“Will Rogers Knows Best”

Maybe if we’re fortunate, a small amount of wisdom will seep into our brains as we grow in age. Will Rogers, the great American humorist/commentator of the mid-20th Century said words to the effect, “if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.” Words are powerful and as a person grows, accordingly should the respect and appreciation for when to speak and when to refrain from opening our mouths.

If our public discourse is touted as a “marketplace of ideas”, then the best suggestion that could be offered is that these days, we’re all on The Low Road, picking through the bargain basement for day-old bread and dented cans of pork n’ beans.

As this relates to baseball, if we choose to follow the Great American Pastime on a daily basis as is done with a near-religious fervor in New England, our primary concerns lie with the on-field performances of the players and the teams. In recent days however, more attention is being paid to what certain athletes say off the field.

Six weeks into the season, our Beloved Nine has played some very good baseball. There will be ups and downs (hopefully not to the degree as last year). However, the story of this year’s group has primarily focused on their on-field exploits. For the fans, whatever transpires behind the scenes is only relevant to the extent that any issues affect the team’s performance. The media’s primary journalistic mission is to report on what transpired. Columnists are paid to opine. That’s all well and good. However, the traditional “wall of separation” between player and reporter is necessary to protect each other’s integrity. Problems arise when boundaries are not respected and crossed.

Do we really need to know what transpires in the “sanctified clubhouse”? Anyone who has participated in organized sports can tell you that nothing of great significance transpires in locker rooms. You enter, change into uniform, go to the practice or the game, return a few hours later, shower and leave. That’s all that it is. On a higher level of play, perhaps more time is spent in the company of others whom you may like or disdain, but can anyone who has participated in any sort of collective endeavor state that they were friends with everyone in the group?

Fame has its own unique blessings and responsibilities, the like of which the anonymous cannot relate. It does not operate to inhibit a celebrity’s personal opinion, for such is absolutely protected under the First Amendment. However, when men and women upon whom blessings of fame and fortune have been conferred voice their inchoate opinions, the world takes notice. Simply because someone has the gift of throwing a baseball 95 mph and is paid an obscene amount of money for the free exercise of that gift does not per se afford that person absolute credibility to offer opinions on people or issues about which they know little if anything, most especially when the celebrity professes to be a “Christian”.

Curt Schiling (“G38”) is a wonderful pitcher, and his bona fides in Boston is secure. He’ll get a lifetime of mileage out of 2004 and the “bloody sock”. He and his family have used his stature to establish philanthropic endeavors that have heightened public awareness on finding cures to horrific diseases. In that respect, he’s admirably used his gift and celebrity. On the flipside, G38 has yet to meet a microphone he didn’t like. Over the many years of his illustrious baseball career, he’s simply never learned when to shut his mouth. Sometimes the absence of hot air is good.

That being said, when’s the last time that “good news” sold more newspapers or increased ratings? The primary function of mass media is no different than any corporate strategic endgame: profit maximization. To that end, they employ people whose sole purpose is to provoke and agitate the populace about certain issues of the day so you will read, watch, listen, and buy their product directly or indirectly through corporations who sponsor their programming or print. As far as the public discourse on baseball is concerned, the friction between writers and players has been grinding sparks well before Ted railed against “Colonel” Egan and the “Knights of the Keyboard”. Athletes often claim that their quotes are “twisted” or “taken out of context” (or in Clemens’ case, that he was “misinterpretated”). G38, on the other hand, has chosen to use the pitching mound as a personal pulpit and engage the media (primarily the despicable CHB) in what can only be described pejoratively as a “pissing contest”. Look, G38's blog reference to CHB as “she” is juvenile, even though “his” act wore out many moons ago, and the congregation to whom CHB preaches dwindles daily. When a writer has established a reputation as a “slash n’ burn artist”, the last place any sane-minded person would choose to be is in the gutter fighting by the media's dirty rules.

G38, with all due respect, we don’t need you to "call out" or remind us that CHB is an asshole, OK? We’ve been around here longer than you, and are fully aware that he adds nothing to the conversation. He’s simply playing the role that Egan played in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s and that Dick Young made a career of in New York. Professional bombtossers and verbal abusers, insufferable bores are all they ever were.

As we’ve witnessed in New England, being a successful pro athlete brings not only fame and fortune, but an incredible amount of public goodwill and forbearance. The scandalous behavior that has been covered up and/or overlooked over the years is staggering. One of the few ways to rapidly exhaust that almost bottomless pit of goodwill is by saying stupid things. In G38’s case he offered some irresponsible comments about another player upon whom the verdict in the Court of Public Opinion had rendered years ago. By adding his two cents were none were needed, he gave Bonds’ apologists (together with their reprehensible defenses) an unnecessary boost. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, someone must’ve chatted with G38, because his blog entry today was chock full o’ apologies. At least he was responsible enough to offer a heartfelt apology rather than hiding behind publicists and lawyers.

As far as Barry Bonds* is concerned, outside of San Francisco, nobody cares. So, Curt, next time you’re tempted to shoot off yer trap, please remember Will Rogers’ words of wisdom.