Sports I lustraded

The ethics score board has a great article about Red Sox first base man Doug Mientkiewicz and his belief that the baseball he caught to score the final out in Boston's World Series victory last year is his to keep. He calls it his retirement fund: Read about this selfish jock and his Ball Games.

This guy really takes the cake and wins my JOCKO of the Month award. I think I'll make that a regular thing. I might even call it the Mientkiewicz Award. What do you think?

Here's the scoop:

It's the last game of the World Series and Boston is about to win their first series in decades. The hit goes to pitcher Keith Foulke and he flips it over to first base instead of running there himself. Doug just happened to be standing on first base filling in for David Ortiz and caught the ball to win the Series.

It's one of the biggest wins in sports history and that ball is going to be worth millions of dollars to some crazy Fanatic out there. Our boy Doug knows that and refuses to hand the ball over for inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, as is the usual tradition.

Nope, this guy says it's his and he intends to sell it for "his retirement fund". After all, he is the guy who won the Series for everyone and he deserves it.

Jocko Doug didn't even have one hit or one run during the whole series. Looks like they stuck him in at the last minute because the real players were tired and it seemed like he couldn't screw things up. Now he thinks he is the big hero and should keep the ball?

The guys over at the Ethics Scoreboard don't see it that way and neither do I. While lawyers battle over whether the ball belongs to the team who paid for it, Major League Baseball or Doug Mientkiewicz, the ethical dilemma seems quite clear.

The scoreboard argues:

If the ball has special significance, it is as a symbol of a team athletic achievement. The ball's value was created, first, by the interest and dedication of baseball fans; if nobody cared about whether the Red Sox finally won the Series or not, the ball would be worthless.

Second, it was created by the collective effort of the team itself. Not merely the players, but the coaches, management and front office -- everyone whose work paid off in the World Championship that was realized in that final out.

Finally, the ball's value is the culmination of special heroics by many Red Sox players who sparked the remarkable eight game winning streak that took Boston from a supposedly insurmountable 0-3 deficit to the New York Yankees in the American League Play-offs to a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Worlds Series.

Well said. Yet these points are often overlooked by many athletes and most fanatics.

How often do we really think of big wins as team accomplishments? When players make the great catch right at the end of the game everyone cheers them and calls them "hero" and tells of the time they "saved the day" or "won the game". Or one guy will run have the ball all day long because he is the only one they ever give it to and then everyone says "he won for us".

Oh really? Who blocked all those big giant guys chasing him? Who threw the ball and who kept him from getting run down? Who developed the play and called it at the right time? Who kept these players in top shape and makes sure they don't get hurt? Who supplied the money for all the equipment and the field and the lights and the power and the cool locker room? Hell, who mowed the grass and drew out those pretty lines so you could even play in the first place?

But jocks on a team are rarely team players. They are there for the attention and the glory and fanatics and general society usually gives it to them. The headlines are always about one person, we give out awards for most valuable player and pick people to paste on the side of a trailer.

That doesn't seem like team sports to me.

But I can understand where Doug is coming from. He never got his moment in the limelight or any big fat advertising endorsements. This is his shot at the brass ring and he is going to take it.

While everyone else made millions and got their pictures in all the papers, this guy sat on the bench until this fortunate day when he finally got to win the big game. Maybe he deserves an extra million from selling a stupid ball to some really stupid sports Fanatic on Ebay.

I think he should give to the Hall of Fame so it could represent the accomplishments of the whole team who worked so hard to bring home this amazing victory and finally give their fans something to be proud of. But I'm not a jock, so go figure.

Congratulations Doug for bringing a new low to baseball and being the first winner of the Sports I lustrated JOCKO of the month award. I'm sure that will look great on your resume when Boston finally comes to their senses and runs you out of town for your poor jock attitude.

In your new life as a little league coach you can charge the kids for signed balls and make a fortune on Ebay.