Baseball, futbol and the end of the nation state.
Recently the United States defeated México in the final of the Copa de Oro tournament. Football (as in ball played with the feet) is a form of globalization that for the longest time gringos have resisted. They have tried to change its name to “soccer” and for the most part they find it boring. The US national team was recently eliminated from the Copa America where “America” stands actually for South America. In Mexico “America” stands for a Mexico City annoying and wealthy team. For Mexicans to loose against the United States is a traumatic experience. It reminds them the Mexican-American war when the US conquered the North of Mexico and a more contemporary rejection in those same territories (not to even mention the defeat in the 2002 World Cup). For the Unites States players it is also traumatic to win with the majority of the fans rooting against them in their “home” games. Most of their players are fluent in Spanish and most of the media attention they get is in this language.
On another hand Mexico eliminated the United States in the World Baseball Classic. Mexico also got rid of the US team that tried to qualify for the last Olympic games. Once I had the opportunity to hear Tommy Lasorda giving a lecture at Dodger Stadium. He claimed his proudest moment was when he led team USA to the gold medal at the Sydney Olympic games. He insisted in bringing back that medal where it belonged. He was adamant that baseball was an “American” thing. I guess his argument was so convincing that baseball ended up being banned as an Olympic sport. As baseball ambassador he did not seem to be very diplomatic. Will the “World” Series ever be played by the world? Major League Baseball certainly would like to control and capitalize on this if it ever happens. The final of the World Baseball Classic was played between Cuba and Japan with almost no Major League players. Historically the Major Leagues have tried to monopolize the sport. They even have an antitrust exemption. In 1946 Jorge Pasquel, a Mexican businessman, allured more than a dozen American major leaguers with lucrative salaries to play in the Mexican League. The Major Leagues banned them for five years. Now half of the players selected for the next All Star game are Latin American. The game has been surpassed in popularity by “football” and basketball. This is specially truth among African Americans.
Football soccer and baseball offer two different models of internationalization. Baseball has a centralized system dominated by the Major Leagues. All the minor leagues feed the Majors and there is no relegation. The Majors would like to be the center of an international baseball “melting pot”. Like United States democracy it offers an exclusive model of multiculturalism and integration. Soccer on the other hand functions through the International Federation of Association Football commonly known as FIFA. Like the European Union or the United Nations it is a humongous, bureaucratic and not very efficient international organization. Teams play against each other in all sorts of tournaments and championships. There are local and international tournaments and minor league teams can be promoted while failing big teams can be relegated. Certainly the European leagues have the economical clout to attract the best players from the rest of the world. However they regularly loose against poorer Argentinean or Brazilian teams in the Club World Cup. Baseball is a more complicated and elaborate game than soccer. More than any other sport it needs diversity. Every position requires particular characteristics, catchers need to be strong and resistant, shortstops fast, first bases tall, second bases quick, opener pitchers need stamina, etc. The game allows individualism as part of a collective effort. In that sense it represents the best of the American experiment. The exclusive monopoly and control the Major Leagues want to have of the game represent the worst. It replicates the contradictory attempts to impose and control democracy. Here is where baseball and the United States can learn from football (futbol), soccer, or whatever you want to call it and realize they are part of the world and not viceversa.
On another hand Mexico eliminated the United States in the World Baseball Classic. Mexico also got rid of the US team that tried to qualify for the last Olympic games. Once I had the opportunity to hear Tommy Lasorda giving a lecture at Dodger Stadium. He claimed his proudest moment was when he led team USA to the gold medal at the Sydney Olympic games. He insisted in bringing back that medal where it belonged. He was adamant that baseball was an “American” thing. I guess his argument was so convincing that baseball ended up being banned as an Olympic sport. As baseball ambassador he did not seem to be very diplomatic. Will the “World” Series ever be played by the world? Major League Baseball certainly would like to control and capitalize on this if it ever happens. The final of the World Baseball Classic was played between Cuba and Japan with almost no Major League players. Historically the Major Leagues have tried to monopolize the sport. They even have an antitrust exemption. In 1946 Jorge Pasquel, a Mexican businessman, allured more than a dozen American major leaguers with lucrative salaries to play in the Mexican League. The Major Leagues banned them for five years. Now half of the players selected for the next All Star game are Latin American. The game has been surpassed in popularity by “football” and basketball. This is specially truth among African Americans.
Football soccer and baseball offer two different models of internationalization. Baseball has a centralized system dominated by the Major Leagues. All the minor leagues feed the Majors and there is no relegation. The Majors would like to be the center of an international baseball “melting pot”. Like United States democracy it offers an exclusive model of multiculturalism and integration. Soccer on the other hand functions through the International Federation of Association Football commonly known as FIFA. Like the European Union or the United Nations it is a humongous, bureaucratic and not very efficient international organization. Teams play against each other in all sorts of tournaments and championships. There are local and international tournaments and minor league teams can be promoted while failing big teams can be relegated. Certainly the European leagues have the economical clout to attract the best players from the rest of the world. However they regularly loose against poorer Argentinean or Brazilian teams in the Club World Cup. Baseball is a more complicated and elaborate game than soccer. More than any other sport it needs diversity. Every position requires particular characteristics, catchers need to be strong and resistant, shortstops fast, first bases tall, second bases quick, opener pitchers need stamina, etc. The game allows individualism as part of a collective effort. In that sense it represents the best of the American experiment. The exclusive monopoly and control the Major Leagues want to have of the game represent the worst. It replicates the contradictory attempts to impose and control democracy. Here is where baseball and the United States can learn from football (futbol), soccer, or whatever you want to call it and realize they are part of the world and not viceversa.
posted by Rubén Ortiz Torres at
3:08 PM
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