baseball player
baseball playerPhoto by Nati Shohat/Flash90

America is upside down right now. Major League Baseball could help fix that. The Coronavirus was bad enough. I lost many friends. One thing America did not need was another crisis on top.

There were signs that the United States was getting indeed more “United”. Republicans were working with Democrats to pass critical legislation. The President was speaking to Democratic Governors daily. It seemed that America was united for the first time in many years in fighting a terrible and deadly virus. Whatever unity had developed was washed away by the torrent of looting, firebombing and murder following George Floyd’s tragic death at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department.

Social distancing was certainly not practiced. The only social distancing was the distance created between what society should expect and what was socially totally unacceptable.

The media once again acted irresponsibly and stoked the flames. The media seems to have one and only one goal and it is to attack President Trump at every turn. There is little objectivity. Instead of reporting fairly on the extreme violence, it aimed all of its canons at the President. Instead of focusing on the firebombing of a house of worship, the media blasted the President for trying to bring the depravity into the world’s view. The faith based community for the most part was appreciative of the President’s attempt to highlight this ungodly act. A Synagogue in Los Angeles was also attacked during the riots. The media did not cover that much at all. Rabbi David Katz, executive director of the Rabbinical Alliance of America said in regards to the unfolding events, “The world cannot be without morality. Morality is the basis of humanity.”. The President has been on the right side of the faith based community. It has been one of his many accomplishments as President. It is totally lost on the media.

Because of the Covid 19 pandemic many of the mechanisms in society that tend to act as shock absorbers are not in place. One that I personally feel especially close to is Major League Baseball. America needs Baseball and sports in general to act as unifiers. The sooner Major League Baseball gets its act together the sooner American Society will run more smoothly.

Baseball is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, sports in this country. Abner Doubleday is given credit for starting it in 1839. Of all sports it probably has the most profound effect on the psyche of every American.

In World War I, Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson and Ty Cobb served in the chemical warfare service of the US Army under Branch Rickey. Mathewson suffered from poison gas exposure during a training exercise. His lungs were permanently damaged and he died a few years later of Tuberculosis. 38% of baseball players served in World War 1.

More than 500 major league players served in the military during World War 2 including stars like Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Joe DiMaggio. Ted Williams served as a marine fighter pilot in both World War 2 and the Korean War.

Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He broke baseball’s “color line” when he started first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

Major League Baseball has helped shape America. It has been a great unifier. In order to begin the healing that America desperately needs, Major League Baseball has a responsibility to help out and do its critical part.