And if a player is drafted by Cleveland out of high school, he doesn’t have much of a say in the matter. But a free agent has tremendous influence. By signing with a team — the way Nick Swisher signed with Cleveland — he is in essence endorsing that franchise. If enough players refused to join the Indians, or simply expressed their reluctance, even prideful Cleveland fans would likely embrace the necessary change.
Native American activists continue to protest against Chief Wahoo, an unfortunate blind spot for Bud Selig. The commissioner has been at the forefront of Civil Rights issues regarding African-American pioneers like Jackie Robinson, yet he somehow doesn’t comprehend that this caricature is a disgrace that will forever tarnish his legacy. As one high-ranking Yankee official said, way back during the 2007 playoff series in Cleveland, “I can’t believe they still have that thing.” Six years later, Chief Wahoo is still around.
In the past, whenever I’ve asked players their opinions on Chief Wahoo, they’ve mostly shrugged. That includes CC Sabathia, who pitched for Cleveland, and Joba Chamberlain, whose Winnebago tribe ancestry should make him more sensitive to the issue.
As for Swisher, he was always an affable, talkative sort in the Yankee clubhouse — until the one time I asked him a meaningful question: Would he be willing to speak about his use of chewing tobacco, in order to dissuade kids who are considering that destructive habit? Swisher wanted nothing to do with the topic.
It’s never easy to step out of the box, out of one’s comfort zone. But sometimes it’s worth the trouble. No player can feel very good about donning that Indians’ cap, if he just thinks about it for a minute. If one or two free agents finally say something, maybe it goes away.
Repoz
Posted: March 03, 2013 at 12:55 AM |
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1. Joe Bivens, Minor Genius Posted: March 03, 2013 at 08:11 AM (#4379651)Isn't it kind of a high bar to expect people to feel the same way you do, particularly if they're supposedly closer to the issue than you are?
Obligatory.
The Yankees. But the league has instituted a punitive fiscal model designed to limit the amount of money Swisher could receive from the team.
Still, Swisher got a decent contract for himself. It isn't as much as Bud Selig gets paid in a year for devising new schemes to deprive players of market value for their efforts, but Swisher is just another jock.
The NYY's wanna get under the cap. Their fans need to understand that the Steinbrenner family needs those $'s more than they need an interesting 2013 Yankee season.
Or...in another vein, the NYY's could just pay-up. So what if its unfair to the Yankees that they have to subsidize Loria? Buck up Little Stein! Yankee Universe wants another Divisional Title! What's 10 or 20 or even $50 million to the Gargantuan Enterprise that is the NYY's? Big Stein wouldn't have blinked an eye.
Or STFU. Nobody's buying the poverty act.
To be fair (and balanced!), if it wasn't for another of the league's other competitive balance measures, draft pick compensation, he might have been priced out of the Yankee's theoretical un-fettered payroll as well.
I'm guessing I'm a bigger man than you in almost every application of the phrase, but whatever pumps up your internet muscles is ok with me. I'm still hoping we can have a nice telephone conversation about boxing history which will undoubtedly end with your sincere apology for your specious and intentionally insulting claims of my plagiarism.
Do you think I'm unfair in my educated commentary on the Roman Catholic Church?
They should pay the f-ck up, or shut the f-ck up. Or they could sell the team.
I always tend to call hate-spewing bigots small "men". Because, when you get right down to it, that's all they are: small.
tfbg9's history with YR is roughly equivalent to Wil-E-Coyote's history with the Roadrunner, or to Bambi's relationship with Godzilla. It's been a pretty one sided affair.
YR is a bigot. Period.
Haven't noticed that myself, and I do pay enough attention that I noted anti-Catholic & anti-Mormon comments by Sam Hutcheson that, IMHO, were over the line. Perhaps I missed something from YR, perhaps not, but it would be far more effective to respond to any such posts when they are made, rather than make ad hominem attacks in other threads that don't raise any such issues. Given that tfbg9 has offered no support (that I have seen) for his allegations that YR plagiarized his boxing-related posts (which should be easily demonstrated, if true), I'm not sure why his other unsupported allegations would be any more credible.
So, you are saying you are fat?
Weight
Age
Penis Length
Penis Girth
Success
Fame
Generosity
Ability
Pretension
Flavor
Global significance
Responsibleness
The numbers used to compute "Primate Above Replacement" (PAR)?
this.
Also, this article should shut the #### up, particularly the "I asked Joba Chamberlain why he isn't as upset as me, but he totally should be MORE upset than me!" bit.
The great base ball chick still likes the Astros.
lock your doors.
say your prayers.
settle your affairs.
and most of all, be prepared to meet your maker.
you have let slip the dogs of war.
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