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Alou "peed off" at ESPN reporter

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Only in this sad world of reality TV, where phony sincerity is the norm, would a true apology be filmed. But that was the surreal scene Wednesday at Wrigley when ESPN's Gary Miller, who had broken a confidence with Cubs left fielder Moises Alou in late April when he reported that Alou urinates on his hands before games for a better bat grip, tried to hash out and settle his differences with Alou on the field during batting practice.

Miller had been trying to reach Alou by phone for the last couple of weeks once he read Alou was furious about Miller's disclosure of an anecdote that Alou never expected him to make public. So how does it look when Miller decides to make a public show out of their first meeting since the report, bringing along a camera to make sure every swear word and irate gesture by Alou is recorded?

It looks like another put-up job for the sake of TV. And it's another reason Alou wasn't buying what Miller was trying to sell after the fact. Alou saw the camera out of the corner of his eye, but he has no love for ESPN to begin with, and Miller reminded him why that is.