Hunting season has begun, and with his decision to suspend Atlanta Braves social misfit John Rocker, baseball commissioner Bud Selig has provided interested parties with a hard-to-miss bull's-eye.
Poor Bud could not be more out in the open if he had been wearing day-glo orange from head-to-toe. In suspending Rocker, Selig is now the obvious target for civil libertarians and free speech advocates everywhere --not to mention racists and homophobes who took great private pleasure in Rocker's public stupidity.
Of course, this is a familiar position for Selig -- caught in the cross-hairs, despite his own best intentions.
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So
Selig has taken disciplinary action against a
player who has insulted and offended teammates
and fellow players, as well as a segment of the fan
base, and he is the one acting irrationally? ” |
Selig foolishly allowed himself to be manipulated by Machiavellian-like owners during the last ugly labor snafu, and when it came time to cancel the remainder of the 1994 season and World Series, it was Selig alone who had to be the bearer of bad news.
While ringleader Jerry Reinsdorf preached fiscal prudence out of one side of his mouth, out of the other, he soon offered Albert Belle the richest contract in the game's history. In the end, Selig was left to be Darth Vader, or The Man Who Cancelled the World Series.
On L'Affaire Rocker, Selig stands alone again, already receiving the slings and arrows from the media, fans and self-styled constitutional experts. The difference is, this time he's in the right.
Even those who are as appalled as Selig about Rocker's nutty comments insist that Selig shouldn't have suspended the pitcher, maintaining that stupidity isn't a crime. And, of course, it's not.
But Selig isn't administering criminal punishment here. Nor is he infringing on Rocker's free speech. Rocker is perfectly free to continue to showcase his ignorance. But Selig has reminded him that he won't continue to do so while in the employ of Major League Baseball.
Freedom of speech means the government can't imprison you or silence you for taking unpopular stands. It doesn't guarantee a job for life in the private sector with little regard to your actions.
Baseball has weathered enough ugly episodes in the last 10 years to last any industry a lifetime. Drug use, labor unrest, and the whiff of gambling activity by one of its most popular players have all been duly chronicled.
Now Selig has put his foot down. While some see his decision as the ultimate act of pandering, or an empty exercise in political correctness, why not see it for what it is: a bold step, taken in the proverbial best interests of the game.
At a time when baseball is attempting to repair its fan base, does it truly need one of its players spewing invective toward gays, minorities, single mothers, and immigrants? No.
Some are miffed that Selig has chosen to make an example out of Rocker while treating other past miscreants like Roberto Alomar far more lightly. But remember, Selig's hands are often tied by the mighty grip of the Players Association, which is only the most powerful and effective labor lobby in the country.
Increasingly, baseball's players come from foreign countries. By the end of the decade, in fact, it's estimated that half of its players may be foreign-born.
In the stands, watching these players are customers, some of which, we can assume, are single mothers, gays, and immigrants.
So Selig has taken disciplinary action against a player who has insulted and offended teammates and fellow players, as well as a segment of the fan base, and he is the one acting irrationally?
Contrast Selig's actions with those of his NFL counterpart, Paul Tagliabue, or as he's known to many in the overly-worshipful football media, The Good Commissioner.
Tagliabue oversees a game in which trash talking has become the second-language for many. There's scarcely enough room on the police blotter to detail all the criminal activity of its players, two of whom will apparently soon go on trial for murder.
On Tagliabue's watch, football has twice abandoned Los Angeles, the No. 2 television market, and a handful of franchises have shifted, each leaving top-10 markets like Houston and L.A. for medium-sized markets like Nashville and St. Louis. Another team, with years of consecutive sellouts, was allowed to move.
Under Tagliabue, franchises have played musical chairs at a dizzying pace. If your city loses its team, you can have another one in a few seasons -- assuming your city is willing to pay hundreds of millions to build a new stadium (hello, Cleveland and Houston), or get it the old-fashioned way -- steal it from another unsuspecting municipality (hello, Baltimore and St. Louis).
In his annual state-of-the-game address last week, Tagliabue thumped his chest and boasted that the NFL has "a system ... that works for all our teams, no matter what size market they're in."
That was his not-so-subtle dig at baseball, which is saddled with a two-tier system that fosters competitive imbalance and relegates too many teams to also-ran status.
To be sure, that is baseball's biggest hurdle, one which it must somehow overcome. But it's important to realize that baseball's caste system is the fault of its selfish owners, not the commissioner. Moreover, Tagliabue can no more take credit for the NFL's more democratic approach than he he can for inventing the flea flicker. Football's economic system of share-and-share-alike was put in place decades ago.
It's patently unfair to portray Tagliabue as a bold, innovative leader while chastising Selig for his failure to cure baseball's ills overnight.
Selig is a fair and good man, as evidenced by his decision last year to properly recognize Henry Aaron and his accomplishments, something the game failed to do the first time around.
His decision to suspend Rocker and draw a line in the sand for decency is similarly praiseworthy.
Selig may be an easy target, but it's time for hunters to focus elsewhere.
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal-Bulletin is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's baseball coverage. | |
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