Former Dodgers Closer is Still Hung Up About Six-Year-Old Headline

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 5, 2024

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Early in the 2018 season, former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen blew a 6-3 lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, following another blown save just days earlier.

After the game, Andy McCullough, a beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, asked Jansen whether his early-season struggles might be related to mechanical issues. Specifically, McCullough pointed out two of Jansen's cutters, which clocked in at 88 and 89 mph — unusually low for him.

Jansen brushed off the question, responding defensively with, “Who cares?" He then doubled down, stating, “No, it’s not mechanics. He just got me. Who cares? Who cares? It’s one game.”

This dismissive attitude resurfaced recently when Jansen appeared on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast, discussing players' relationships with the media.

Shoutout @alannarizzo! https://t.co/dpBsWUYKnR pic.twitter.com/8TL6NNsQ3V

— Baseball Isn’t Boring (@BBisntBoring) September 5, 2024

Reflecting on the incident, Jansen claimed, "That 'Who cares?' I said became the headliner in all the big L.A. newspapers. They kind of twisted it to turn fans against you. But you learn from it, grow from it."

His frustration is understandable. But the facts of the situation differ from Jansen's recall.

The Times, the city's largest paper, didn’t use Jansen’s comment in the headline. Instead, they ran a headline focused on his velocity: "Should the Dodgers be concerned about Kenley Jansen’s velocity?"

The Los Angeles Daily News barely mentioned the remark, tucking it away in the 10th paragraph of their article.

The only major publication that used "Who Cares?" in its headline was the Washington Times, which wrote: "Kenley Jansen, Dodgers closer, asks ‘Who cares?’ after blown save."

A pissed off Kenley Jansen repeatedly said “who cares?!” When asked about his velocity dipping 5MPH on his cutter tonight. #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/4uFHUNpqwO

— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) March 31, 2018

For Jansen, the frustration of being asked about his performance clearly struck a nerve, but his dismissive attitude downplayed the reality that his struggles were impacting the team. Alex Wood had pitched a strong game, only for Jansen to blow it.

Instead of owning up to it, Jansen’s defensive response made him appear out of touch.

Perhaps if Jansen had handled the situation with more maturity, the incident wouldn’t still bother him today.