Baseball Digest Classic Discussion: Higher Standards – Part III

Written by: Kirk Verner on 31st August 2010

Baseball Digest Classic Discussion: Higher Standards - Part III | read this item

Earlier this week Bill Ivie introduced a new topic for Baseball Digest’s Classic Discussions series, addressing the issue of whether professional athletes, considering their position as role models, should be held to higher standards or be allowed to freely speak their minds under the banner of freedom of speech.

Read Bill’s Article By Clicking Here

Erika Lynn checked in the following day with her thoughts on the subject, taking a look at players as role models from the eyes of a parent and relatively new fan of professional baseball.

Read Erika’s Article By Clicking Here

Today I include my thoughts as the resident “Canadian Corespondent” and someone from outside the United States.

As a Major League Baseball player steps to the plate, knocks a muck of excess mud from his cleats, and flawlessly releases a gob from his lips in the form of brown saliva and Redman Chewing Tobacco, it is a wonder if people can actually presume such a specimen to be a role model. Don’t get me wrong, I am a baseball hound with a hunger for red hot fastballs, spicy diving catches, and slow-cooked solo home runs. But, I cannot honestly say that I would legitimately suggest that anyone, especially young tykes, should religiously follow a professional baseball player as a means of learning the proper way to live a life.

I was raised in a blue-collar mining community in Canada’s lovely mid-west where dirty jeans accompany stainless steel lunchboxes and pickup trucks act as limousines for locals traveling to and from ballgames, ranch land, and hockey practice…especially hockey practice. It is a place where respect can only be earned through hard work, dedication to one’s passions, and kindness that can only be found in small, quaint communities. It is these qualities that I personally look for, and recommend that others seek, when trying to find a role model that can truly be called a hero; because a role model to me has to stand high atop mountains with qualities of heroic proportions. And to me, even a Triple-Crown winner will not suffice.

Care-givers, teachers, artists, and volunteer firefighters, yes we have these in rural Canada, are just a few drips in the potential role model bucket that rest underneath a rain-gutter forged by people like Mother Teresa, Tommy Douglas (Canada’s Medicare pioneer), and Hunter S. Thompson (in a bizarre debauchery-blown kind of way). Role models are people that would do their jobs for a handful of ballpark peanuts and still smile once they ran out of overpriced ballpark beer to wash them down with. They are the people who do not expect applause, cheers, or the occasional appearance on the Late Show. Rather, they often prefer a handshake, a congratulations, or advice from others that proof to the person that people do care and are paying attention to their work no matter how many fireworks, shaving cream pies, or interviews occur after all is said and done.

It is true, a hero is born nearly every night on the baseball diamond, but the timely hit, enormous strikeout, or cleverly stolen base is usually only remember until suppertime the next day, or whenever the team takes the field next. I look for timeless role models. The ones that will be remember by nations around the world. The ones that would rather cloth the underprivileged and unfortunate instead of taking an actress to a four-digit restaurant rendezvous. Role models are the ones that can and will bring happiness for the many years to come.

Sure, baseball players have the power to deliver immediate highs, the ones that force your heart to throb inside your chest like an overfilled water balloon, but dissipate as quickly as it arrives. Instead of role models I believe baseball players should be used as poster boys for healthy living. Exercise is what this generation needs, and perhaps these, usually, fit athletes could promote better living this way. Instead of bombarding our youth with hours of baseball on television, players could teach the wellness of sport so today’s youth will opt to actually play the game. But role models? Not for me.

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Topics: Baseball Digest, Baseball Players, Care Givers, Chewing Tobacco, Cleats, Corespondent, Debauchery, Dirty Jeans, Fastballs, Freedom Of Speech, Heroic Proportions, Hockey Practice, Hockey Practise, Home Runs, Hunter S Thompson, Limousines, Lunchboxes, Major League Baseball, Mining Community, Muck, Occasional Appearance, Passions, Pickup Trucks, Professional Athletes, Professional Baseball Player, Rain Gutter, Role Model, Role Models, Rural Canada, Tommy Douglas, Triple Crown Winner, Volunteer Firefighters, Work Dedication

Christopher Wenrich says:

September 1, 2010 at 12:24 am

“As a Major League Baseball player steps to the plate, knocks a muck of excess mud from his cleats, and flawlessly releases a gob from his lips in the form of brown saliva and Redman Chewing Tobacco, it is a wonder if people can actually presume such a specimen to be a role model.”

Excellent work, Kirk. As I read the above paragraph, I immediately got a mental image of Clu Heywood from the movie “Major League.”
Baseball Digest Classic Discussion: Higher Standards – Part IV | Baseball Digest says:

December 31, 2010 at 6:50 pm

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