12 April 2010

Ethics & Baseball.

As far as I can tell, Sam Wells' schema translates over to baseball as such:

Universal Ethics.
I don't even think I need to define who "we" is to go ahead and say, "We all hate the yankees."  These guys represent everything that's wrong with the MLB.  Big money, no empathy for the little guy, no creativity or theo-athletic imagination.  These guys are definately about decisions and not people, particularly in the off-season and around trade deadlines.

Subversive Ethics.
Bent on stickin' it to the Man (the Man's name is George Steinbrenner).  Billy Beane is the Gustavo GutiĆ©rrez of beisbol.  Joe Morgan brings his categorical imperative to every AL West game he broadcasts.  Supreme Billy-Ball hater.  You really wanna root for them, but they don't do you any favors not having made the playoffs since 2006, trading anyone and everyone who could help them, and playing in the Pacific time zone.

Ecclesial Ethics.
Likable underdog.  Well-loved around the hallowed halls of DDS.  In some ways doomed to failure, but relying on some sense of eschatological divine justice.  Hauerwas, shockingly a Cubbie fan, once even likened cheering for the boys from the North Side to pacifism, "This commitment [becoming a Cubs fan] came at the same time I was convinced by John Howard Yoder that I had to become a pacifist.  I like to think being a Cubs fan and being a pacifist are closely linked- namely, both commitments teach you that life is not about winning."  God indeed has given them everything they need, except a pennant.

2 comments:

Brian Maiers said...

Are the Red Sox and proper substitute for the A's

Chris Breslin said...

Red Sox and Yankees are interchangeable. Maybe before they started winning. Different sides of the same coin. Opposition doesn't necessarily entail subversion.

reftagger