Hi, all. I was thumbing through the book, looking for missed typos, and came upon the 'bird killer' (Jae-Kuk Ryu) comment. That got me thinking about baseball jerks of yore, like the player who threw a fire cracker into a crowd and hurt a little kid, and several other stories of good players, bad behavior.
A few years ago John had a fantasy team, and a player he 'owned' did a really obnoxious thing in real life. John was disgusted enough that he 'fired' the guy, saying that he wouldn't want the player on his team in real life, given his obvious lack of ethics.
What do you think about that issue? Do you run your teams based on true life behavior? Or, is it all about the numbers?
Also, should real teams care as much about character as they do results?
Personally, I think they should. Sports stars are held up as heroes. They should be held to a higher behavioral standard. I wouldn't want my sons to idolize a man based on athletic ability alone. I'd want them to be able to see the whole picture, and choose their heroes based on the macro view. It's like the concept "A person you're eating lunch with who is nice to you but really mean to the waiter isn't actually a nice person."
Baseball is a billion dollar business, true. If it were just that, maybe personal ethics shouldn't matter in a business setting. However, baseball is also a game designed to attract and interest kids of all ages...I wouldn't let a child watch a TV show that glorified people who break laws, use drugs, or generally are not nice. Therefore I have a hard time with the concept of teaching a child to admire a person who is generally a big jerk, just because he can hit the long ball.
Anyhow, back to the questions at hand...do you take character in consideration in your fantasy teams, and should Major League ball clubs?
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