This call by Phyllis Schafly’s website to ban foreigners from Major League Baseball would disappoint me, except that by the time I became a Republican she already seemed a little bit off to me. I never said anything because people I like were fond of her, but I wasn’t exactly a fan. And far less of one now, obviously. What’s next, getting rid of Canadian/European NHL players? …And you better hope that her website calls for that, too. The implications if it doesn’t would not be not very complimentary to Phyllis Schafly.
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/708357246141526016
Geez, is she still around? Tell you this, I’ve been a registered Republican since the ’70s, and she’s always been…off.
I’m fine with it. You want to work here in a highly lucrative field? Immigrate legally and apply like everyone else. It’s been disgusting for decades that teenagers from elsewhere are instant millionaires while Americans are drafted and wage-stifled. (Not that I like the draft either. Abolish that too and let the free market reign. Point is it is extremely unfair.)
As to the NHL, the argument is…optically difficult; but since it’s a Canadien creation co-opted by the US the grounds are there.
And it’s an instant boost to the tax base, since foreign players have wide latitude for avoiding US income taxes. Per IRS policy, absent allegations of fraud, claims of credit to offset foreign paid income taxes are accepted without proof, since the US has no mechanism to compel verification of payments to foreign governments.
My favorite Schlafly quote has always been “I wouldn’t mind being a little dumplin'”
Hockey is by all accounts joint-custody with Canada. The other leagues occasionally let Montreal, Toronto, and/or Vancouver tag along for kicks.
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That said, Baseball is not fading because of the dern for’ners. Baseball is just way to *boring* for today’s insta-shiny youth expectations.
I always thought that Canada let some Yank teams play so Montreal and Toronto had someone to beat up on , back the day .
One of the worst things about the crazy of Donald Trump is that it seems to be catching in others. Baseball players from Latin America have been making major contributions to the game for decades and decades; Roberto Clemente and Davey Concepcion come to mind without even trying, and I’m sure others can name dozens.
“Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon – Manny Mota…Mota…Mota…”
Some would take Clemente over Mays which means the greatest outfielder of all time . And BTW let us not forget how he died : flying in relief supplies to earthquaked Managua on New Years Eve .
And don’t forget Chico Escuela. “Beisbol has been berry berry good to me.”
You can always hang around for “News for the Hard of Hearing.”
Her “appeal to Hall of Fame inductees” is really, really stupid if you stop to think about it. Baseball, in the past, was much more American — and in particular, white — than it is today. So it should be no surprise that the vast majority of Hall of Famers are representative of their eras. Using that as grounds to say “We don’t want non-a-dem furriners”…well, it would be kind of like opposing Jackie Robinson’s entry into MLB because of the dearth of black players in the Hall as of 1947.
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And as for the whole “U.S. kids grow up here and go through Little League” line, I refer you to the history of the Little League World Series. Since we started letting international teams compete in the LLWS in 1952, a team from outside the United States has won the Little League World Series in 36 of 64 years…including 34 of the past 49. So, maybe far fewer people outside the United States play baseball, but it does appear that — especially in Asia and Latin America — there are some significantly talented players, no? (So her argument is facile, not to mention beside the damn point.)
Hall of fame point, yes.
Little league, not so much. Most foreign teams have paperwork as legitimate as a Chinese gymnasts birth certificate.
Not the point, though. She’s saying that these foreign kids don’t “rise through the ranks of Little League.” Well, there are enough Little League teams outside the U.S. that a domestic team has only won the LLWS 15 times in the last 49 years…and that’s a pretty impressive statistic, even given the obvious truth of your observation that many foreign teams and leagues view the rules as — well, negotiable.
Having singlehandedly laid waste to the USFL in the 80s, Trump and associates now seek to do the same to one of the major sports leagues?