It's hard enough to watch the Phillies' rivals in the NL East go on a spending spree, robbing us of ace closer Billy Wagner and upgrading with new, big-bucks talent like slugging first baseman Carlos Delgado from the cost-cutting Knight-Ridder Florida Marlins. But now they're also being jerks in the process.
Specifically, they've told Delgado, the most visible opponent of the current U.S. government's policies -- especially in Iraq -- in all of Major League Baseball, to put a muzzle on it. And they don't just mean on the field. They don't want the Puerto Rican-born power hitter talking about politics, even when he's away from the clubhouse.
Dave Zirin of the Nation has the story. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Delgado -- who was a Toronto Bluejay at the time -- has refused to stand with other players and fans when "God Bless America" was played in the 7th-inning stretch.
Here's why:
"I think it's the stupidest war ever. Who are you fighting against? You're just getting ambushed now," Delgado told the Toronto Star in 2004. "We have more people dead now, after the war, than during the war. You've been looking for weapons of mass destruction. Where are they at? You've been looking for over a year. Can't find them. I don't support that. I don't support what they do. I think it's just stupid."
Delgado's stance wasn't popular with most U.S. fans (Canada may be a different story) but was tolerated by the Bluejays and the Marlins. But the Mets are another story:
The shame of this is that despite a guaranteed contract and support in the streets, Delgado isn't pushing back. He said at the November 28 press conference announcing his trade to the Mets from the Florida Marlins, "The Mets have a policy that everybody should stand for 'God Bless America' and I will be there. I will not cause any distractions to the ballclub.... Just call me Employee Number 21." And we saw him grin and bear it when Jeff Wilpon, son of Mets CEO and owner Fred Wilpon, said, "He's going to have his own personal views, which he's going to keep to himself."
If opposition to the war were a stock, Delgado bought high and is selling low. There couldn't be a better time than now, a better place than New York City, or a better team than the Mets for Delgado to make his stand. Instead, he has to hear baby-boy Wilpon say to reporters, "Fred has asked and I've asked him to respect what the country wants to do." One has to wonder what country the Wilpons are talking about. The latest polls show Bush and his war meeting with subterranean levels of support. Delgado could be an important voice in the effort to end it once and for all.
You can make the argument that the Mets, as Delgado's employer, have some level of control over what he says and does on the field. We don't like it or necessary agree with it...but you can make the argument. But the Mets are taking it way too far.
The team is asking Delgado to essentially support a position ("what the country wants to do," whatever that means) and to keep his mouth shut even when he's away from the office, a.k.a. the ballpark. That's not good for either free speech or for baseball.
Last week we wrote that Wagner, while a marvelously talented baseball player, also seemed like kind of a jerk. Apparently, he'll feel right at home in Shea Stadium.
