Fans like to feel that they’re close with their favorite players. We refer to them by using only one name, talk about them endlessly, purchase merchandise with their name on it and we also congratulate and condemn them when we feel it necessary. If someone says something negative we stand up for them as we would for those closest to us.
Somewhere along the way we begin to ignore that these are baseball players we’re talking about. There’s no personal relationship. The only benefit this player or that player adds is how many runs he’s worth on the field. It’s only the baseball player that I care about.
After the 2008 season I argued that the Cubs should sign Milton Bradley. Prior to 2009 he had been a very good ballplayer when he was on the field. I should have paid more attention to the on-field distraction that Bradley was, but his off-field behavior didn’t matter to me.
I wasn’t rooting for Milton Bradley the person to be successful. I was rooting for the baseball player to be successful because it would help my favorite team. By all accounts, Bradley is a piece of shit. While many teammates have stood up for him over the years, he’s also alienated many of them. He’s alienated almost every fan he’s ever played in front of. There’s plenty of evidence that he was also a piece of garbage away from the field.
It’s that last part I don’t care about. This may be insensitive, but I just don’t care how a baseball player acts away from the field. Unless it affects his ability to play I don’t care. Yes, I’m talking about legal issues too. More specifically, the legal issues that Milton Bradley was involved in. I didn’t care and I still don’t.
It’s not that I don’t care about the alleged crime. I most certainly do. It’s that it has no impact on his ability to be a baseball player and that’s the only freaking reason I’m paying the least bit attention to him in the first place. I sympathize with the alleged victim like I do with all victims. I want justice to be served if there’s adequate evidence and I’d favor harsher penalties than most of you would. But this is a separate issue.
I was disappointed with the report the other day about Starlin Castro being accused of sexual assualt. I was not surprised. How can I be any more surprised that he’s been accused of this crime than I would be if Random Joe is accused of it? I know as much about Random Joe as I do of . While I am disappointed, the only god damn thing I care about Starlin Castro for is his ability to play baseball. I have never, not one time, been impressed with an athlete’s ability to follow the law.
I hope for the sake of the alleged victim that no crime was committed, but it won’t surprise me if one was. It also isn’t going to change the way I feel about Starlin Castro because my entire opinion about him is related to his ability to play baseball. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t have an opinion about the jewelry he wears. I don’t have an opinion about his hair. I do have an opinion about his fielding, baserunning, and hitting. I don’t have an opinion about what cars he drives or how he dresses. I do care about how good at baseball he can be in the future.
If a crime was committed I’m sure there will be cries that we should hate the guy and I won’t disagree with those, but doesn’t it go without saying that if someone committed the type of crime he’s being accused of that he isn’t likable? But what does it say about his ability to hit a baseball? Or field one?
I know this may sound cold and it is, but I don’t know these people and the only reason I pay attention to them is because of the game they play. If evidence exists to convict him he should be sent to prison like any other person who committed a crime like this. I would root like hell for Castro to be sent to prison for a very long time, but as long as he’s wearing a Cubs uniform I’m going to root like hell for him to be productive and help my favorite team win. I don’t have to like the players that are on the Cubs. I’m quite sure I’d like very few of them.
Starlin Castro, like all other athletes, are defined by the sport they play and not by the type of person they are. We root for the players not based on the quality of person they are, but the quality of athlete they are. Would I want Castro over to my house for dinner? No, but I’d have answered the same way a week ago. I’m not in the habit of inviting strangers to dinner. I am in the habit of rooting for athletes to accomplish something even though I have no idea how good a person they may be.
We’ve heard more often than ever from Cubs executives this offseason how baseball is a business. The new front office has talked about players as assets, which they are. If Theo and Hoyer decide that Castro is still an asset then I’m going to be happy to root for Starlin Castro. The baseball player.
Comments
RC, they have to decide today. They can’t add another player to the 40-man roster without removing one first.
mb21Quote Reply
I think 424 has a post coming up on Maholm.
mb21Quote Reply
Well, for one, if some hypothetical ballplayer was convicted of rape, it says quite a lot about his ability to hit a baseball in that he shouldn’t be allowed to hit baseballs for a living anymore.
GBTSQuote Reply
Nice post MB.. Agree with most of it
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Serious baseball talk here, but if the Cubs don’t resign Wood, then who’s the 8th inning guy…..Carpenter? F7? Tebow?
MuckerQuote Reply
http://twitter.com/#!/JulieDiCaro/status/156421764472250369
ACTQuote Reply
I think this part is important to determine whether they hold on to Castro despite all the legal ruckus going on, should he avoid a prison sentence.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]I think 424 has a post coming up on Maholm.[/quote]
Correct.
http://obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/articles/cubs-close-on-paul-maholm-not-so-much-on-kerry-wood.html
Aisle424Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]RC, they have to decide today. They can’t add another player to the 40-man roster without removing one first.[/quote]Thanks for the clarification, I didn’t think the roster limit mattered until the games actually counted.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]Well, for one, if some hypothetical ballplayer was convicted of rape, it says quite a lot about his ability to hit a baseball in that he shouldn’t be allowed to hit baseballs for a living anymore.[/quote]I agree. If a player commits this kind of crime I hope he’s sent to prison for a very long time. As long as he can play though, I’ll root for the baseball player. I did it with Milton Bradley and any number of other people who were more than likely pieces of shit. It would be naive to say I won’t do it again. I’m not rooting for the person.
mb21Quote Reply
Which thread will be active now? This or Maholom?
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Bubbles, I just want to let you know that your fellating of Tebow in the last thread makes me want to punch babies.
mambochickenQuote Reply
[quote name=mambochicken]Bubbles, I just want to let you know that your fellating of Tebow in the last thread makes me want to punch babies.[/quote]I cant help it anymore. I just cant. I was so greatful that one of my teams would finally beat him and then he scored 10 points in 2:06… I was converted
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
[quote name=bubblesdachimp]I cant help it anymore. I just cant. I was so greatful that one of my teams would finally beat him and then he scored 10 points in 2:06… I was converted[/quote](dying laughing)
Bubbles, there is literally no way that game’s result can be pinned on anything except Marion Barber not falling down properly. It is an objective fact.
GBTSQuote Reply
Dude, he was converted. I don’t think objectivity applies in matters of faith.
But I second bubbles’ query on which will be the active thread
Suburban kidQuote Reply
[quote name=Suburban kid]Dude, he was converted. I don’t think objectivity applies in matters of faith.
But I second bubbles’ query on which will be the active thread[/quote]I posed the question on twitter.
MishQuote Reply
[quote name=Suburban kid]Dude, he was converted. I don’t think objectivity applies in matters of faith.
But I second bubbles’ query on which will be the active thread[/quote]the Maholm one.
mb21Quote Reply
What the fuck are you people doing over here?
Active thread that way ———> http://obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/articles/cubs-close-on-paul-maholm-not-so-much-on-kerry-wood.html
Aisle424Quote Reply