Texsox

Why are you so set on keeping that word in all its contexts alive? What makes that word so important to you? I can share many moments growing up where that word was used to hurt, humiliate, and degrade friends of mine. I can still see their reactions. I was an ugly time. I'm all for removing the barb by appropriating the word and using within the community. But like many people who grew up in the 50s to 70s it is impossible to not unhear the echos of hate. Yeah, my reaction to looking up and seeing a young black man using the word is pretty chill. If I heard TA using it I wouldn't really be bothered. But given a world that ended the use and one that continues to toss it around, I would prefer the world that ended its use. Sorry of that offends you.

Finally a post we can all agree on!

Simple, you are asking umpires to judge each player's race and make a call. Is that guy black or Latino? Is he white or bi-racial? It shouldn't be a judgement call by an umpire to decide the race of every player.

What is common sense? We know if it is a white player not cool. If it is a black player, cool. Now what about everyone else? Do some Latino players get a pass others not? And what if an ump isn't certain of the race of the player? Does he ask? Now think about a policy that no one says it. Easy. Who is hurt? Are you telling me that Tim can't find another way to yell at another player? If all the other players can find a way to argue without dropping the n word, what can't TA?

So explain the common sense when a player yells the n word on the field. What is the common sense way the umpire is suppose to react? And interesting that this old white guy is advocating that NOBODY use the word on the field and you want to be certain the word live on. What exactly am I protecting? The end of that word from our speech? So yeah, I'm guilty as hell. If that ugly ass hurtful would and all it's variations is never spoken again, I think the world would be a better place.

It's interesting balancing the rights of the individual with the rights of the club. I remember when Maggs was basically on IR for the rest of his contract and people still expected him to follow the team's advice even though he would probably never play for them again.

Exactly. That's where they should take the time to make the punishment fair.

I was about as far removed from the South Side (closer to Wisconsin than Oak Street Beach) but we played the exact same games with the exact same names. Fast pitch against the wall. Pickle or running bases. With limited kids around all the special rules "right field out", "pitchers hand out", "batter catches".

Thank you.

I was trying to remember which Sox player I was thinking of that went outside the organization for coaching with good results. It was Erik Johnson https://www.si.com/mlb/2015/11/24/erik-johnson-white-sox-pitcher-health

There are all sorts of successful players with those strikeout rates. They are called NL pitchers (when batting) which is yet another reason I'm glad to be a Sox fan.

Here are the three scenarios Everyone can use the word. I believe this would be a PR nightmare for the league. Those groups that we all agree are culturally able to the use the word in a non racist way can, everyone else can't. Umpires will use their best judgement based on the race of the player and the situation to decide if it is OK or not. Make a call just like safe or out, ball or strike, fair or foul. No one use the word. - Umps don't have to make a judgement call. Some players are blocked from expressing themselves in the heat of competition. Obviously I believe #3 is the easiest to enforce, and the best POLICY. And I should add, I believe this applies to being ejected from the game. Later suspensions, if warranted, would be based on all the mitigating factors. If it were me, TA would be on the field today instead of serving a suspension. Guys like Rocker would be suspended.

Exactly but making that call on what is acceptable is exactly what people what umpires to do. They want the umps to judge the player and decide if culturally that player should be allowed to use the n****a word or not.

And perhaps spend some real money are providing fields. Then imagine if players would also promote. I'm willing to bet that most of the guys here who are 50+ will have stories of MLB players coming to their Little League banquets to hand out trophies. I picked up one from Don Kessinger. Could you image today a six time All-Star travelling to a small town banquet to give a short speech, sign autographs (for free) and hand out trophies?

I was agreeing with you that MLB is not a regular workplace. In setting policy for MLB there are just so many differences that need to be factored in. If after you threw your laptop at Shirley and your boss disciplined you would Twitter go crazy? Would forums explode? Of course not. They aren't the same. MLB,, like all sports, are much more heavily scrutinized. And again I agree that a lot of bad things are said on the baseball field, as in other sports. I will add that bad things are said in all workplaces. If the employer decides that there are a few taboo topics and words and they want to write rules to limit that, they are within their rights. And as someone who has had to write policy and rules for workplaces I know first hand how difficult it is. As soon as you start being subjective and allowing some and not others it becomes unenforceable. So policy becomes objective not subjective. So if in fact MLB has put in a policy that certain words will result in ejection we can't have umpires deciding if a player is part of the group that is allowed to use the word, or not. Could you imagine an umpire asking a player what their race is so they can make a ruling?

What I've read is the lack of fields to play on. Across America baseball fields are being replaced by soccer or just never built. In the cities, basketball courts take up less space and are easier to maintain than baseball fields. Football benefits from being an almost made for TV sport. As baseball's popularity has fallen, so to has American players.

I really dislike two part authentication just to get my email at work.

It's very much NOT a regular workplace. I don't believe I ever said it was. You continue to put words in my mouth which I have not said. How many business have their customers watching their every move? Customer relations becomes a huge deal. That meeting in the conference room isn't televised. People will not be endlessly reconstructing what happened. So you are exactly right, it isn't a regular workplace. What it does share are workplace rules. In fact baseball has a couple sets of rules. Way more than a regular business.

Exactly right. Now write a policy that covers this.

Where did I say I was offended by cracker? I'm not. I'm not certain what I wrote that caused you to believe that. Allow me to try to clarify my point. There is a difference between social norms and workplace rules that carry consequences. Written rules become far more exact and difficult to write. I'm going to assume that we agree that there are some groups of people who should not use that word ever. I will further assume that if you were an employer and those people using that word hurt your business you would want to stop them from using that word at work. Now in writing the new rule do you A, Stop all people from using the word or B. Make a list of who can, and who can't use the word?

Great point. It was created to degrade an entire race of people. It is so much more than just a curse word. So an employer (MLB) decides to stop the usage of the word because of the weight it carries. Within a workplace a rule that is applied differently based on sex or race becomes impossible to implement. Who will decide who gets to use a specific word? I have no problem with TA using the word. Employers absolutely have the right to set boundaries over what is said within the workplace. If MLB tried to disciline for using it outside of work, I'd think they were stepping way over the line. But having a no n-word policy at work, seems within fair boundaries.

Who should it be up to if not MLB? I believe it is reasonable to have a few words that are absolutely off limits. There are easily understood differences between Damn it, fuck it, and the n word (plus a couple more). And the rule would have to be applied consistently, no matter who says it. Not all swearing is equal.

Which kind of means he feels it would have been upheld on appeal.

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The best thing they did was drop the limit on days you could win.