Jim Souhan can write a follow-up column about what Max Kepler eats. https://t.co/kx8qH9f4z3

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 22, 2017

Byron Buxton ate Sweet Martha’s cookies and then got hurt the next day. Jim Souhan’s next column writes itself. pic.twitter.com/0JJDNEQPnn

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 31, 2017

What the bunt is this crums from Souhan? Forget that guy. What a donut hole. #DadFilter #TryingNotToSwear #Earmuffs

— Tom Froemming (@BaseballByTom) August 21, 2017

Souhan wrote some garbage about Sano getting hurt because he’s overweight and I’m trying not to curse about it (bunt is my new substitute).

— Tom Froemming (@BaseballByTom) August 21, 2017

Oh sweet, Jim Souhan is Miguel Sano’s doctor now https://t.co/MgDR649Wvc

— Bill P (@Bill_TPA) August 21, 2017

Death, taxes, and Jim Souhan writing something mean-spirited and shitty. https://t.co/TVWEHFvV5v

— Mike Bates (@MikeBatesSBN) August 21, 2017

With all the criticism, I was a little surprised that there wasn’t much of a response from Souhan. But Sunday that changed. And it was classic Jim. Here are some highlights:

“I generally don’t pay attention, and I wouldn’t be writing this if I hadn’t had a bunch of my favorite journalists tell me that my reporting is being questioned.

Here’s what you need to know about the attackers:”

This IMMEDIATELY got me excited. It’s only two lines in! Here is the NEXT line:

“I’ve never met them. To meet them, they’d have to have the courage and work ethic to show their faces in the clubhouse every 10 years or so. They don’t. They are plagiarists, amateurs cowards and professional liars.”

BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!! This is already the best thing I have read all week and I am only 4 lines in… I told you. Jim Souhan doesn’t take any prisoners. This isn’t going to be PC and he is going to piss people off. But he doesn’t get specific with who he is calling out so every blogger who isn’t Seth Stohs or Brandon Warne (he pardons them in the piece) takes it personal. And for all we know, he was calling out everyone.

He went on to recap the process of how his story on Sano came into place. He was much softer, however. He listed how many sources he had:

“That morning, a Twins official I’ve known for a long time told me that Sano’s weight was 290.”

“That was an alarming number – 290. So I pursued it. I talked to three other Twins sources, two in the clubhouse. They told me that because weights fluctuate I’d be safer estimating his playing weight at 285.”

Souhan goes on to say that he didn’t write about Sano’s weight causing his injury. Which he didn’t… directly. But again, the timing was pretty convenient: the day after his injury. He told us he had been hearing this from his clubhouse sources for MONTHS:

“They mentioned.Kent Hrbek’s early retirement, Pablo Sandoval’s career decline and Glen Perkins’ unannounced early retirement as examples of the bad things that can happen when a player doesn’t control his weight and conditioning.

I had heard this for months but had no reason to pursue it because Sano was playing so well.”

If Souhan comes out and writes this a month ago, and then Sano gets hurt, people might be talking about how Souhan might be right. We may have asked the question ourselves, pointing to the article as Nostradamus-like. Instead, he waits for the injury to happen and then writes it. It lends to the link between the injury and his weight. Souhan knew that. That was the point of writing it when he did.

He goes on to tell us the difference in all the different types of writers. The whole thing is full of gold. I HIGHLY recommend reading it. Here is how he ends it. I would be very interested to know who this beat writer is:

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been standing by a Twins beat writer who just talked to the manager or a player and Tweeted out news who has then turned to me and said, “Funny, I just got the news and reported it, and yet here is Jabba The Stat, sitting in his basement, wearing his Kimono, eating his Cinnabon, acting like he broke the story.’’

These untethered-from-reality bloggers are trolls, liars, plagiarists and frauds. But mostly, they’re cowards.”

Boom Roasted!

I prefer donuts, athletic shorts, and cartoon t-shirts but I do pull the Kimono out every once in awhile.

I still like you, Jim. See you at the park someday.

Here is the article. It is worth the read.