Is Major League Baseball Still the Most Patriotic Sport in America?
It’s still the most awesome sight in the world. Even if you’ve seen it every year for the last …however long you’ve been alive. But is Major League Baseball still the most patriotic sport in America? They claim they are. Recently when the Washington Nationals request to wear different hats to represent each military branch during batting practice and then during the game was shot down, that has brought some negative attention on what Major League Baseballs intentions are …or were, and why they didn’t allow the Nationals to wear those branch specific hats. Well, in their [Washington Nationals] defense the San Diego Padres wear camo-uniforms on Sundays to pay their respects to the US Military. Plus most stadiums that I’ve been to have special discounted tickets on certain days with an active duty/reserve military ID card. But the Nats can’t throw on some military hats during the game? And more specifically, if you’ve been living under a rock, the United States Military just had a helicopter shot down by the enemy and 31 soldiers were killed in Afghanistan. That’s why that Nats were doing what they were doing.
This is what Major League Baseball said in response, “We reserve hats for national tributes, where every club is wearing them on the same day,” Courtney said, a MLB spokesperson. “But we’re happy to work with clubs on alternatives.” Like I said. The Padres wear military style uniforms during some Sunday home games…
Anyway. There is no real reason why they said no. They said no to say no. Bottom line. Major League Baseball should have come up with something better to say too.
Wayne
I’m a diehard Nats fan and I agree…they should have been allowed to wear the hats during the game. With that being said, I think it actually got more attention because the MLB said they couldn’t and almost all the players made sure to wear them (and mention them) during their pre and post game interviews. So while it would have been good for the team to wear them during the game, I think the Nationals made sure to honor the troops as much as possible.
Plus, in case you didn’t know, the Nationals have troops to every game and their recognized in the middle of the third inning. They ALWAYS receive a standing o and it’s very touching to see how even the players usually join in the applause.
Bryan,
Always good to hear from a Nats fan. From what I hear they are far and few between. I feel the Nationals will be a contending team one day. And I’m also happy to hear the Nats always, always recognize our soldiers during games. As a military veteran myself, I appreciate that.
Thanks for the comment!