Observation

This should be a fairly short and pointed post. I am a huge baseball fan, watch it when I can, listen to it almost everyday and check boxscores every morning. A couple of days ago my beloved Mariners called up a minor leaguer named Yuniesky Betancourt. Betancourt is Cuban and two years ago fled Cuba on a raft to flee to the US, where he staged an open try out and eventually was signed by the Mariners. The first pitch he saw as a Mariner he smoked all the way to the wall for a triple. The fans gave him a standing ovation, the announcers talked about the what a perfect start for his career this hit was.

I was shocked by the hypocrisy of it all.

Don't get me wrong. I was stoked for Betancourt, just like I was excited to see fellow refugee Livan Hernandez win a World Series a few year back, or see Jose' Contreres reunited with his family last year. What I am shocked (and angered by) is the way we cheer these athletes "heroic" sacrifices, yet ignore other acts of heroism in our country. Most of these ballplayers arrive in rafts with dozens of people, who can't swing a bat or throw a ball. We never hear from these people again, until they become a rant about being a drag on our economy.

This is not the only example. Last offseason, the Mariners signed the "Mexican Greg Maddox" (his name escapes me at the moment". While he apparently is not a hero, he sure got a visa quickly (though US immigration frustrated the Mariners when his visa was a few days late, delaying his arrival to spring training). Someday he will pitch for the Mariners and his acceptance will not fall across party lines, but instead will depend on his slider. Millions of Mexicans cross the border not for a fat baseball contract, but instead to harvest US food, or work on US homes, or in US meat packing plants. They are cursed, deported and are accused of stealing "our" jobs.

More than 26% of all Major League is Latino (See Street and Smith's business journal). This number will continue to grow. Johan Santana is the American Leagues best pitcher, Albert Puljos is baseball's best hitter, Manny Ramirez is not far behind. If we can root for them, if we can call them hero's, then why not use that term to describe a dad who immigrates to give his children a better life? Or a mom who clean's toilets, so her children can have a better education? America, our pastime beat us by twenty years on the civil right movement (see Robinson, Jackie), how far ahead is it on immigrant rights?
(ps. I very well may of misspelled many names here. I was checking with MLB.com for awhile, but got sick of it. Sorry)