Wednesday, September 14, 2011

This one's for you, Bud

Below is the entirety (absent my address) of my letter to Bud Selig regarding the decision not allow the Mets to wear first responder caps on September 11th.

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
Dear Mr. Selig,
I consider myself to be a tremendous fan of baseball.  I love the history, the records, the intelligence of the game.  It is my favorite sport.  But, I was sorely disappointed to learn of the decision made to prohibit the New York Mets from wearing caps honoring the Fire Department of New York, the New York Police Department and the Port Authority Police Department during the game on Sunday, September 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the worst terror attacks on American soil.  I was further disappointed to learn of your own reaction to your decision being publicly disseminated.
The Mets intended to continue wearing these caps after the pre-game ceremony, but Major League Baseball adamantly prohibited this and according to a Mets player, physically confiscated the caps.  This decision is unbelievably hard-hearted and oblivious and it speaks to tone-deaf corporatism.  Joe Torre, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, released a statement that essentially attributed the decision to a desire to maintain consistency amongst teams and minimize the need to choose sides.
I lost no family or friend in the 9/11 attacks, nor do I even know someone who lost someone.  But I do know I am an American and every American lost something that day.  A decision based on the idea that allowing the Mets to wear these caps would be “choosing sides” is offensive.  And frankly, MLB’s desire for consistency is hypocritical.  On April 13, 2009, the Pittsburgh Pirates replaced the normal team caps with those displaying “Pittsburgh Police” to honor 3 police officers killed in the line of duty shortly prior to the game.  And that was the home opener!  They wore them the entire game.  The Mets wore first responder caps when baseball resumed approximately one week after the 9/11 attacks. 
Then, today, I learned that you called the Mets and personally rebuked the Mets for “leaking” the decision.  Mr. Selig, I have to say, that is utterly preposterous.  Frankly, you are in charge of running a very public sports league.  Every decision you make is subject to public scrutiny.  To not have wanted this decision to be released means you wanted no one to know it was made.  If you take anything away from this, it should be that if you make a decision and don’t want anyone to know of it, it’s most certainly the wrong decision.
And that’s the final point here.  You may claim Mr. Torre made the decision.  You may claim it was made by several people after careful consideration.  But, you are the Commissioner.  Every decision made in MLB is ultimately your own.  You could have easily overturned this decision.  You did not.  I hold you and only you responsible for this crass and impossibly silly decision.  I’ve lost a great deal of respect I’ve always held for you in the past.  You can regain this respect by apologizing.  No “We’re sorry for any offense some may have had” apology.  A real “I was completely and utterly wrong. Period.” apology.
A decision to wear the caps would have cost MLB nothing in terms of money or brand equity.  It absolutely would set no precedent.  (Who would ask for permission to wear “Save the Whales” caps based on a precedent of “You did it on 9/11!”?  No one).  I urge you to consider the effect your decisions have on people more carefully and recognize that MLB lost a great opportunity to cement its place--one in which people saw baseball as such an important part of recovery after 9/11.
I welcome any contact you may want to make to discuss my concerns or your position.  I can be reached by phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx by email at corey.a.heim@hotmail.com or on Twitter at @brewfangrb.
Sincerely yours,
Corey Heim

Monday, September 12, 2011

What was MLB thinking? Were they?

Tonight's game at Citi Field between the Mets and Cubs featured a very well done pre-game ceremony honoring the members of the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and NYC's EMS.  It also included many of Tuesday's Children (children of victims of 9/11), who entered the field with Mets players.

During the pre-game ceremony, the players and coaches wore FDNY, NYPD and PAPD caps...and planned to wear them during the game.  MLB entered the picture and forbade them from doing so, under threat of a "very heavy fine" to the team.  Now, clearly MLB threatened the team with a fine, because if they threatened to or actually did fine a player for wearing the highly offensive cap, the MLBPA would have wiped the floor with MLB.

Then, we received word of the utterly preposterous statement from Joe Torre, in which he claimed he made the decision to not allow the caps, under the pretense of not wanting to "pick sides" (uhh, there's a big competition between NYPD and LAPD at a Mets home game? What did I miss here?) and a desire for things to be "consistent".  Uhh, what about in the first game after play resumed after 9/11, in which this EXACT thing happened?  As Keith Olbermann indicated in a tweet, the Mets had to fight for that, but MLB ultimately allowed it.

I still fully intend to write a letter to MLB condemning such a foolish stance and if I do, I'll share it here.  I'm not so enraged over this decision over mere jingoism or "you do this, the terrorists win" silliness.  I am anti-stupidity.  There was no reason, at all, for this decision.  It was an utterly stupid decision to make in the first place and a stupid situation where none of the adults at MLB reversed it.

If Joe Torre really did make this decision all on his own, he should be removed from his position and put out to pasture.  If you really can't take a situation like "Oh, 10th anniversary of 9/11, you want to wear caps honoring the firefighters and police?" and come up with anything other than "OK", then you can't be trusted to make truly important decisions like expanding replay and evaluating other truly meaningful on-field issues.  If this was a group decision and Torre was the patsy, I'm not sure that's better--so more than 1 person all agreed this was right?

What a pitiful way to draw attention from a day/night where there should have only been ONE THING in focus.  I'll always remember the sacrifices made 10 years ago...and trust me, Joe Torre and Bud Selig, I'll never forget the decision you made today.  No check that--you're not worth the use of that heartfelt phrase--to never forget.  Instead, I think I'd rather just forget men like you are in charge of the game I love.