It should come as no surprised to those familiar with my public service record that I am in no way a fan of partisan politics. I said as much during my speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention — it doesn’t matter that the letter “R” or the letter “D” follows your name. What matters is that you are able to put prejudices aside, see both sides of an issue, and do what is necessary for the betterment of all involved. This is why I have chosen to go against the mandate of my fellow Democrats and pledge my support to the man and woman who I feel will best lead this country for the next four years, Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. And it is through this impartial non-partisan view of the world that I shall address a story from my home state of Connecticut that has captured the nation’s attention.
Late last month, nine-year-old Youth Baseball League pitcher Jericho Scott was told that he could no longer pitch for his league. A lawyer representing the league claims that Scott — who can throw upwards of 40 miles per hour, what professionals would call “high heat” — is so far beyond the scope of talent within the league that to let him compete would be unfair to the other children. Others, including Scott’s mother and coach, claim that the league has a vendetta against Scott because one of the league administrators is employed by a sponsor — coincidentally, the sponsor of the league’s reigning champion — that unsuccessfully courted the pitcher during the off-season.
Superficially, it seems that both the league and Scott’s supporters have legitimate complaints. While it’s possibly unfair to ban Scott from pitching, how fair is it to force children that clearly aren’t skilled enough to hit Scott to have to face him during game situations? As a great man, John Stuart Mill, once said (and as an even greater science fiction character, Mr. Spock, once reiterated), the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And when the many are so overmatched that they cannot hope to succeed, then the scales must be balanced in order to make things right. And if this balance will not come naturally, then it must be forced, which is what the New Haven Youth Baseball League successfully did.
Critics of the league’s decisions should realize that the same reasoning behind the league’s ban is also behind the lowering of the Major League Baseball pitcher’s mound in the late 1960’s, and the banning of performance-enhancing drugs just last year, and the unspoken collusion behind the unemployment of Barry Bonds this season. It is about maintaining a competitive balance. If one team, or one person, is allowed to perform above and beyond what peers can accomplish, it can only disenfranchise those people or teams who cannot meet those lofty standards. This is doubly true for children.
Just like our current administration’s well-intentioned (yet underfunded) educational policy, the New Haven Youth Baseball League is making sure that no child is left behind. How disheartening it must have been for these children, to fail time and time again against this one individual. What can they learn from this repeated failure? That they will fail at everything they do? That it doesn’t matter how good you are, because there’s always someone that can best you despite your efforts? This sort of shallow elitism — showing preferential treatment to “celebrities” over the common man or child — is a rampant scourge that is slowly infecting our national fabric with moths.
Instead of encouraging those that obviously don’t need encouragement, we must instead put these special cases through the trials and difficulties that they’ve never had to experience. Right now, a young Jericho Scott is crying, thinking that the world is unfair for not letting him do what he enjoys. But when he’s an older man, married with 2 or more children, with a car loan and a mortgage and credit card debt, a receeding hairline and a growing pot belly, making just enough money at his 9-to-5 job to get by, he will treasure the perspective that his Youth Baseball League experience has brought him.
And just to be clear — it’s not that the League is banning Scott. They are only preventing him from pitching . If Scott wanted to play second base (as he has) or in the outfield or anywhere besides pitcher, he is free to do so. If I had followed Scott’s lead in the 2006 Senatorial election , I would have simply take my ball and gone home after losing the Democratic nomination to businessman Ned Lamont. Instead, I ran for Senate as an independant candidate, and handily won the election. There are many successful players in all professional levels, including superstars like Babe Ruth and Rick Ankiel, that have made the transition from pitcher to hitter. It’s common at the high school and collegiate levels for players to both hit and pitch. For Scott to not realize this and simply sulk his burgeoning career away shows a lack of initiative and character on his part. If he’s going to act like a child about this, it’s probably for the best that he was banned. After all, no one likes a sore loser. Just ask Al Gore.
In 2004, Senator Joe Lieberman received the 7th most votes in his bid to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.