Stay Loyal, Stay Mad
Over the next few months, you’re going to be deluged with ideas of how to bring baseball back. There’s going to be shortened schedule rumors and doubleheader debates and talk of what a 2020 World Series bracket should look like. Theres going to be articles and op-eds and blog posts and so on, each one clicked on and read with a rabid hunger for some hope of a return to normalcy.
By the time that first pitch finally happens, the MLB is going to be counting on said rabid hunger to help them sweep some nasty things under the rug. They’re counting on the fact that you’ll just forget about some of their extremely bad judgement calls with the renewed joy of Finally Having Baseball.
Don’t let them. Don’t let the mistakes of the current MLB leadership get washed away in the tide of returning to play.
And if you need a little help remembering…
In a year when baseball posted a 10.7 billon dollar profit, Rob Manfred threatened to wreck the entire farm system because some minor league teams weren’t making enough money on their own yet they were still providing players for major league teams without much major league help.
Stay mad about it.
The Oakland Athletics filed a report detailing the cheating of the Huston Astros as reported by their own players who were a part of the 2017 Astros team and the MLB did nothing.
Stay mad about it.
The MLB granted blanket immunity to all Astros players for a cheating scheme that the MLB themselves said was player-driven. When there was an outcry against the lack of punishment for the Astros, the commissioner’s office released an asinine post-season schedule in an attempt to derail the criticisms.
Stay mad about it.
Umpire Rob Drake went into an inarticulate Twitter rage about buying an assault rifle for a supposed upcoming “cival” war. Though Drake did apologize in a sincere way and the MLB said they would look into it, no report has been given to the public.
Stay mad about it.
When the first threats of the coronavirus hit baseball, the first and only people MLB removed from the clubhouses were journalists.
Stay mad about it.
The MLB only raised minor league players’ salaries because the public shamed them into it and salaries are still incredibly low.
Stay mad about it.
The MLB is putting off announcing the results of the Red Sox cheating investigations, likely for a time when they can depend on something else exciting to distract fans from it.
Stay mad about it.
A grand jury has been convened in Texas to look into the death of Tyler Skaggs. Two Angels club officials allegedly knew about his drug use and did nothing about it, in direct violation of MLB drug policies.
Stay mad about it.
With a blessing from MLB, the Arizona Diamondbacks are tying to squeeze minority shareholders into either investing more money or forcing a buyout at artificially low prices.
Stay mad about it.
I don’t know what the future holds for baseball. Many have called for for starting up games without fans in the stadium seats even though dugouts are not large enough to accomodate recommended social distancing for an entire team. Players would possibly be isolated from their families during a national crisis for months at a time. Many players have young children or aging family members or both, leaving their partners with little to no help in caring for those dependent on them.
“At least it’s baseball,” they’ll say.
Or is it really baseball at any cost?
Given their history of putting profits over morals time and time again, can we really trust the current Commissioner’s Office to truly act in the players’ best interests? Rob Manfred has systematically replaced almost every top MLB executive in the Office with a loyal foot soldier. If it wasn’t for the Players and Umpire unions, I’d be worried that baseball could be steamrolled into something truly horrific for players and support staff, all in name of profits dressed up to look like the players were doing America some great service.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to be the first in line when Dodger Stadium finally opens up (uh, if I can afford the ticket by then). I miss baseball like it’s a family member. I miss the hard Left Field Pavilion benches and the snapping echo of a bullpen warmup. I miss the sweeping view from the Top Deck. I miss helmet nachos and and seat selfies and walking through Union Station on the way to the Dodger Express. I miss leaping to my feet with the crack of a bat.
I miss baseball. I love baseball. I want it to come back, but I want it to come back better. I want to come back with a sense of justice and fairness that loyal fans deserve.
Don’t let the hype of having baseball back allow you to be distracted from very serious, still ongoing concerns.
Stay mad about it.
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