Forget the vernal equinox.  At approximately 1:05 pm, today was supposed to be the official beginning of spring.  That was when someone other than the current occupant of the White House  would have thrown out the first pitch when the Washington Nationals were scheduled to host the New York Mets on opening day of the 2019 baseball season.  Sadly, there will be no national pastime this year.

Mick Mulvaney, who Donald Trump appointed as commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) by declaring the Official Baseball Rules/2019 Edition which governs the sport does not apply to a sitting president, announced there would be no games until the Supreme Court determined whether the lack of consensus on a designated hitter was grounds for abolishing the sport in its entirety.  [NOTE: During oral arguments, Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked attorneys representing the commissioner if, despite the fact there were no games, the beer concessions would still be open for business.]

When asked how he could explain his decision to the 70 million people who attended MLB games in 2018, Mulvaney responded, “Just because some people have a pre-existing affinity for professional baseball, they are not entitled to games for the rest of their lives.  There are other cheaper options.  College.  High school.  Intramural.  Sandlot.  And if you still want to watch top quality baseball, you can hire your own players and build your own field like that farmer in Dyersville, Iowa.”

Trump immediately backed Mulvaney’s decision and promised he and the GOP would bring baseball back.  “The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of baseball.  If the Supreme Court rules traditional baseball is out, we’ll have a plan that is far better than the MLB.”  In an interview with the Washington Post, Trump promised, “We’re going to have baseball for everybody.  There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it.  That’s not going to happen.”  However, an analysis by the non-partisan CBO (Credible Baseball Office) of the GOP’s draft of the Baseball Care Act of 2019 stated 14 million fans would immediately lose access to professional baseball.

Public opinion polling, immediately following Mulvaney’s announcement, suggests the commissioner’s actions have had the opposite of their intended effect.  In recent years, there had been a precipitous decline in the sport’s popularity.  Forbes reported 2018 attendance at games had dropped four percent over the previous year.  Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell questioned the political wisdom of shutting down ballparks, especially when it was revealed the most impacted cities include Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  One Phillies fan was completely distraught.  “We finally get a superstar like Bryce Harper and I won’t get to see him.  My family can’t afford to go see the Eagles, Sixers or Flyers.  This was the only sports option we could afford.”

EPILOGUE

On January 21, 2021, President Not-Trump signed into law HR1, amendments to the Affordable Baseball Act.  Both leagues now have designated hitters.  Four cities in the South and Midwest were awarded expansion teams, a provision in the bill championed by the newly elected Democratic senators from Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and Mississippi.  And the CBO estimates that more people will have access to professional baseball than ever before.

Oh, and President Not-Trump ordered the release of the un-redacted Mueller Report.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

During Tuesday night’s coverage of the Yankees/Red Sox baseball game, the post-game analysts wondered how the potential acquisition of free agent Bryce Harper would change the Yankee’s future championship fortunes (which for 2018, had just ended with a 4-3 loss to Boston). One panelist compared the addition of Harper to the current roster as approaching the 1927 lineup known as “murderers row,” led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

While I cannot predict the impact of one more pinstriped superstar on the “Bronx Bombers,” they will have to compete with a new lineup of deadly opponents for whom the pseudonym “murderers row” is a literal description.  Since taking office, it is no secret Donald Trump prefers the company of world leaders who demonstrate the common trait of making their opponents mysteriously disappear.

Let’s look at the starting line-up.

• Leading off is Trump’s new BFF Kim Jung Un.  Since taking power in North Korea, Kim has ordered the execution of numerous relatives and government officials to solidify his power.  These include Hyon Yong-choi (Minister of the People’s Armed Forces), Choe Yong-gon (Deputy Minister of Construction and Building Materials) and his uncle Kim Yong Jin (Minister of Education).
• In the second position is Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who admits he has been preparing for his major league career from an early age.  At a November, 2017 meeting of the Asian-Pacific Economic Council, Duterte told participants, “When I was a teenager I was in and out of jail…During a fight.  Stabbing. That was when I was 16 years old, just because we looked at each other.”
• Traditionally, the third spot is reserved for the batter with the highest batting average, not necessarily the most home runs.  No one fits this bill better than Chinese President Xi Jinping.  Rather than murder journalists, Xi has earned his MVP bona fides by winning the title of “world’s worst jailer of journalists” for two years in a row.
• In the clean-up spot is Trump perennial go to player Vladimir Putin.  Just this week, the Kremlin denied any involvement in the murder of three Russian journalists last July in the Central African Republic (CAR).  The trio had been investigating Russian arms sales to the CAR government.  The number of Putin opponents and Russian reporters who have died or disappeared just since Trump took office is now approaching 20.

But this has not kept Trump from scouting more free agents to reinforce his line-up.

Last week Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was photographed entering the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey.  Intelligence reports including intercepted communications suggest within two hours of his arrival, Khashoggi was murdered and his body was dismembered.  Although Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has denied the allegations, intelligence sources say the execution was ordered at the highest levels of the Saudi government. Was the recent USA sale of $1.4 billion in military equipment to Saudi Arabia the Crown Prince’s signing bonus?

You can constantly tell a child not to stick objects in an electrical outlet.  But if the socket is broken, there are no consequences and no ensuing change in behavior.  In days past, the  occupant of the Oval Office was the moral equivalent of the shock which signaled behavior such as that associated with the Trump All-Stars was both unacceptable and potentially dangerous.  Sadly, the outlet is broken with no electrician on call to fix it.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP