Citizens at Bat: Baseball's Community All-Stars
1996; Hoover Institution; Issue: 78 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0146-5945
Autores Tópico(s)Sports Analytics and Performance
ResumoPoor battered baseball. It's got more problems than the Detroit Tigers pitching staff. Among Generation X's favorite sports, it ranks somewhere between beach volleyball and Mortal Kombat. Its TV ratings resemble Greg Maddux's earned-run average, and you can count its marketable superstars on one of Ken Griffey Jr.'s fingers. But baseball is tops in one dubious category. There are unquestionably more boors in baseball than in any other sport. As the game battles to repair its tattered image, its legion of louts just battles--their fans, reporters, opposing players, even themselves. They rebuff autograph-hunters. They berate sportswriters (when they aren't hiding from them). They charge the mound whenever a pitcher dares to throw inside. And some even abuse themselves with alcohol and drugs. Fortunately, this isn't the whole story. There are many players who are doing much more than keeping tabloid reporters gainfully employed. They are as committed to their performance off the baseball diamond as on--old-fashioned role models for kids hungry to see even one adult stand by his word. These players are using their resources and influence to help some of the neediest in their communities. Though most promote charitable causes, they are not merely mannequins on display for some local charity. Performance-based contributions--a homer for the heart association, a save for the Salvation Army, a grand slam for Goodwill--are fine as far as they go. But they do little to connect players with real people. The players profiled below have found causes they believe in and turned themselves into vigorous and effective advocates. And they do not do so in the Hollywood style--joining a cause-of-the-month club, strutting into congressional offices or the White House to plead for a new government program or grant. It doesn't seem to have occurred to these men to ask government agencies or politicians to lend a hand. No, these celebrities are founding scholarship programs to give needy children a shot at college. They are small businessmen determined to create jobs where they live. They are mentors walking into inner-city classrooms and playgrounds and turning dust and debris into dreams. They're committed husbands and fathers for whom the word sacrifice means more than a way to advance a base runner. They are, in short, productive citizens. We're not all jerks, says pitcher Jeff Montgomery, of the Kansas City Royals. A lot of us know that we have a responsibility not just to our teammates or to the fans at the games, but to the entire community. Here are nine prominent baseball players--call them all-stars in citizenship--that constitute an impressive lineup of caring athletes: Eisenreich Philadelphia Phillies It was 11 a.m. on a game day. On the upper floors of Montreal's Le Centre Sheraton hotel, Do Not Disturb signs hung outside the rooms of most Philadelphia Phillies. At that moment, Eisenreich was a long way from his sleeping teammates. He was sitting in a home in a distant Montreal suburb. There, a nine-year-old victim of Tourette's Syndrome, his face and body twitching violently, listened as the ballplayer tried to comfort him. I've got a mission with these kids, says Eisenreich, his own Tourette's symptoms harnessed by medication. I try to show them they can dream too. The illness, which now afflicts about a million people a year, is a genetically transmitted neurological disorder that causes vocal tics and muscle twitches. This particular youngster's problems were so pronounced, he had stopped attending school. Not long after Eisenreich's lengthy visit, he returned. Frustration, pain, and depression had infected his entire family, says Sue Levi, medical and scientific director for the Tourette's Syndrome Association. Jim spent 90 minutes with that child and, according to the mother, the discussion literally changed her son's life. …
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