First off, I want to start this on a bit of a downer and point out something:
A Ray Rice situation could just as easily happen in baseball. In fact, it probably already has, it just wasn’t filmed. And, sadly, in our society, it appears “we”, as a culture, only care about domestic abuse when it’s filmed. That commentary is for a different place, but what I said about baseball is true:
There have been domestic abusers who have played baseball. There are domestic abusers or alleged domestic abusers who are playing now, and they are plenty of other instances of cruelty to women in baseball as well, some of which came to light just this past week. And just because we haven’t seen it splattered across SportsCenter doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It is a very real problem, and unless if MLB takes steps now and makes clear what the penalties are, it is not just the league’s reputation that it is putting at risk, but innocent women as well. Players (and everyone else connected to the game, including fans) must know that there are consequences for abusing women, and sadly there is no official policy in place by Major League Baseball.
Now, to be fair, that doesn’t mean MLB is helpless. As Andy Martino of the New York Daily News pointed out in a article on the subject, the commissioner could issue a suspension in the same way that Bud Selig was able to suspend Alex Rodriguez. However, it’s likely the Union would have problems with any such unilateral suspension being done unless there was clear evidence (such as what happened with Ray Rice). That would not look good for MLB.
Thankfully, there are some rumors that MLB and the MLBPA will be meeting to try and hammer out a addition to the CBA to codify punishments for domestic abuse. The sooner such a move is done, the better.
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LINKS!
Craig Calcaterra writes what could be the definitive “Baseball is Not Dying” article.
A look at the Atlantic League’s experiment to pick up the pace on the game. It apparently has shortened game time by about nine minutes and caused a big drop in the percentage of games over three hours long.
Jeff Passan over at Yahoo! reveals their All-Minor League team for 2014. Kris Bryant of the Cubs organization is their Player of the Year.
Self-Promotion of the Week: The Hall already posted a link and summary of the auction of a Mr. Peanut costume that once stood next to Reggie Jackson, so here’s a classic Bizarre Baseball Culture that involves Billy the Marlin joining forces with Spider-Man to fight Doctor Doom. It also has Jeff Conine!
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Now, a lighter note.
I am sometimes asked (note: I am never asked) what I would make if I could make my own TV show and have it NEVER be cancelled until I said so.
The answer to that is a vast Science-Fiction Action-Adventure-Thriller Procedural Epic of my own design.
But, if I couldn’t do that, the answer would be a The Office or Parks and Recreation-style look at Minor League Baseball or Independent League Baseball. It just seems an obvious setting, given the crazy promotions, wacky mascots, devoted (and sometimes not-so-devoted) fans, diverse players, and tireless front-office personnel. I say this because, as far as I can tell, Minor League Baseball (and it’s even wackier cousin, the Indy Leagues) seems to be the closest thing to Pawnee, Indiana as any industry in the world.
I mean, just consider the history of some of Minor League Baseball and the Independent Leagues, which include free vasectomy nights, men having footraces with horses, coaches and players being grazed by celebratory gunfire during the Cuban Revolution, a team that had it’s lineups dictated for half of a season by the internet, Ted Williams Popsicle Night (seriously), dogs acting as batboys, teams that have played all of their games on the road due to the lack of a stadium, crazy uniforms, wrestling matches, a 33-inning game, the St. Paul Saints as a franchise, and, of course, the great potato play of 1987. Also: Bill Murray.
I mean, jeez, how has there not been a Minor League sitcom when there is so much material from the real world to pull from?
Call me, Michael Schur. Call me.
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