Sean Doolittle's Wife Eireann Dolan Calls Out Bob Nightengale for Inaccurate and Troubling Report
By Alexander Wolz
After MLB and its players finally resolved the financial negotiations, the mentality has shifted to the health and safety concerns posed by the coronavirus. One of the biggest questions pertains to the compensation for those who choose to opt out of the shortened season.
MLB reporter Bob Nightengale tweeted that players with "high-risk" family members could opt out and receive fully prorated salaries. But the wife of Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle has confirmed that's far from the truth, a concerning development regarding one of the game's most crucial issues.
A lot of responses saying, “he’s wrong a lot, what do you expect?!” From a national writer? BETTER. Often this kind of reporting comes out before we have access to the correct information to verify. Imagine only having a stopped clock as your primary source for the time.
— Eireann Dolan (@EireannDolan) June 24, 2020
In reference to Nightengale's tweet, Eireann Dolan responded that "It wasn't true. I can't tell you how frustrating and painful it is to read inaccurate reporting like that from trusted sources on something so deeply personal."
Dolan also declared that she expects better from a national reporter, and rightfully so. In dealing with health and safety, it's far more important to be accurate than to be the first one to break the news. That's especially true on such an important distinction for so many individuals like Dolan, who suffers from asthma.
This is the problem. I love the Post’s sports coverage. They are rigorous and measured. So this again demonstrates how much of a platform national baseball writers have! Even the Post takes it as accepted truth and uses my name as a possible beneficiary of a (nonexistent) policy. https://t.co/zzMKMyahe5
— Eireann Dolan (@EireannDolan) June 24, 2020
The issue has also become increasingly concerning as numerous outlets took Nightengale's tweet as fact and republished it. The Washington Post even included Dolan as a potential beneficiary of the compensation that does not currently exist.
When MLB dedicated a majority of its time to the financials, there were bound to be hurdles on the safety aspects of a season. Sadly, erroneous reports had some thinking they'd be in a much better situation than the current confirmations suggest.