Mets beat writer reveals odd company policy

There have been plenty of ‘Hawk Tuah’ references in sports media already.

Whether it was the Atlanta Braves’ broadcast booth or the New Orleans Times-Picayune , everyone was trying to attach themselves to what made Hailey Welch a viral internet personality. Well, that is except for Newsday. The Long Island and NYC-based newspaper would apparently rather not explain to its readers the viral street interview that saw a young woman describe her signature move in bed and took the internet by storm.

While the video was released in early June, Welch was at Citi Field on Thursday. The 22-year-old, who has become a viral sensation overnight, threw out the first pitch prior to the New York Mets-Oakland A’s series finale. And funnily enough, she did so in front of a crowd of campers for a weekday day game in August.

But if you want to see or hear about Welch throwing out the first pitch, don’t expect to see it in Newsday . Tim Healey, who covers the Mets for the newspaper, wrote on X that he was not allowed to mention who threw out the first pitch on Thursday for the team he covers.

And no, Healey couldn’t go with the workaround that SNY and MLB did on social media, referring to Welch as a “viral internet star.” Well, what is she viral for? Don’t ask Major League Baseball or SNY, and specifically, do not ask Healey or Newsday.

Of course, few people not in tune with the current internet lore would have no idea that Hailey Welch and the ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl are the same person. In fact, you could probably count on one hand how many people inside the confines of Citi Field knew that Welch was famous for drunkenly explaining her signature move in bed during a man-on-the-street interview in the Broadway district of Nashville, Tennessee.

Even if using her real name is the G-rated version of ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl, Newsday has no interest in lending its readers any credence into that world. Instead, they’ll leave the internet lore to the wild west of social media, allowing its readers to figure out what ‘Hawk Tuah’ means or is without reading it from the pen of Healey.

[ Tim Healey ]

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