Over the last few weeks, pitching coach Dave Eiland has been away from the Yankees due to personal matters. While most fans and members of the media have not said anything about this, there are a handful of fans that are starting to get antsy about Eiland’s whereabouts. Initially, it was just one lunatic on Twitter repeatedly asking about Eiland and insinuating that the team’s struggles could in part be attributed to his absence. I fully intended to ignore that malcontent in this space, but too many fans that I respect have asked me about it over the last few days for me to just let it slip any further. So I want to say this once, without equivocation:
The whereabouts of Dave Eiland are none of your business.
You have absolutely no right or reason as a fan to know what sort of personal issues Dave Eiland is dealing with right now. No good can come of an intrepid reporter digging up this information.The club has deemed his issue important enough to grant him leave from the club, and has already decided that they can get by without Eiland for a while. Mike Harkey was the pitching coach in Florida under Girardi, and the team apparently feels that he has enough experience to fill the role adequately while Eiland is away. Of course, I have my doubts about the importance of pitching coaches in general, but that is a discussion for another time.
There is this voyeuristic tendency on the part of fans that results in a wish to know about everything that goes on in relation to the team. But being a fan does not afford you, simply by dint of your rooting for the club, the right to know about the personal lives of the players and coaches. Some fans, thankfully few and far between, simply cannot handle that reality, and bemoan the fact that the team has not informed them about Eiland’s personal life. What purpose can revealing that information serve? All it will do is allow distant observers to pass judgment on how serious Eiland’s issues really are, when the team has already weighed in on the matter and allowed him to leave. That should be enough for us as fans. Let the man handle whatever he is dealing with in peace. It is none of our business.
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14 Responses to The Whereabouts Of Dave Eiland Are None Of Your Business
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TIQ IQ
Thank you, well stated.
Truth. You’ve encompassed everything that needs to be said.
I’m not a Yankee fan and just happened to find this site. What you wrote is absolutely true and very well said. Very classy…nice work.
Agreed completely — we know it’s gotta be a huge life challenge, and I just wish him the best.
That said, let’s talk about the pitching. We’re good on starters, but the bullpen just hasn’t gelled yet like it did by this time last year (once Veras and Edwar and Albaladejo were replaced by Hughes and Robertson and Aceves).
If we’re going to win another championship, that’s our biggest weakness (and bench).
For the bullpen, it’s obvious that Hughes last year >>> Joba this year for the 8th. What do we do for the 8th?
Park should probably be released, as he sucks. Same with Gaudin. We could likely get better by pitchers at AAA. Perhaps give Sanchez and Nova a shot. I’d love to see Melancon shine, but he hasn’t done it yet. Albaladejo is pitching very very well down there — maybe it’s his time.
If you were Cashman, who do you bring up from AAA (or even AA) to see if they can be good MLB relievers to see if you can solve the problem internally before the trade deadline?
If nothing good comes of those efforts, who do you trade for as bridge to Mariano?
couldnt agree more
I’m more concerned with the whereabouts of the Yankees offense.
No argument here, and I think that given the open-ended nature of his departure it’s pretty clear what’s going on here. It’s obviously family related, and fans have no business there.
Personally, I always feel a bit creeped out whenever we get details of any of the Yanks personal lives. Whether it’s A-Rod’s girlfriend(s) or this. Positive or negative, we should really just stay away unless there’s some greater good involved, like promoting a charity.
Lemme guess, someone by the name of Larry Barnes, writer for YankeesNMore, is the “malcontent” you’re referring to.
Maybe your comments are appropriate in the 40s and 50s, but this is 2010. You can no longer take the big salary, take all of the TV face time, and then suddenly wave it away when you have a “personal” issue to deal with. You’re now a public figure and don’t have that expectation of privacy. If Eiland had been a man and told everyone what was wrong in the beginning, there would be no speculation. Instead he created this situation with his shady behavior and he, let alone fans, should not be offended by people being curious about it.
Sorry, but he absolutely has a right to privacy. Just because we as a society like to pry into people’s business does not make it right. You can be curious all you want, but you have absolutely no right to know. And the implication that he wasn’t a man because he didnt reveal his public issues preemptively, or that his behavior is somehow shady, is absurd.
The difference is that he’s a public figure, makes no difference about society liking to pry there is a responsibility to report about public figures, otherwise he should retire from public life where he then does have an expectation of privacy. You can’t have it both ways, collect the checks and be at the parties when things are going good and then just sweep everything under the rug when it’s convenient to do so. As I said, this whole issue would have been avoided if he had just been honest and made a statement to begin with. Hiding the truth from the public like a child has caused more of a storm.
There is a responsibility to report about their personal lives? Why? And let’s not make Eiland out to be an attention hogging celebrity. He’s practically invisible, he just happens to have a job that is public. He has done absolutely nothing to make his private life public (you have more of an argument with the A-Rod’s and Jeter’s of the world). And he isnt acting like a child by not volunteering personal information to the public, the suggestion is silly. It has nothing to do with honesty, it has to do with a right to know, and you have none.
Moshe is right, and I can’t believe people are actually disputing it.
I found this site while I was trying to find out why Dave Eiland has been excused.
I read your piece and feel slightly ashamed. You are absolutely right that it is none of my business and I intend now to stop looking.
All I can say is that I wish Dave well. I hope that whatever has happened turns out as well as possible and that people respect his privacy more than I did.