Each Sunday evening we will review our favorite and least favorite events of the previous week, and share our perspective on how the team is doing. Please enjoy responsibly.
Cheers! (Something good that happened)
Brewers Reliever Involved in Some International Undercover Slave Liberation Shit: The ESPN The Magazine story that was floating around last week about Brewers reliever Blaine Boyer and the recently retired Adam LaRoche boggles the mind. It sounds like LaRoche found something to keep himself busy in his post-baseball life, and brought his good friend Boyer along for the ride:
LaRoche, along with Brewers pitcher Blaine Boyer, spent 10 days in November in Southeast Asian brothels, wearing a hidden camera and doing undercover work to help rescue underage sex slaves. […]
Working through a nonprofit called the Exodus Road, LaRoche and Boyer conducted surveillance in brothels and tried to determine the age of the girls — known only by numbers pinned to bikinis — and identify their bosses.
“Something huge happened there for us,” Boyer says. “You can’t explain it. Can’t put your finger on it. If you make a wrong move, you’re getting tossed off a building. We were in deep, man, but that’s the way it needed to be done. Adam and I truly believe God brought us there and said, ‘This is what I have for you boys.'”
What have you done to fight sex slavery today? Once that cat was out of the bag, Boyer opened up a bit in other media venues, and it sounds like this will be a lifelong pursuit for him. In fact, he’s been involved with Exodus Road since at least his time with the Kansas City Royals (hence the above photo with the Exodus Road founder).
Even if you examine the Exodus Road website, the whole thing is difficult to comprehend. They appear to be a faith-based group that works primarily in Southeast Asia, sending volunteer operatives to gather evidence of human trafficking and work with local police to bring the perpetrators to justice. If you’re moved by the mission of the Exodus Road and want to help, it looks like you can volunteer to do exactly what Boyer and LaRoche claim to have done:
People often ask us, “So how do I help? What do I do now?” We typically answer simply, “Rescue a child with us.” And then we tell them about our Search & Rescue Program.
You may not be able to physically go and rescue children trapped in brothels, but you can send investigators on your behalf. You can hire a mercenary of hope to look for victims of sex or labor trafficking, to gather tips for police partners, and to begin collecting key evidence for rescue. By joining the Search & Rescue program, you will actually be joining a real-life investigative team in the field. You become the Basecamp that sends trained investigators to the front lines.
Or you can just donate money if the idea of traveling to Thailand to spy on brothels isn’t your thing. Did I mention Exodus Road has teams called Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta? Exodus Road certainly gives off the impression that they’re not messing around.
I imagine a lot of people read about this and think it’s too good to be true, or there’s something untoward about Exodus Road that we don’t know yet. That may be the case, but if we’re being generous (and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be) we have to acknowledge that abolitionists in pre-Civil War America probably seemed like lunatics. If these Exodus Road folks want to make the world a better place by doing something that appears fairly ridiculous to most of us…they’re all adults and as long as they’re not hurting anyone, there’s no reason to stand in their way.
Buzzkill (Something forgettable that happened)
There’s Probably Less Than Meets the Eye to International Undercover Slave Liberation Shit: Maybe someday we’ll look back on groups like Exodus Road as groundbreakers in the fight against human trafficking. Right now, it’s hard to tell if their efforts are doing much good. Even though I’m inclined to give them the benefit of doubt, I can understand why others may be skeptical about Boyer and LaRoche’s fantastic story.
Deadspin’s Drew Magary has a reputation for skepticism and he was critical of ESPN’s story. There’s no accounting for taste, but Magary did link to an article in Foreign Policy that reported on NGOs like Exodus Road that are trying to stop human trafficking. It turns out their efforts often don’t bear much fruit:
Detractors, including many health and human rights advocates, argue that stings are only as good as their ability to actually improve lives—and that they often do the opposite. […]
In some cases, victims are quickly cut loose because governments lack the resources or concern to assist them. Others choose to leave protective services; sometimes they fear that authorities will abuse them or that traffickers will do the same to their families. (This is to say nothing of rescued adults who weren’t trafficked at all but had chosen to be sex workers, a distinction that raid groups often fail to make.) Mother Jones found in 2003 that girls and women saved in an IJM bust in Thailand were “locked into two rooms of an orphanage by Public Welfare authorities” and were allowed outside for only one hour each day. Following up on the operation featured on Dateline, the Nation reported in 2009 that some of the rescued children were addicted to intravenous drugs and made deals with the police to keep using; at least a dozen ran away and returned to brothels.
Well. Everything’s complicated, isn’t it?
Here’s to You (Standout player or play of the week)
Keon Broxton: Even though he got optioned yesterday, I doubt Brewers fans have seen the last of Broxton. It’s hard to tell when a fan base is really invested in a young player succeeding, but I felt something for Broxton, and I’m guessing you did, too. Plays like this had something to do with that feeling.
[mlbvideo id=”589902283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]One thing I’ve learned as a fan is that getting regular at-bats in the minor leagues can cure an inexperienced hitter’s slump. There must be something to that logic since teams keep doing it. I look forward to seeing the new and improved Broxton later this year.
Domingo Santana: I’m thrilled whenever the Brewers avoid being swept by the Cardinals. Santana made sure his team would leave St. Louis with at least one win with this huge homer off Trevor Rosenthal.
[mlbvideo id=”589112683″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Beauty.
Back on the Wagon (Thoughts on the week ahead)
It’s Twins week already! Minnesota opened the season with a nine-game losing streak before winning a series against the Angels this weekend. The Brewers about to find which of those was the fluke. The Phillies come to Milwaukee for the weekend series, and they’ve gotten off to a pretty middling start themselves. On paper, this week looks like one where the Brewers could win more than they lose. It’s probably for the best they don’t play on paper, even though it doesn’t always seem that way.
(Image: theexodusroad.com)
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