ML Baseball

My favorite American game is a reflection of our society.

My love of baseball started when I was about 6 years old. My dad was a baseball fan and like most kids, I wanted to be like dad who was a Yankee fan. Now in my 70s I still love the game. I played baseball for years as a child with aspirations of becoming a professional baseball player. Of course, that never came to fruition mostly because I couldn’t give it my all.

There are many reasons why I love the game. Unlike the NFL, MLB parks all have different dimensions and characteristics. The players come in all different shapes and sizes from the shortest to the tallest, the leanest to the not so lean. And more than any other sport, diversity like in America, is much more prevalent. Players come from all over the world. The best of the best because of diversity. And as long as I have been watching the game I still see plays within the game that I have never seen before.

The one thing I do not like about the game is the ridiculous salaries. What it costs to attend a major league game today is way more than I can afford. MLB has turned into a rich man’s sport. I attended many games as a teenager at Yankee Stadium. I remember my first time, it was in the 60s and it was a traditional double header against the Detroit Tigers. Game one began at 1pm followed shortly after by game two. Two games for the price of one. Our tickets cost $3.75 a piece for field level reserve near the right field foul pole. I remember Detroit’s Gates Brown hitting a home run to win the second game.

Back then I was an avid Yankee fan and Mickey Mantle was my boyhood hero. Mickey was in his final few years and laboring from many previous injuries. The early 60s Yankees were an amazing bunch. Mantle and Marris, Peppitone, Yogi Berra, Clete Boyer, Whitey Ford, Al Downing, etc….

When George Steinbrenner, who bought the team in 1973, fired manager Yogi Berra, my dad jumped ship and became a Red Sox fan. I couldn’t believe it. My dad was a wise man and knew that Steinbrenner would be bad for the game. George changed the character of the team and made a mockery of the Yankees. Firing manager Billy Martin, (7 times), became a tradition for George to a point where they even made a beer commercial. “Billy…you’re fired.” “Not again George.” What finally drove me away was his firing of manager, Buck Showalter, in the 1995-96 offseason after the heartbreaking Division Series loss to Seattle. Even though the Yankees improved dramatically under Buck's 4-year tenure managing and stormed to the postseason for the first time since 1981 with a 21-6 September record, it was not enough for George.

I was mortified. That’s when I too became a Red Sox fan. It wasn’t hard because I was always a Red Sox supporter if they were in the playoffs and the Yankees weren’t. I have been a Red Sox fan ever since. The 2004 American League Championship was so special for me. The Red Sox came back from a 3 game deficit to win the best of seven and went on to win the World Series. That series with the Yankees made my heart sing. In fact today, I root for whatever team is playing the Yankees.

The reason for this writing is to compare America and ML baseball. The letters DEI stand for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Which to me means that all human beings, regardless of race or gender, should be given equal access to everything that humans are able to do. Major League Baseball is a great sport because of DEI. The NFL is another great example of DEI. America used to be the most sought after country to live in because of DEI. We are the most diverse country on earth. Trump and his white supremacists want to make America white.

In order for America to, once again, become a decent and prosperous country we need to stop this narcissistic hate mongering idiot and his hypocritical party, the GOP, from spreading his hypocritical rhetoric and corruption. Peaceful protests and boycotting billionaires are having an impact. All decent, democracy loving Americans have to, as Texas Paul says, “HOLD THE EFFING LINE”.

“ALWAYS STAY HUMBLE AND KIND”