Baseball’s salute to service nothing more than an empty gesture
I noted — not with glee — that ballplayers and umpires wore camouflage caps last weekend. It was baseball’s way of celebrating Armed Forces Day. This coming weekend I expect to see some red, white and blue attire as a nod to Memorial Day. I suppose Major League Baseball is hoping that people like me will commend them for their patriotism, but that’s my reaction.
My thoughts go back to a day more than half a century ago when I covered a game that was dominated by a brilliant pitching performance. Afterwards the pitcher revealed that he was a member of the U.S. Army reserves and this was the week the rest of his unit was called up for active duty. He had been excused.
At that time the Vietnam war was ongoing. Enlisting in the reserves was a good way to avoid being sent into the combat zone but it wasn’t easy to do. Most applicants were wait-listed, which left them subject to the military draft and all that went with it. Those fortunate enough to be accepted in the reserves were expected to devote two weeks per year to active duty but they could be civilians the other 50. This guy was special. He wanted to be a civilian 52 weeks of the year.
He had a big smirk on his face when he explained that he had an understanding company commander. “He’s a nice guy and he knows I have to be here to pitch,” he said, “so he let me out of my training. Don’t write anything, okay?”
Okay?
OKAY?
No, that was not okay. At least it wasn’t with me.
Only a few months earlier I had returned from my tour of service in Vietnam. I had the scar or a jungle ulcer on one arm but was otherwise in the same physical condition I had been in when I was sent to southeast Asia. That made me one of the very lucky ones. Thousands came home with broken bodies and thousands more didn’t come home at all. Still others were being held in prison camps and had no idea when or if they would be coming home.
This, we were told, was the price we had to pay if we wanted to live in a free and secure democracy. Everyone was expected to do his part.
That was a nice axiom, except for the fact that everyone wasn’t expected to do his part. People with political or financial clout could find ways out of it. No one, it seemed, was better at it than major league baseball players. Or, should I say, major league baseball owners?
While most men found it difficult or impossible to join the reserves, baseball players seemed to have no problem getting in.
Commanders of reserve units could bypass their lengthy waiting lists if they wished and that’s what they did without fail whenever a ballplayer offered to enlist. Or, should I say, whenever an owner offered to enlist one of his players?
I don’t know what the arrangement was between the ball clubs and the reserve commanders but it must have been a cozy one. I suspect the team owners offered more than a bland smile and a snappy salute.
All the years I covered baseball I encountered only one player — Phillies outfielder Garry Maddox — who told me he had actually served in Vietnam. Most of the others discharged their military obligations with a two-week drill each summer.
This particular pitcher hadn’t even done that.
I didn’t resent at all the fact that he had gotten into the reserves. Most of the guys I knew in Vietnam would have gladly chosen that route if given the opportunity. I had a harder time reconciling the fact that he was required to do so little and even managed to squirm out of that. Still, I probably would have forgotten the whole incident if it wasn’t for one thing.
THAT DAMN SMIRK.
I’ll never forget that look on his face as he talked about his friendly commanding officer. It sits in my memory the way a very bad case of indigestion might sit in my stomach. This man clearly thought he was entitled to all the special treatment he received. He felt that as a professional baseball player he shouldn’t be treated like ordinary riff and raff. It was perfectly okay that he was playing baseball while some were marching and some were dying but — pssst — don’t publicize it, huh?
To me that smirk was symbolic of a corrupt system. The owners had worked out a way to keep their young employees on the ball field and out of the jungle and they were doing it with shocking efficiency. Otherwise they were ignoring the war and all the people who were making heavy sacrifices to pursue it. They played the national anthem before every game as they always had, but they did little else. Patriotism wasn’t considered cool at that time and it certainly wasn’t profitable.
Profitable was the operative word.
Over the years and the decades profit has usually trumped everything else in baseball — especially patriotism.
Owners and commissioners have come and gone, but the attitude seems to have changed very little.
Today we live in an era when Americans like to celebrate their country. Flags fly in many people’s yards. Servicemen and women are treated with honor and dignity. Even ex-servicemen are recognized. I’ve been applauded and thanked for my service far more times in the past 10 years than would have been possible when I actually served.
Baseball is anxious to capitalize on this red-white-and-blue wave. Not only do we hear The Star Spangled Banner before every game but we get God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch. One or both might be accompanied by a military color guard.
Sometimes after the fifth inning military people are invited to perform the chore of changing
the bases. Anything to give the crowd an opportunity to applaud
and, without fail, the crowd does applaud.
It’s all good stuff and it doesn’t cost much.
The special caps are even better. Replicas of them can be sold at the concession stands.
There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But that seems to be all there is and there’s definitely something wrong with that. If baseball really wants to show appreciation for the military there are much more substantial ways it could be done.
Just this week I had to replace an expensive utility item in my house. I was given a discount on the price solely because I’m a veteran.
There are restaurants that reduce the cost of food for military people in uniform. Some even celebrate Veterans Day by treating veterans to a free meal.
Baseball doesn’t traffic in free meals. As far as I know, no baseball team ever offered so much as a bag of popcorn to a soldier or a sailor or an airman. Not even on the Fourth of July.
Veteran discount? Is there even one baseball team that discounts game tickets for veterans? Or, better yet, for active military personnel who attend games in uniform?
Dollar-dog nights are popular. How about a dollar-GI night once in a while? How about anything that’s more than glitz and hoopla?
Sure it will be nice for baseball to show its love for the United States of America and to see players wear star-spangled caps or whatever it is they’re going display this weekend.
It would be even nicer if I thought they meant it.