I did not know that there was such a thing as The Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball PAC. It’s a horrible idea. Politicizing baseball is foolish, and it’s especially dumb to donate to individual candidates. It looks like some baseball lobbyists were asked/invited to attend an event for Cindy Hyde-Smith and got shaken down for the maximum allowable $5,000 contribution.
They’re returning the money because Hyde-Smith has been exposed as a neo-confederate proto-fascist and that’s a bad look for an organization that prides itself on integration and has retired Jackie Robinson’s number ’42’ league wide.
But, let’s be honest here. Hyde-Smith isn’t out of the mainstream for her party on racial issues. In fact, she’s a moderate compared the president. If baseball’s money can’t be associated with Hyde-Smith then it can’t be associated with most Republican office seekers.
Truthfully, though, the national pastime shouldn’t be alienating fans of any political stripe, and it should just refrain from giving out checks to politicians irrespective of what party they represent.
Individual owners are free to do what they want, but the Office of the Commissioner should show more common sense.
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One of the owners of the SF Giants, plus his wife, recently gave the max to Hyde-Smith. Given you’re a sports fan I’m sure you know why they do this. Doesn’t baseball, like the NFL, have that sweet, sweet anti-trust exemption? That’s the most near and dear thing to the Commissioner, plus owners, of any pro sports league in this country.
Defending their anti-trust exemption might be a Federal issue MLB lobbyists are working on with Hyde-Smith. I don’t know that a repeal of the exemption is being discussed by Congress, however, so I suspect there’s something else going on. There are a century-long list of Supreme Court decisions which defend, against all human logic, MLB’s anti-trust exemption. A legal challenge to the exemption was sent on appeal to the Court this year, in fact, and the Court declined to review the case. So maybe that’s it: Hyde-Smith will certainly vote for judicial nominees who would continue this exemption which damages… Read more »
I believe that’s right. CA’s three teams only play against each other, IL’s two Chicago teams only play against each other and all the states with only 1 baseball team just don’t play ball at all.
Why must this country suffer from hundreds of deeply stupid and ignorant conservative judges?
Defending their anti-trust exemption might be a Federal issue MLB lobbyists are working on with Hyde-Smith.
I don’t know that they’re working with her on it as much as they certainly don’t want to alienate any Senators of Representatives. Better to grease their palms, or buy them off, so the issue never comes up.
The only morality that most big money exhibits is entirely situational. Expect no more. If something will earn big money even more money, then that’s what will happen. People on that level of greed are not usually very smart…just viciously acquisitive. They hire other people to advise them on “public relations.” (Read “Which public actions will earn them the most money.”) You write: …the Office of the Commissioner should show more common sense. Yup. It would be “common sense” to hire…and listen to…better advisors. That’s the best that we can expect from a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. today.… Read more »
I tried to tell ya…
No action until donation was reported. Wait until the day before the election to ask for the donation back.
Stinks to high heaven…
Not only do they have a government-mandated monopoly of their markets, but their billionaire owners frequently get taxpayer dollars for their fields and stadiums.