How to be an Ally: 2020 Baseball Edition

As a white woman who has black people in her heart and as a human who is a humanist in my own personal philosophy, I often wonder what it means to be an ally.

Am I doing enough? Am I listening enough? Am I listening and understanding enough, but not so much that it’s about my own feelings? Am I trying to assuage my own guilt for the privileges I inherited? Am I strong enough to step away from my place of neutrality and stand with them? Or between them and the hate? The violence? The personal and professional hit that accompanies being a dissident?

There are moments where history starts to close it’s fist and a reckoning happens. The May 25 murder of George Floyd, in the midst of this global pandemic and in the fourth year of a divisive and racist presidency in the US, has become one of those moments.

This one has felt different. I’m sure annals of books will be written about this particular time and why this one murder, which is in the company of a seemingly endless list, was the one that felt different. I suspect it is some combination of two things. The first being that all of us had to press pause on our lives, giving us a long deep breath to think about the state of things. And the second being that it has become abundantly clear that there are politicians in charge that have a callous disregard for any life, let alone a black or an indigenous life.

Whatever the reason, it feels different. And one of the ways it’s obvious that this moment is different is that some white baseball players have at least acknowledged that there is an issue.

This moved me:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Anthony Alford, and Santiago Espinal were among the @BlueJays to kneel during the national anthems before the season opener. ✊ pic.twitter.com/MNBlgkO5ew

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 24, 2020

Anthony Alford has been very vocal about his experiences as a black man in America and all over the comments from white and Latino Blue Jays, his name has come up as the one they have talked to about it. He posted this last night on his Instagram feed.

View this post on Instagram

Often times my occupation shields me from the harsh realities of being a black man in America. Because of my status, most of the time I’m granted grace when it comes to dealing with our justice system. Many of my black brothers and sisters do not have the luxury of being able to throw out that they’re a professional athlete when dealing with the law. I do. And I’ve used it to my advantage, but sometimes that’s not even enough. ————— When I take off my uniform, and leave the field, I am just another black man. So when I speak, when I stand, when I kneel, it’s not just for me. It’s for the people who look like me but don’t have a voice. It’s for the kids growing up in poverty stricken situations and don’t get the same opportunities as privileged kids. It’s for the people who are being oppressed by systemic racism. I could have easily been Ricky Ball George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Elijah McLain Sandra Bland. Atatiana Jefferson Stephon Clark Botham Jean Philando Castille Alton Sterling Freddie Grays Eric Garner Ahmaud Arbery This list seems to be never ending!! Im easy to love but can you love my black brothers and sisters who don’t have the luxury of playing for your favorite team??

A post shared by Anthony Alford (@ajalford13) on Jul 24, 2020 at 10:39pm PDT

Cavan Biggio told reporters he hadn’t planned on joining Alford in kneeling during the anthem.

“Alford’s locker is next to mine and I know he really wanted to do it, but he was kind of hesitant to do so, just because of the situation he’s in on the field,” said Biggio. “He’s an up and down guy, not a starter, so I told him, ‘Hey man, if I did it would you feel more comfortable doing it?’” relayed Biggio. “He said yeah, so that was my thought process going through with it. I just wanted to show support to not only a teammate but someone I consider a brother. … “I was proud to do it with him. I think we can all agree that there needs to be change, and I’m just trying to do my part.”

Biggio used three privileges to protect and support Alford. His privilege as a white man, his privilege as a starting player for the Blue Jays and a third one he didn’t mention. His privilege of the name “Biggio.”

One of the defining features of this baseball team are the recognizable names on the jerseys of young players. We have four sons and one brother of recognized, respected big leaguers. Biggio’s dad is in the Hall of Fame and the name carries clout.

This is allyship.

This is also allyship.

How do you celebrate your first #OpeningDay?

You launch a baseball 😎 pic.twitter.com/V3g62E9z2K

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 25, 2020

See, everybody? Supporting black people immediately pays off.

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Today’s Walk Up

This tapped my nerves.

Good on them. That version of the anthem tho...😖

— ShakeNBake3088 (@ShakeNBake3088) July 24, 2020

Keep Marvin Gaye’s name out of your mouth, you absolute ham sandwich.

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group Can I Get A Witness (Stereo Version) · Marvin Gaye Gold ℗ 1965 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc...

Results of Red Sox Investigation Raise Questions.

The results of the Red Sox cheating investigation were finally released, and I really just found them funny. 

The report tried to convince us that Alex Cora, the reported ring leader and responsible party when the Astros, a team he didn’t manage, cheated in 2017, was completely oblivious to the cheating going on with the 2018 Red Sox, a team he did manage. 

The reported responsible party was the video replay coordinator for the Red Sox.

It is truly terrible when a low level employee goes rogue and is such a terrible influence on easily impressionable parties like MLB players. 

Blaming an underling just makes the people in charge look worse.

J.T. Watkins, a name mentioned 125 times in a 15-page report, is a  former Red Sox farmhand who played three seasons of minor league baseball before taking a job with the Red Sox in their advanced scouting department. 

Per the report:

 So, a player reports that he witnessed Watkins writing down sign sequences while watching the live game feed. But the question I have is why is a player in the replay room during a game in the first place? What possible reason is he there, if not to cheat?

Also, if players had suspicions that Watkins was using the live feed to adjust the information he had provided to them prior to the game, why did they not tell him to stop? Is it because they benefited from his actions? 

A few other things: the person in charge of decoding signs and reporting on it post-game is the same one who is stationed to watch the live feed to advise the manager on replay challenges. This practice, along with the replay room being easily accessible to players during a game, are two things that are just dumb. 

The report brings up a lot of questions for me. And the only answer I get is it seems the Red Sox got off pretty easy.

The Only Good Thing

There are no sports. People are live-tweeting simulated baseball games. I didn’t realize how much I hate the idea of caring about a simulated baseball game. But I really, really hate simulated baseball. It takes out the human element completely and is just out of context numbers versus out of context numbers. No one improves or does anything interesting. It’s awful. It makes my skin crawl.

It’s fine if you are into that sort of thing, but it I am so vehemently against it, I might have to consider it against my religion.

Anyway, I promised you the only good thing. Here is the only good thing:

It’s Bo Bichette holding his dog’s foot. On Instagram.

a little country boy kid asking if he can pet that dog credits to @melodybobo on tiktok wash your hands yall stay trendy

My favourite part of this video is when the mom says that the dog is sleeping. The dog is clearly not sleeping.

Apparently, the Tik Tok ends with the kid saying, “No, I can’t go to sleep cause I need to start petting that dog and I’m doin’ it right now!”

Ennui in the Time of 'rona

As you may have noticed, the content in these parts has been sparse. The sparsity has existed for an extended period of time. It’s been so sparse I wouldn’t be surprised if no one is currently reading this. 

There are a few reasons for this, some of which include an ennui about the state of baseball in general, and also the Toronto Blue Jays. Somewhat closer to home, writing about this organization has become increasingly difficult. Certain incidents and messages from certain parties have made me question a lot. Respect is a a key thing and the lack of it can take its toll.

I’ve also come to recognize that my heart is broken. Heartbreak can produce a prodigious amount of creative material, but it can also make one want to disengage completely from the entity that caused the hurt. I’m at a point where I’m evaluating how I’ve spent my creative energies over the past 13 years and how I want to spend it in the future. 

I’m aware of how dramatic all of this sounds, but this situation developed at the same time as some professional challenges, which are definitely too boring to discuss, but the challenges. I know they are boring because they have lived in my brain for an extended period now. As they would say on Drag Race or if you are Keisha Cole, trust and believe. It’s boring.

I don’t know what I’m going to be writing about in the future, but it may be different.

With that being said and because this is a website about baseball and not my flippin’ diary, let’s discuss some baseball.

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One of my favourite things that came out of the post-Spring Training cancellation push by sports writers to write about sports when everything was cancelled was John Lott’s interview with Pat Gillick.

Pat Gillick should probably be considered one of the best executives in the history of MLB. Mr. Lott’s piece really illustrates how Gillick has adapted to the changes in the game. 

But Gillick says something about the Astros that made me think. The big story circulating prior to the cancelling of spring training was just how bruised by pitches the Astros should be. Gillick doesn’t hold back:

However, Gillick omits something. He fails to mention the team that actually won the World Series in 2018. I’m not accusing him of deliberately omitting this team because everyone else has, too. 

Where are the Red Sox in this discussion? On March 21, the Boston Globe reported that MLB still hasn’t concluded whether the 2018 Red Sox illegally stole signs.

I appreciate why it is currently delayed. A global pandemic does that. But The Athletic piece accusing the Astros was published on November 13, 2019 and Manfred and MLB released their report on the investigation on January 13, 2020. 

That’s eight weeks. Christmas and the Winter Meetings took place during that time.  As they were investigating the Astros and it was becoming clear that Alex Cora played a key role, why did they not expand the investigation? Did they just think Alex Cora stopped doing this stuff? While managing the team that won 108 games in 2018? Can interviews not be done over the phone?

Are they worried about the can of worms they are about the open? Not just one recent World Series championship but two? Not just one AL MVP but two? 

There is another thing that is tugging at me.  

Hearing that the Oakland A’s complained to MLB about the Astros, prior to Mike Fiers going on the record, to deaf ears just made me wonder what would have happened if the Yankees had made the complaint. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who played for the A’s, said this spring that the Astros were an open secret.

People seem to have collectively forgotten that Manfred already warned the Red Sox about cheating during the whole “Apple Watch” brouhaha in September 2017, the same season as the Astros’ trash can banging scheme. The Yankees complained about the Red Sox, the Red Sox counter-complained and everybody got warning from Manfred to cut it out. In light of that warning, why aren’t the Red Sox getting even more scrutiny?

It has become clear to me that certain teams have a certain status in the league. The Red Sox are a “chosen” team. Their status is paramount, save the Yankees.

And this chosen team has become notably invisible and notably silent. This silence is deafening.