Thursday, April 17, 2003
One simple question: Why?
In his nearly four years as president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Dale Petroskey has been an excellent ambassador for the game of baseball, and has brought a contagious enthusiasm for the sport to the museum.
But his letter to Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon last week, canceling their appearance at a celebration for the movie "Bull Durham" because of their political views was just plain dumb.
And now, the old axiom that any publicity is good publicity is going to be put to the ultimate test for Petroskey and the Hall of Fame.
Many of the writers of letters to the editor to this paper have called for Petroskey's resignation, while many others say they have canceled plans to travel to Cooperstown or the Hall of Fame this summer.
Petroskey's letter touched such a national nerve that the museum has received over 22,000 e-mails on the subject.
This, understandably, has upset residents of Cooperstown, especially business people who rely on the summer tourist season, and has everyone wondering one simple question: Why?
Petroskey was concerned Robbins and his longtime companion Sarandon, both very outspoken anti-war protesters, would use the Hall of Fame event as an excuse to speak out on the war in Iraq.
"We believe your very public criticism of George Bush at this important and sensitive time in our nation's history helps undermine the U.S. position," Petroskey's letter read in part.
The real absurdity is the April 26-27 celebration was not likely to draw any major media outlets and it's very likely the event would have come and gone with very little notice had Petroskey not gotten involved.
Why he didn't just pick up the phone and call Robbins and Sarandon and tell them he'd like to keep the celebration about baseball only is anyone's guess.
"It's so ludicrous because we were all looking forward to a weekend of not talking about baseball," Robbins told ESPN's SportsCenter last Friday.
"We weren't even scheduled to speak," Sarandon told the Associated Press.
So what was Petroskey trying to accomplish?
"I was trying to keep politics out of the Hall of Fame," he said early this week.
But what a can or worms he has opened, and what a bad precedent he has set.
What if 2003 inductees Gary Carter or Eddie Murray or any future inductee takes a stance the Hall of Fame or Petroskey don't agree with. Would he bar them from election?
Robbins was an invited guest to the Hall of Fame, and Petroskey had every right to limit the scope of the event at the Hall of Fame. But to convict them for earlier statements and not talk to them first is indefensible.