Sean Doolittle: One of the Good Guys
(KPIX)--The A's clubhouse is loaded with good guys. But today, there is only one official "Good Guy."
The baseball writers named Sean Doolittle as the 2014 recipient of the Bill Rigney Good Guy Award. The award was created by the Chronicle's John Shea and is given each year to a Giant and Athletic who is most accommodating with the media.
An award like this might not rate very high on the fans required reading list, but to members of the media, guys like Doolittle are lifesavers.
Fans don't often see the aftermath of a baseball game. The bowels of the stadium where the players turn back into everyday people can either be inviting or downright hostile. When a team wins, the clubhouse is filled with shiny, happy people holding hands.
When a team loses and, depending on the severity of the loss, the place can be an empty abyss with many players hiding in secret caverns off limits to the media.
Not Sean Doolittle. Come rain or shine, save or blown save, you will find the A's closer at his locker. Four times he's blown a save, and each time he's been there to answer the inquisition.
"I think a big part of it is being able to stand up and be accountable and explain yourself when given the opportunity if a game didn't go the right way and kind of standing there and facing the music," said Doolittle. "Too me I found that it's kind of a healing process if you will, being able to talk about it and after that it's done with."
Doolittle said he was raised in a military family and raised to be responsible in everything he did. While I don't venture into the clubhouse nearly as much as the beat writers, I had great respect and admiration of his answer.
Writers could tell you many stories of uncooperative players that run for cover the second the clubhouse door opens to the media. So it's nice to report on a player who understands the writer's job and a sense of his responsibility.
See you on TV.
