0002020085
DETROIT FREE PRESS
000202
Wednesday, February 02, 2000
METRO FINAL
1C
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 2000, Detroit Free Press
BASEBALL CROSSES LINE BY POLICING STUPIDITY
LET'S SEE. You can't hit the umpires, you can't bet on your own games, and you
definitely can't play after snorting cocaine. But since when was it against
the rules of baseball to be a bigot?
Apparently, as of Monday afternoon -- when newly empowered commissioner Bud
Selig suspended John Rocker 2 1/2 months and fined him $20,000 for making
dumb, prejudiced remarks during a magazine interview.
This was historic. Never before had a player been suspended for his mouth when
it didn't involve smoke or spit.
Meanwhile, as Selig was booting Rocker for saying things, the Atlanta Braves
were ordering their players not to talk about the situation.
Congratulations, baseball. In one day, you managed to punch free speech and
freedom of the press right in the kisser.
Which only shows you how ridiculous this whole Rocker thing has become. Anyone
who thinks his comments about gays, Asian drivers and New Yorkers were
appropriate is sick.
Anyone who thinks they are unique is nuts.
And anyone who thinks Selig hasn't opened a massive can of worms here is sadly
mistaken. Because he has. Baseball can't be the sheriff of Stupidville. It has
never been a podium for wisdom and tolerance. And it sure isn't now. Baseball
has enough trouble knowing when to suspend players for drugs, drinking and
fighting. Now it thinks it can regulate words?
Big mistake. Selig has raised the bar to dangerous heights. From this moment
on, any baseball player who says anything bigoted, insulting or demeaning --
whether on the field or off, during the season or not -- can be suspended for
months.
Selig's gonna be awful busy planting microphones in all those flower pots.
Who cares about individual rights?
Now, let me say that Selig, an earnest man, has his heart in the right place.
He wants people to admire his sport. He says, "Major League Baseball takes
seriously its role as an American institution."
But there are other American institutions, including freedom of speech. And
while many of Selig's critics are misinterpreting the Constitution (it only
bars the government from limiting free speech, not private enterprises like
baseball), the commissioner, in trying to make his sport look responsible, is
making it look hypocritical.
First, there's the hypocrisy of its past. Roberto Alomar spit in the face of
an umpire and was only suspended for five games -- while first being allowed
to complete the playoffs. Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Otis Nixon and
many other drug-policy violators were only suspended 60 days -- nearly a month
less than Rocker. Is stupidity worse than playing high?
Marge Schott, the former Cincinnati majority owner, is the only other person
ever punished by baseball for prejudiced remarks. But her case is much
different. 1) She repeatedly showed bigoted behavior, in interviews, in
interactions and in refusing to hire a single African American in 30
opportunities. 2) She referred to her black players with the n-word, Jews as
"money grubbing" and said Hitler "was good at first, but went too far." 3) She
was an owner.
That's important. An owner is in charge of hiring. An owner sets the rules for
others.
Rocker is a pitcher. He is 25. If you set the bar of suspension with his
comments in Sports Illustrated -- which, if you read them, do not contain a
single racial slur and sound more like something from an Archie Bunker script
-- you have to measure every player against that bar.
And that is where the hypocrisy of the future comes in.
The shape of things to come?
What if a player uses the n-word in an interview? Is he punished less or more
than Rocker? What if he uses the n-word, but says it to a small weekly
newspaper instead of Sports Illustrated? Do we suddenly take into account the
circulation of the publication?
What if he makes prejudiced comments at a private party, but someone tapes
them and they get on the news? How many games then, Bud?
You see the folly of regulating stupidity. There's too much of it. Any sports
writer worth his salt already has heard far worse comments than Rocker's made
by players in locker rooms, hotel lobbies or airports. Does the fact that they
weren't quoted make those players any less bigoted?
Of course not. Rocker's "sin," it seems, was the where, not the what. He
spilled his guts to the wrong reporter. The Braves' knee-jerk reaction --
silencing their players to the media -- shows the biggest concern with many
sports teams is still less what is said than who hears it.
This is wrong. Stupidity and bigotry must be their own punishment. This is why
we allow Nazis to march in this country, however abhorrent. Because, by
exposing their bigotry, we use free speech to educate.
There is no education going on here. This is baseball plugging Rocker on a
stake and saying, "Him bad. Us good."
Rocker will pay a huge price. Millions lost in endorsements. Booed wherever he
goes. And, by the way, he did apologize. Several times. If his team owner, Ted
Turner, wanted to punish him, I wouldn't object. Then again, Turner himself
has insulted Catholics and the pope. All he got from Selig was a letter.
That's all Rocker should have gotten. I share the anger at his remarks, but a
second mistake would not make things better. I've said this before, I'll say
it again. This is not Congress, this is not church, this is not a classroom.
This is baseball. If Bud Selig wants to catch sinners like butterflies, he
needs a bigger net.
MITCH ALBOM can be reached at 313-223-4581 or albom@freepress.com. Catch
"Albom in the Afternoon" 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
COLUMN;BASEBALL;JOHN ROCKER