Promises of Inclusion

In Underworld, the fan plays an important part.  There is Nick Shay, who’s narration pulls us back and forth between future and present.  There is one location about his discussion of the thirty-four thousand dollar ball that is comparable to the situation the Dodgers currently find themselves in.  The Dodgers are not trying to sell off old memorabilia, but instead the team.  The team looks to go the way Chapter 11, but there seemed to be a savior, by the name of Josh Macciello.  Macciello, seemingly just an avid fan of the Dodgers had the sports world buzzing by proposing to put forward the billions needed to bring the Dodgers back from death.  This turned out to be a hoax, Macciello never attained the assets needed to help the Dodgers, but this leads to an even more important question of Money and the Fan. 

Being a fan I would say that we should spend all this money on all star players, when that is just completely unfeasible, but all I can do is purchase memorabilia to satisfy my fandom.  In Underworld, the Thirty-Four thousand dollar ball represents every fans dream, to own a part of your teams history.  Having this history gives a nostalgic connection to the teams we so feel so apart of.  But according to BBTF, the media ate Macciello’s story up, there is a fan, supposedly with the means, to help be a true part of the history of his team.  The problem was that all of these outlets, including ESPN took this at face value, and only Gene Maddaus from LA Weekly dug any further.  The question of money, media and fans all add to the mysticism that the game creates.  The nostalgic aspect of the ball, or the team is a step to try and feel involved in an organization that you were previously on the outskirts of.  The fan’s search for memorabilia, and team inclusion, is continuing the myth that we have been talking about all semester.  I think that these myths rely on minor fan inclusion, obviously, it is not wise to have fans run the organization, but by providing a partially opaque barrier into the history and inner-workings of the organization fans continue to believe that they are part of something more than the list of season ticket owners.

            In conjuncture to the need to feel inclusion, the media facilitates what truly includes a fan into the history of the organization.  In Underworld, we have Russ Hodges exciting account of the game, leading to a large price for the ball which made the excitement.  Then there are the baseball cards, why would a piece of paper be so expensive, because we say they are, because that player did something to get noticed by the media, and therefore become noticed by the fans.  Fan inclusion relies on the media painting these pictures of players and organizations that would make the item, whether it is a ball or a card, become valuable beyond the fifty cent ball or the ten cent card.

BBTF

Steroids: Not the only substance in question in the MLB

Steroids will always and forever have their place in MLB, whether legal or not, they are tempting substances that supposedly vastly enhance ones performance. 

            Recently though a different substance has started to move itself into the controversial area of baseball substance abuse, and it is not injected, but consumed.  Earlier this year Bobby Valentine made a decision to change the locker room of the Boston Red Sox, players are not the only thing being extradited from the team, alcohol is now something else that will leave the locker room of the Boston Red Sox.  There is really not much downside to the absence of alcohol from the locker rooms, one could argue that the camaraderie of the pitchers will diminishes, but in reality the absence of alcohol will potentially lead to a more focused, less controversial locker room altogether.

            This of course is last week’s news, Valentine’s decision has already been discussed to the death, but recently alcohol has again made the headlines, this time coming from Chicago.  This time it is the new president of the Cubs Theo Epstein.  Not to be outdone by Valentine, Epstein has taken alcohol regulations a step further, From The Chicago Tribune as seen from Rob Neyer’s post, Epstein stated that “organization would no longer tolerate players who enjoy the nightlife at the expense of getting a good night’s sleep”.  He goes on to even say that alcohol use by players is one of the factors that impede the Cubs Winning. Again though it seems like a reasonable enough request from their president, to focus on the game and their job.

            These recent stories shed light on a potential underground problem that is circulating throughout the MLB.  Steroids is mostly the substance that gets recognized due to it enhancing players abilities, but on the other side of the argument, unrecognized by society is the deteriorating effects that alcohol has on players careers.  Because alcohol is a legal substance, it is not normally cast as a total bad guy.  There are always players, who are caught with a DUI, but there is a small slap on the wrist and then people move past this.  This perhaps could show a larger problem all together.

For a second consider how it was when Jackie Robinson was introduced to the Dodgers. Granted there are a lot of factors that differ, but a foreign player introduced to the league took away from what was important, baseball and the game.  What should have been important took a back seat to something completely separate from baseball, the fact that Jackie Robinson was a black player. This is what it looks as if the managers have realized. That in the eyes of their players the game of baseball is taking a back seat to personal indulgence and pleasure.  With the way, the higher ups are treating alcohol it seems as if this substance is starting to destroy parts of their organizations and put the team in jeopardy.  It is by no means a necessary object for these players to be indulging in, instead it becomes a detractor from their true goals of their jobs, which is to win and support their team and club.

            Perhaps it is the idealized fans view, but the presence of alcohol in baseball never seemed like a problem.  Of course, the DUI’s are more public, but I never considered alcohol to be a problem for these teams.  With the Cubs and Red Sox doing what they have done though, it looks as if the underground culture of alcohol in baseball is strong.  If the trend continues alcohol could start going the way of steroids in baseball, and become the players enemy when they are discovered by the fans to be indulging in this behavior.

Theo Epstein - No Partying Valentine says no alcohol