Martinez and Marichal, that is. What do they have in common other than otherworldly stuff? A love of cockfighting.If this doesn't bother you because, hey, such activity is legal in the Dominican, then just be sure that you have never been heard calling Michael Vick a monster as opposed to a common outlaw.
Also: I'm virtually certain that cockfighting involves gambling. How does Selig not care about this? Sure, it's unlikely that Martinez is going to get in so deep with a cockfighting bookie that he'd be inclined to throw a baseball game, but I don't think it's any less troublesome than post-retirement Mantle and Mays working as casino greeters, and see what it got them.
BTW, I was gonna write something cute and pithy employing Juan and Pedro's nicknames. Then I go to B-R.com and realize that Pedro Martinez -- the most dominant and colorful pitcher of his era -- doesn't have one. If Martinez had come up in the dead ball era he would have had no less than four sharp, funny, and literary nicknames, some of which would have extended to five words and included semicolons.
We should be ashamed of ourselves.
1 comment:
An interesting point. As for me, I do consider what Vick did awful without necessarily considering him a monster. Even decent people do indecent things. Since I have far more affection and acquaintance for dogs than I do roosters I respond more emotionally to their mistreatment, but that does not mean I sanction either, nor does it mean I have to be self-righteous in judging the people involved. It is the action I attack, not the people.
As for the legality issue, I am untroubled by that. It may be legal in the DR, but that does not make it any the less reprehensible. I attended a bullfight once in Mexico and was utterly disgusted. No amount of heroic literature or cultural relativism can make me feel any less nauseous at the sight of such rank cruelty.
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