Self Value and Athletics

I read a story today in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram about a minor league baseball player who died of an overdose. Some are blaming his decent into drugs and alcohol dependence on the public humiliation he suffered for being dealt from on team to another for ten maple baseball bats. Upon reading this story I was reminded of Eddie Shore's legendary trade of Jake Milford to a Buffalo minor league team for a couple of nets. Milford was surely the butt of many jokes, but never let the trade define him as a man. Milford had a respectable career as a player then went on to become the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings (back in the days of purple and gold) and was inducted into the hockey hall of fame in 1984 based on his outstanding management of the expansion franchise.

The point being, professional sports is a business, predicated on making money. The trade for this baseball player was changed from a player for cash deal to the player for bats deal because the general manager thought the cash deal made the organization look financially unstable. I am not here to argue the reality of that fact, it's the way the executive perceived the situation, so he did it. Incidentally, the bat trade drew so much media attention that Ripley's Believe It or Not bought the bats with a $10,000 donation to a children's charity, making the trade a huge success for all involved. . . so it would seem. Team makes money, team gets publicity, struggling player keeps a job, charity gets large donation.

Am I being too callous?

Not everyone can play at the professional level, sometimes you have to give-up the dream and move on to other things. In today's fast paced world, children are often pushed hard into an athletic venture at an early age, the earlier they get started the better chance they have of achieving success in that field, so the logic goes. Does it limit the child's self value, to where they cannot imagine themselves without the external validation of their chosen sport? I don't know if that is the history of this young man, but if his death is related to the trade incident, it truly is tragic that he would let himself be overrun by the perception of his athletic shortcomings.

What really shocked me about this story was the reaction by other readers, calling those involved in the trade jerks, gladiator promoters, and MURDERERS! Ridiculous.