ESPN SportsCenter anchor and former WWE commentator Todd Grisham, who fancies himself a tough man, has a tough message for True Hit King Ichiro: This is America, learn some English!
Grisham wasn’t tough enough to not delete his tweets, but the thing that amazes me is that he anchors the most popular sports program on the planet but doesn’t know anything about a baseball Hall of Famer, and that he knows how to use Twitter but apparently not Google.
If Grisham had used Google, he might’ve come across this article from five years ago about how Ichiro speaks English with his teammates, in commercials, and in his daily life. Or read R.A. Dickey’s book where he writes that Ichiro speaks English “quite well.” And how about all of those well-trod stories—including ones written by his ESPN coworkers—about Ichiro’s infamously profane All-Star Game speeches? Shit, Ichiro even sometimes speaks Spanish on the baseball field.
Of course, even if Ichiro didn’t speak English, that would be okay too. People living in foreign countries all around the world assimilate to varying degrees for varying reasons, and far be it for any of us to criticize how somebody else is leading their life.
And so Ichiro still uses a translator when answering questions from the press because he has one he is extremely comfortable with, and because as a high-profile person who talks to the media daily, he believes it’s important that he express his ideas clearly and accurately.
Todd Grisham’s take, which he has since apologized for, is hotter than two rats in a fucking wool sock.
Update (2:30 p.m. ET): We didn’t know this when we published, but Dan Le Batard addressed Grisham’s tweet on his radio show this morning, broadcast on ESPNU. As you would probably expect from a guy whose TV show, Highly Questionable, features his Cuban-born father, Le Batard and his staff have a nuanced view on living in a foreign country and what, if any, responsibilities that comes along with.