erinandrews

Don’t know if any post this year has generated more email than yesterday’s in regard to Erin Andrews’ sartorial selection in the Chicago Cubs clubhouse this week. (Stellar work by Mr. Daulerio procuring the above photo of the outfit that made Lou Piniella ask, “Is this a baseball game or a modeling assignment?. A Chicago Sun-Times reporter even took a camera-phone pic and posted it on his blog, which is equal parts hilarious and strange.)

There were plenty of journalists defending Andrews’ friendly clubhouse banter (’no different from how male journalists ‘buddy-up’ with some athletes in the hopes of generating scoops’), and some saying that her ’skimpy’ outfit was nothing new. (Bloggers’ takes can be found here, here, and here.)

The only email that piqued our interest was one that claimed Andrews may have crossed the line All-Star weekend in New York when she handed her Apple i-phone to her producer and had him take a photo of her with a “high-profile futures star” who was recently traded. (We’ve withheld the name of the athlete to protect our eyewitness.)

According to our source, credentialed journalists taking photos with athletes in the clubhouse/dugout is not permitted by Major League Baseball (which is odd, because for years there have been many stories in circulation about Mike Lupica of the NY Daily News allegedly inviting his family onto the field at various New York venues to have their photo taken with athletes). Our source claims, “it’s the lack of professionalism that bothers people.”

Sour grapes or a legit claim? ESPN’s PR department told us yesterday, in response to Mike Nadel’s eyebrow-raising column, “Erin is a tremendous reporter. She’s a prepared, hard-working journalist who is well respected and asks excellent questions. We’re proud to have her as an important part of our coverage team. Beyond that, we feel it’s unnecessary to even respond to any of the specifics outlined.”