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The Politics of Baseball

© Bryan Walker

Here's one of my problems with most of the baseball media. I believe that what the writers call "baseball issues" are peripheral, at best, to most fans. If you want to know what I call baseball issues, I think of realignment, union vs. owners, and the juiced baseball. But when you read the sports sections, you see articles about John Rocker's racial views or Cuban players reactions to the Elian Gonzalez situation. Why do baseball writers look for every opportunity to move from the realm of sports to the political arena? I would argue that baseball fans are more interested in the pitcher's ERA than his opinion of racial harmony in our country.

To illustrate my point, when John Rocker took the mound following his suspension for his insensitive comments, the fans gave him a standing ovation. Does that mean they support the comments he made? No way. The vast majority of people know that what Rocker said was wrong. They are supporting John Rocker the Good Baseball Player, not John Rocker the Insensitive Bigot. They could care less if he like New Yorkers or not. Nor do they care if he is a Democrat or Republican, if he likes peas, or if he does not like pets in the home.

I would not go so far as to agree with Charles Barkley that athletes have no responsibilities as role models, but I think that the baseball media steps out of line when they drag athletes into the political arena through questioning them about sensitive issues or by making an example out of them.

I would rather hear ten pitchers talk about their strategy when they pitch to Manny Ramirez than I would hear one person talk about his opinion on political subjects.

Enough about that...

Did anyone hear the interview with former Reds and Tigers manager Sparky Anderson on Sportsline radio last week? He says that the ball is definitely juiced and that George Foster's 52 dingers in 1977 would equal hitting 100 homers with today's ball. Now that's a baseball issue.

Here's a couple of writer's who know what's important in baseball: Paul White with Baseball Weekly, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/... Mel Antonen with USA Todayhttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/...

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