Politics, and what players talk about

I just finished reading your article on the topic of Major League Baseball players and their political indifference, and I felt the need to respond. Your article portrays, unfairly and inaccurately, the majority of baseball players as being immature and intellectually stunted. While I hesitate to call this article offensive, because the word is overused, I will say that the lack of research on your part leads the reader to the common generalization that athletes are stupid.

In thinking of a response to this article I was unable to find a good jumping off point, so I think it might be easier to just go through the article itself and point out where I think you're off base.

The Texas Rangers' clubhouse is, unlike 99.9 percent of American institutions, extremely diverse. Where else can you find a 30-something Nicaraguan splitting a bag of sunflower seeds with a 25-year-old Hawaiian? Where else can you find people of pink and brown and yellow and tan skin gathered in a circle guffawing about YouTube videos? Where else can you find someone like Josh Hamilton, a white recovering drug addict from North Carolina, spending much of his day alongside Milton Bradley, a loquacious African-American man from California?

This is true.

Here, within the confines of these four walls, the general manager is a young New Yorker (30-year-old Jon Daniels), the manager is a middle-aged African-American (56-year-old Ron Washington) and the rising star is a young, heavily tattooed Floridian (22-year-old Jarrod Saltalamacchia).

Re-hashing the first paragraph, but OK.

Yet while ballplayers are bound both by their disparate backgrounds and an uncompromised love of the game, they are also united by one not-so-great characteristic: political indifference.

  United: agreed, in harmony. Wrong word choice here. To my knowledge we have never had a large meeting as baseball players citing the need for 'unity' in our 'political indifference'. Some baseball players are politically indifferent. Some baseball players are politically active yet do not discuss it in a baseball setting. Some baseball players, who you will later allude to, are politically active and vocal in their opinions.

So saying that we are 'united' isn't correct.

  Yes, in this remarkable year of presidential politics -- when John McCain has risen from the dead, and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are engaged in a historic struggle for delegates; when dynamic figures like Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul and John Edwards fell short but fought passionately --

Sorta true. I'll let pass the thought while all the candidates have strengths, they all have critical flaws that have can make them unappealing. In my research (asking friends and family), I have found that none of these candidates are particularly exciting, possibly leading to some of the indifference.

baseball players kick back and, ahem, read their Maxims.

Now you're venturing off course. Every morning I see a number of players doing a crossword puzzle. I see a few card games, and I always see a high number of guys reading the newspaper (and not just the sports section). Based on what I see everyday, I would hesitate to make a general assumption as to the intelligence level and political consciousness of those in the room. I wish that you had done the same.

On a side note, I'd guess that the demographic at which Maxim aims its' publication is males ages 18-35. I'll let you do the math on the ages of most major league baseball players. It's not a crime to read the magazine, so the indignation in which you use to pose the idea that we're reading Maxim as opposed to the New Yorker is unnecessary.

  "It's frustrating," says C.J. Wilson, the 27-year-old Texas relief pitcher. "I'd say there are two reasons. One, there's a general lack of education among us. But two -- and most important -- you're talking about a population that makes a ton of money, so the ups and downs of the economy don't impact whether we're getting paid. Therefore, we often don't care."

The money issue here is a valid point but it's not the only reason.

  In saying "we," Wilson is speaking about nearly every Ranger -- except himself. A free-thinking Californian with an appreciation for Obama, a dislike of Bush, a hatred of the Clintons, a detestation of SUVs, and a longing for a grass-roots political movement that would truly represent the needs of the people, Wilson stares blankly when asked who among his teammates he can talk with about Decision '08.

  "No one," he says. "I keep it to myself."

  While a few Rangers profess moderate interest ("Obama's inspired me," says outfielder Jason Ellison. "I have a 2-year-old daughter and I want her to grow up in a healthy country"), most merely shrug their shoulders or offer a half-hearted "I'm just focused on playing ball and helping the team win," when asked about the upcoming election. Some call themselves conservatives, others call themselves moderates, but few seem to actually know what the two terms mean. "It's not that complex," Wilson says. "Baseball players think about baseball."

  I really wonder how many people you interviewed, and what the circumstances were surrounding your questioning. I know that if you asked me when I was heading to or returning from a workout, which is 90% of the time for most players in the clubhouse, I wouldn't be in a hurry to talk politics. I can only imagine it was the same for most of your interviewees.

  Not that this is simply a Rangers phenomenon. Throughout spring training clubhouses in Arizona and Florida, politics fail to generate interest. Finding someone who has participated in a state primary or caucus is slightly harder than finding a cinematic role for Meeno Peluce. The majority of players are almost certainly not even registered to vote. On the morning following last Tuesday's highly publicized Wisconsin Democratic primary, nary a Ranger nor Kansas City Royal could be heard talking about the results. Heck, no one even seemed to know the event took place.

Meeno Peluce?? I'm guessing you googled 'obscure actors' and found this random name to insert into your article.

  Anyways, a group of 20-30 yr olds not being completely current on the Wisconsin Democratic Primary is hardly an indictment on our group's knowledge as a whole.

I'm also bothered by the fact that you've failed to mention that we're going through the primaries and caucuses and not the general election. I'd be willing to bet that come late summer and early fall when the race really heats up, that there will be political conversation to be found in MLB clubhouses.

 Indeed, a top 10 list of spring training topics discussed by ballplayers would look something like this:

1. Baseball
   
2. Free sunglasses
   
3. Breasts
   

6. Dinner options
   
7. The Kyle Kendrick YouTube video
   
8. Britney Spears
   
9. Strip clubs
   
10. More Jesus/golf (tie)

1. The selection of Raul Castro to replace his brother in Cuba.
   
2. The destruction of the dead satellite by the US, and it's global ramifications.
   
3. The impending recession
   
4. The impact of Ralph Nader's run for office and its' effect on the democratic race
   
5. The entire works of Dostoyevsky
   
6. Sports
   
7. Meeno Peluce and his inability to get consistent work
   
8. Barry Bonds
   
9. The democratic primaries
   

Of course this is just a shot in the dark. Either way, I'm sure it's very similar to this.

"Baseball players are inherently selfish," says Brian Johnson, the former major league catcher. "Everything is about 'me.' People want my autograph, people want to see me, people want to watch my games on TV. Everyone works around my schedule, even my wife and kids. So it's hard to have a global or national perspective when everything is about you."

This is probably dead on. Of course a baseball player's career lasts in the neighborhood of ten to fifteen years. It's an incredibly demanding profession in which there's very little room for error, so being selfish is somewhat of a prerequisite. I'll bet if you conducted interviews with ex-baseball players who are now in their 40's and 50's you'd find a group with much more refined political ideologies.

What many ballplayers fail to understand is that, in terms of policy, they will be as impacted by this fall's election as anyone. While McCain plans on upholding the tax cuts enacted under George W. Bush, both Obama and Clinton want tax breaks to expire for Americans making more than $200,000 per year. (Read: baseball players.) Though McCain has said little about automobile emissions, Obama and Clinton have demanded drastic improvements in fuel efficiency standards. (The unofficial baseball player vehicle of choice? The mighty Hummer.)

These issues do impact us. We are not however, a group that politicians are trying to get votes from. With there being 900 MLB players, and with only 50% at best actually voting, 450 votes isn't swinging the race in any direction.

Also, I count one Hummer in our parking lot. 60 players in Major league camp. One Hummer. Looks like you ventured back into an over generalization again.

 The list goes on and on.

If there is hope for a change of thinking in athletes, it comes in the form of those retirees primed for political runs. Former Mets ace Al Leiter often discussed delving into the political arena, and Johnson hasn't ruled out a governmental future in his home state of Michigan. Certainly men like Wilson and Curt Schilling are candidates to one day wind up in Washington. And there's always Charles Barkley, a fiscally conservative, socially liberal native Alabaman who recently told CNN that he would vie for the governorship of his home state in 2014.

  Your first line really makes no sense. Retired athletes are much different than athletes who are still playing. Jim Bunning didn't change the political awareness for future generations of baseball players, so why would anyone else be different? I mentioned it earlier that retired players would give you much different answers than you got in our clubhouse. This brings me to my main point and my reason for thinking this is a terrible article. Why don't athletes care? According to you it's because we're a bunch of trash mag reading, strip clubbing, selfish pampered rich kids with no sense of the outside world.

If I wrote an article on this subject I'd go on the theory that maybe baseball players don't care because most of us are in our twenties and early thirties. I'd be interested to see how many people our age in other walks of life are discussing the Wisconsin Democratic Primaries.  

Lastly, why do you care if we care? How does that affect any one of your readers? Do you want baseball cards that read: Mike Smith bats/throws R/L 6'4 200 lbs. Political views; Fiscal conservative, social liberal? For the life of me I can't figure out your reasoning behind writing this article.

Until then, please pass the Maxim. I hear Avril Lavigne's on the cover.

Again, Yuck.

Brandon McCarthy
Texas Rangers