Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?

By: William Robinson

When I was growing up I was lucky to have a cultural icon who played baseball. That culture icon was Ken Griffey Jr. Everyone remembers Griffey Jr and his huge smile and the bubble gum blowing and the amazing catches and the beautiful swing. Even non fans of the game knew who Ken Griffey Jr. was. Before that it was Bo Jackson and before that it was Nolan Ryan and before that it was Mickey Mantle and before Mantle it was Jackie Robinson and before Robinson was Joe DiMaggio and before him Babe Ruth. But let me ask you this. Who is the icon of baseball today and at the end of the day is that why there is this fallacy that baseball isn’t as popular as other sports?

Let’s start with some suspects of who could be the cultural icons of the sport and why they aren’t.

1. Mike Trout – Trout is the greatest baseball player of this era. He has speed, power and precision unlike we have seen since the days of Mickey Mantle. However, I’m not certain if you ask the average person walking down the street that they’ll know who Mike Trout is. Why is that? By all accounts Mike Trout is not a bad person. He stays and signs autographs for fans and has never been in trouble with the law. However, he doesn’t have that pizzazz that is needed to be an icon. He isn’t married to an IT girl (he married his high school sweetheart), he doesn’t do a ton of commercials and he isn’t culturally sensitive (not saying he’s insensitive but he’s not a social justice warrior either). He refuses to play in the home run derby and does not play for a contender. By all accounts he’s happy to just show up, play baseball and go home.
2. Kris Bryant – Yes Bryant has had a bad season. He has been battling injuries all year long and his numbers are not what they usually are for him. However, he did lead the Cubs back to the promise land and broke the curse. He’s a genuinely handsome man who often works as a model, has a great smile and by all accounts is an awesome human being. However, he’s a quiet guy, he doesn’t speak out about things on Twitter and his wife is someone that I had to google because I’ve never heard of her. He also again doesn’t participate in the home run derby and seems quite content to just play baseball. His twitter is full of good stories and likeable content and he has advertisements but still I’m not sure that people would recognize him walking down the street.
3. Bryce Harper – Harper is the lightning rod of MLB. Either you love him or hate him as he plays the game with a certain flare that is good for the sport. He played in the home run derby this year and it was one of the greatest moments of the season in front of his hometown crowd. He has advertisements and is also highly marketable. His twitter is full of his support of the military and fighting for childhood cancer victims. This season has been a disappointment as his productivity has diminished though and it couldn’t have come at a worse time as he’s getting ready to enter the free agent market. That being said if he were to move to New York and take the Yankees or Mets to a World Series it’s possible that he could become a cultural icon. However, in order for him to do this he needs to be more out there even yet. But mostly baseball needs to support him being out there.

   

4. Manny Machado – Machado is great! He’s an amazing infielder who plays the game with zest. He is awesome defensively and great offensively as well. However, when was the last time you saw him in a commercial? He doesn’t have an official twitter and I have no idea what he is like as a person. I guarantee that nobody knows who he is outside of baseball fans. However, the opportunity is there for him to be the face of the Latin baseball movement, but he just isn’t.

So, each of those players have the talent to be a cultural icon but why aren’t they? My theory is that MLB does not encourage it, and there is a stigma in the clubhouse about being the “peacock” in the room. Players don’t want to stand out anymore. They want to go about their business of playing sports and then go home to ambiguity. They give boring interviews and don’t actually talk about anything of substance and they don’t go out and party and date supermodels and actresses anymore (well Justin Verlander married one but he’s an outlier). They also most of the time don’t appear like they are having fun playing the game. Also, Rob Manfred the commissioner of baseball has been very obvious that he doesn’t want the league to stand out on any cultural issues in this age of cultural insensitivity (aka TRUMP).

MLB is a very Latin American heavy sport these days. Every team in the league has at least one Latin American player and the sport has really taken root in Latin America like it has never done before. However, when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico MLB played a game there, but it could have done soooooo much more. It could have been the leader in the rebuild of Puerto Rico and it needed a superstar to lead those efforts. It needed Manny Machado to be the face of that movement and lead the revolution. Sadly, though he was nowhere to be found.

MLB also has an African American problem. The numbers of black baseball players seem to be dwindling. In 1984 18.4% of MLB players were black. That number in 2016 had dropped to 6.7%. Yes in 2017 that number climbed to 8.4% but still it’s too low. Why aren’t black athletes choosing to play baseball? Well Adam Jones states that he feels that it’s a white man’s sport with the fact that MLB did not come to the aid of former San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick. They also theorize that it’s because the sport is boring and doesn’t appeal to black youth. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth as the sport hasn’t changed since 1984 and football was around then as well. It’s all about optics and the optics for MLB aren’t good, black icons do not play baseball anymore. It’s time baseball changed that. They need Ronald Acuna or Ozzie Albies to be that player now.  MLB needs to be active in social justice issues. It needs to stand by athletes who take a stand for this and it needs to encourage its athletes to do so. It’s time for MLB to be cool again. Invite rappers to games, hook up Aaron Judge with Ariana Grande, get out there more.

MLB needs to step up. It is America’s pastime and unlike any other sport in the history of the world this one represents the day and age we live in in American society. We are a divided nation. Today unlike any other time in my life it feels like our society is divided. Baseball should feel free to embrace that divide. We don’t need homogenous baseball players. We need players who support Trump and players who are social justice warriors. We need players who party and speak their peace and players who are quiet and just go about their jobs.  Rob Manfred needs to realize that MLB can be a leader in our society and needs to encourage it.  Baseball helped desegregate out society by introducing Jackie Robinson ten years prior to Rosa Parks riding the bus. It helped us forget about 9/11 and it helped us forget about the Boston marathon bombing. MLB is what the best of us could be, but we need a leader who is willing to lead. We need someone who is willing to stand up for what is right and take a stand and we need a commissioner who makes that possible by encouraging it rather than discouraging it.  Here are some players who I think could be that player.

1. Aaron Judge – Judge is a beast. He is big, and strong and as Big Al Delia says, “He likes to hit dingers”. He’s likeable and has a great name that is easily marketable as well. He plays in a big market and it’s possible that one day he could break the home run record. He’s also adopted and is easily likeable with a big smile. He just needs to get out there more and let us get to know him.
2. Ronald Acuna Jr – The next Mike Trout plays for the Atlanta Braves. He is from the Dominican Republic and is very likeable. He is strong, fast and plays the game like he loves it. However, he is not politically active, and his Wikipedia literally has one paragraph that features information about his parents and that’s it. One look at his twitter and it’s obvious that he’s doing other things but where’s the press coverage MLB??? It’s time to make this kid a household star.
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr – Vlad Jr. is the son of Hall of Famer Vlad Guerrero and looks to be every bit as good as his dad. He is going to be a star in the market of Toronto and could easily be an icon the way that Ken Griffey Jr was an icon as well. He needs to get out there though. Yes, Toronto is a smallish market but it’s not any smaller than Seattle was. Let this kid get out there and show his stuff in the majors and hell let’s get this guy on Twitter ya’ll.

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away. When will we have someone who is able to take up that mantle and who will it be? Will we ever have a commissioner who encourages players to show personality and integrity? Until then Joe DiMaggio is gone and may never come back.