Welcome to From Insults to Respect.

The game of baseball offers us a unique look at the nature of respect for two reasons. First, the game provides several unusually objective statistics that give us a pretty good idea of the talent of a player. In many other fields, such as art or teaching, the criteria for talent is far less objective. Second, we find that despite this unusually objective talent criteria of baseball, when we take a look at two players that played the same position in the same era and have excellent statistics, sometimes we discover they have very different levels of respect given to them by the players’ peers and baseball fans. When we see such differences, by looking at the reasons players and fans give for this, we get particularly keen insights about the nature of respect, insights that can be applied not only to the green fields of baseball, but to other fields as well.

The Classic Example

Students of the game of baseball know that outfielders Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth were among the all time most talented players and yet the respect afforded to each can not be more different. In Lawrence S. Ritter’s wonderful book, The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, we get a sense of why this is. So, for instance, Davy Jones played on the same team as Cobb. Here’s what he had to say:

Cobb was a very complex person–never did have many friends. Trouble was he had such a rotten disposition that it was damn hard to be his friend. I was probably the best friend he had on the club. I used to stick up for him, sit and talk with him on long trips, try to understand the man. He antagonized so many people that hardly anyone would speak to him, even among his own teammates.

Ty didn’t have a sense of humor, see. Especially, he could never laugh at himself. Consequently, he took a lot of things the wrong way. What would usually be an innocent-enough wisecrack would become cause for a fist fight if Ty was involved. It was too bad. He was one of the greatest players who ever lived, and yet he had so few friends. I always felt sorry for him.

In many ways he was resented by a lot of players because he was so doggone good, and that plus being ignored because he had such a nasty disposition meant that the man was very lonely. Of course, he brought a lot of it on himself, no doubt about that. A lot of time it seemed as though he was just asking for trouble.

Like one time in Detroit, when Cobb was in a batting slump. When Cobb was in a batting slump you couldn’t talk to him. He’d be meaner than the devil.

Davy Jones was not alone in his evaluation of Cobb. To take another example of this, teammate Sam Crawford described Cobb as follows:

Cobb was a great ballplayer, no doubt about it. But he sure wasn’t easy to get along with. He wasn’t a friendly, good natured guy, like Wagner was, or Walter Johnson, or Babe Ruth…. He came up with an antagonistic attitude, which in his mind, turned any little razzing into a life-or-death struggle.  

Now compare this description of Cobb, with how third baseman, Jimmy Austen, described Babe Ruth:

The Babe was always friendly, a real nice guy who’d go out of his way any time to do you a favor. When Cobb was out there on that ball field, look out. He wasn’t anybody’s friend then. He was out to win, regardless….

Now Babe Ruth, he was different. What a warmhearted, generous soul he was. Always friendly, always time for a laugh or a wisecrack. The Babe always had a twinkle in his eye, and when he’d hit a homer against us he’d never trot past third without giving me a wink.

The Babe would give you the shirt off his back. All you had to do was ask. The big fellow wasn’t perfect. Everybody knows that. But the guy had a heart. He really did. A heart as big as a watermelon, and made out of pure gold.

Remarkable differences in levels of respect for ball players are observed not only by their peers, but by their fans as well.

The Perspective of Fans

Mike Gilmartin’s perspective.

I have several friends who are huge baseball fans, and as I began to think about writing this post, I decided to confer with them. Mike is from duh Bronx, so naturally he is a huge Yankees fan. When I asked him about this topic he wrote me an email that said in part:

Been thinking hard about the respect/baseball thing. There are several layers here:

1.Respect for the player.
2.Respect for the person who is the player.
3.Respect for the game.

Respect for the player, I think, has to do with what you personally have witnessed via countless games watched or listened to, accounts of his performance via reputable sources (books by baseball historians, interviews with peers, historical metrics). I would largely discount authorized biographies.

Respect for the person, I think, is very difficult to assess since few fans know the player as a person. There are countless examples of superb players who are rotten human beings. Several are in the Hall of Fame, ex. Ty Cobb. There are also examples of superb players who were also superb human beings. Several are in the Hall of Fame, ex. Lou Gehrig. Most players of all levels of ability are unknowable as human beings to fans.

Respect for the game, I think, depends largely on one’s definition of “how the game should be played.”  For some, that is linked to sportsmanship. For others, that is linked to the bottom line of winning (I’m talking about pros here.) The recent Houston Astros scandal [involving using electronic devices to steal a catcher’s signals to his pitcher and relaying it to the batter] for example, was not valuing sportsmanship, but was valuing winning. Respect for the game is about behavior and that’s what is so tricky. Throwing a spitter, stealing signs, pitching high and tight, scuffing a baseball, juicing a bat, showing up an opponent, taking out a middle infielder or catcher, running up the score, bunting when far ahead, sliding with spikes up, hustling, showboating: some are time-honored acts, others are against the rules (written and unwritten) of the game.  Some were, to complicate things, within the rules at one time and are not within the rules now.

It has been said that hitting a round ball square with a rounded bat is the hardest thing to do in sports. It has also been said that pro baseball is a hard game played by hard men. Most fans idealize the game and its players and collectively have created a mythology about it. Most players are doing every thing they can to earn a living and have no illusions about being part of a mythology. That is a real disconnect, wouldn’t you say?

This is a fine overview of the issues. As far as the disconnect that Mike mentions, I think that whereas there is some truth in what he says, nevertheless there does exist a mythology in many a major leaguer’s dreams. These players, as they were growing up, had their own special baseball heroes, and many thrive to respect this sense of greatness as they go about their lives.

Interestingly, Mike once had one of his poems published in ELYSIAN FIELDS: THE BASEBALL REVIEW, 1994. It poetically asks how fans feel about the incredibly talented player, Pete Rose, after he was banned from baseball for betting on games and lying about it. Mike used E. E. Cummings’s “Buffalo Bill” poem as the template for his poem, with its unusual combining of words:

e.e.cummings/pete rose goings

Pete Rose’s
defunct
who used to
wield a whipcrack-black
bat
and tattoo onetwothreefourfive hitsjustlikethat.
Jesus
he was a great ballplayer
and what i want to know is
how do you like your barrelchested boy now
Mister Fan?

No question Pete was talented, but did he end up being respected? I’ve run into some fans that still respect him to some degree, but most agree their esteem took a nosedive after they heard about the gambling incident.

Lennon Rubin’s Perspective

When I asked my son, Lennon, what he thought about this subject, he replied:

I’ve always respected Mariano Rivera. He was the best ever at a position but always seemed so humble and down to earth. And even though he made millions of dollars, he moved back to Panama to be a preacher after he retired.  It’s not at all the life path I would have chosen, but as far as I can tell, he avoided all the pitfalls of fame and fortune, and I respect anybody who can handle that situation with class and not be pulled in by all the peer pressure and expectations attached to that.  

Lennon’s not alone when it comes to having an enormous esteem for Mariano. The stellar reliever became the first player unanimously elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Bill Vincent’s Perspective

My friend, Bill, grew up in Danville, PA, and became a huge Phillies fan. When I asked him which player he came to respect most of all, he quickly mentioned the Phillies’ Hall of Fame pitcher, Robin Roberts. As I discussed with Bill his reasons for this choice, he explained,

When I was growing up, the Phillies were arguably the worst team in the major leagues. After so many years rooting for a team that would lose so, so many games, suddenly Roberts appeared on the scene, along with the other young “Whiz Kids” and it was such a thrill to suddenly have a competitive team.

Roberts was respected on and off the field of play. He was incredibly smart and a great storyteller with a great memory and an eye for details. Stan Musial said of Roberts: “he is one of the most respected senior citizens in the game and serves on the board of directors for both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Baseball Assistance Team which seeks to help former players experiencing financial difficulty.”

Dave Lesser’s Perspective

Dave is a friend of mine who grew up in Queens and naturally became a Mets fan. However, now that he has been living in Georgetown, he has been rooting for the Nationals.

When I asked Dave about this topic, like Mike Gilmartin, he was quick to point out the importance of drawing a distinction between respect for the player’s skills and respect for the player’s character. Expanding on this topic, he said,

To a large extent we seem to equate the two, assuming that a talented, handsome ballplayer with a winning smile must be a great guy. That, we know, is often not true, as baseball players are at least as likely as the general population to have character flaws.

Early Photo of Reporters at a New York Giants Game

In the old days of baseball, reporters were much more loyal and beholden to the ball club, and therefore less likely to write unflattering stories about a player’s off the field behavior. So it wasn’t until after a player retired that we learned about their true character. Today we know more—but not everything—about a player’s character, as those subjects are no longer off limits.

Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente is Dave’s choice for all time most respected baseball player. Dave mentioned Roberto’s incredible athleticism and his devotion to helping people living in dire circumstances. For those not familiar with Roberto’s charitable efforts, here’s some of the story according to Wikipedia:

Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work. When Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was affected by a massive earthquake on December 23, 1972, Clemente (who visited Managua three weeks before the quake) immediately set to work arranging emergency relief flights.^[65] He soon learned, however, that the aid packages on the first three flights had been diverted by corrupt officials of the Somoza government, never reaching victims of the quake.^[66] He decided to accompany the fourth relief flight, hoping that his presence would ensure that the aid would be delivered to the survivors.^[67] The airplane he chartered for a New Year’s Eve flight, a Douglas DC-7 cargo plane, had a history of mechanical problems and an insufficient number of flight personnel (missing both a flight engineer and copilot), and was overloaded by 4,200 pounds.^[68] It crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico immediately after takeoff on December 31, 1972 due to engine failure.^[69] …. The bodies of Clemente and three others who were also on the four-engine plane were never recovered.

Clemente was posthumously presented the three most prestigious US civilian awards, The Roberto Clemente Walker Congressional Gold Medal, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, and The Presidential Citizens Medal. The citation for this last award reads:

All who saw Roberto Clemente in action, whether on the diamond or on the front lines of charitable endeavor, are richer for the experience. He stands with the handful of men whose brilliance has transformed the game of baseball into a showcase of skill and spirit, giving universal delight and inspiration. More than that, his selfless dedication to helping those with two strikes against them in life has blessed thousands and set an example for millions. As long as athletes and humanitarians are honored, Roberto Clemente’s memory will live; as long as Citizens Medals are presented, each will mean a little more because the first one went to him.

Mighty fine praise for a heck of a fellow.

Oh, oh! Yipes! I’ve run out of time and yet I wanted to say something about Derek Jeter and a couple of team managers. Moreover, today’s topic requires a summary section that pulls together all of the various characteristics of people in baseball who are well recognized as being particularly deserving of respect. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to include all of this in my next post. Until then, I’d love to hear from all of you about the qualities you look for when determining your degree of respect for players.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jeff

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Some people will enjoy reading this blog by beginning with the first post and then moving forward to the next more recent one; then to the next one; and so on. This permits readers to catch up on some ideas that were presented earlier and to move through all of the ideas in a systematic fashion to develop their emotional and social intelligence. To begin at the very first post you can click HERE.

Babe RuthbaseballMarino RiverarespectRoberto ClementeRobin RobertsTy Cobb