Baseball and Politics

It’s the end of May 2023 and my son’s junior varsity baseball team is nearing the end of its season. I’ve enjoyed watching him play in his freshman season. He’s developing into a decent first baseman, though pitching remains his strongpoint. He’s a lefty, which makes him even more valuable to the team. He also happens to be a good kid, which should make a bigger difference.

But politics of sports teams in high school are similar to the politics of nations and workplaces. You have to know the right people if you want the best treatment. And if you happen to value civility and kindness over winning-at-all-costs, you must be prepared for uncivility of the nastiest types.

So it was a few nights ago and a high school baseball game when the temperature was in the 40s and everyone shivered under blankets and in winter coats. The boys on the diamond played with the intensity of the Chicago Cubs trying to win their first World Series in over 100 years, and when one young man missed a pop-up because an opposing fan yelled at the crucial moment to distract him, and said young man yelled out “Fuck!” in frustration, he knew that the umpire had every right to eject him from the game. He immediately apologized to the man, who allowed him his mistake. Said OPPOSING FAN then started yelling at the umpire to throw the kid off the field.

The harassment of that player continued for several innings. When he uttered a much quieter epithet later in the game that the fan heard but not the ump, the fan ran to the fence and harangued the umpire again. Then he turned to the people next to him and said, “You better believe I’m calling his school tomorrow to tell them what I think.”

I did him one better. I took his photo and emailed it to the principal of his kid’s school with an explanation of the situation. Now. I’m a political conservative and voted for Trump twice. At the moment, I’m pulling for DeSantis or Tim Scott, but I’ll vote for the Republican nominee in 2024, but one of the two men harassing that poor kid all game was a proud Trump 2024 fan. Lest any pro-Dem or anti-Trump fans get all proud of yourselves, I can assure you that plenty of fans like you were on that kid’s case, too.

Politics have led this country down a path of tremendous incivility. Enough so that grown men in the stands at a kids’ baseball game get bent out of shape for a kid using a word that they use, too. How about letting baseball be baseball? Let the kids play, and get your self-righteous, high-and-mighty attitudes out of the way?