[討論] Baseball execs would sign a gay player

[Zamned (扎姆德)]

http://tinyw.in/Gq8H


簡短翻：

根據SI報導，即便NFLPA已經表態支持Michael Sam的決定。但是NFL有八位不具
名的NFL球隊管理高層說Michael Sam公開出櫃可能導致他在緊接而來的NFL選秀
中落選； 更有甚者，有人說美式足球是男人的運動，甲甲會讓休息室的氣氛怪
怪der，所以現階段不適合接納他(即使Michael Sam在學球隊隊友一點不在意)。

相較下，雖然也有像Jarred Cosart這類歧視甲甲的突發言論出現(已道歉並刪除
Twitter問題發言)，但MLB方持更開放的態度。原文作者Ken Rosenthal訪問七位
MLB球團高層(紅鳥、太色人、蛇、海賊、小熊、白襪、條子)， 他們皆表示他們
準備好接納甲甲惹~~~


----

Baseball is ready for a Michael Sam.


How do I know? I asked seven executives on Monday if their team would sign a
baseball version of Sam, the reigning co-SEC Defensive Player of the Year
from Missouri who told several news outlets Sunday that he was gay.

All seven went on the record. And all seven said yes.

The reaction of the baseball executives came in stark contrast to an SI.com
report that quoted eight unnamed NFL decision-makers as saying Sam's
announcement would cause him to drop in the league's upcoming draft.

"If the reports about his football ability and character are accurate, we
would sign the baseball Michael Sam in a second and be a better organization
for it," Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein said.

The NFL execs spoke of their concern about Sam receiving excessive publicity
and disrupting the locker room culture. Funny, Sam sure wasn't a problem at
Missouri, where last season he helped lead the Tigers to a school-record 12
victories, an appearance in the SEC Championship Game and victory in the
Cotton Bowl.

No, Sam did not come out publicly before the season began, so the attention
was not nearly the same as he will receive in the NFL as the first openly gay
player in league history, and first in any of the four major professional
North American sports.

Sam, however, did come out to his teammates in a preseason meeting. Those
teammates accepted him -- no small achievement, considering college football
players rarely are confused with renaissance men.

A locker room full of professionals could not do the same?

"I don't think football is ready for (an openly gay player) just yet," an NFL
player personnel assistant told SI.com. "In the coming decade or two, it's
going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it's still a man's-man
game. To call somebody a (gay slur) is still so commonplace. It'd chemically
imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room."

That player personnel assistant might want to check Twitter, where player
after player expressed their support for Sam. He also might want to listen to
NFLPA head Domonique Foxworth, who told ESPN the players and the union would
welcome Sam "with open arms."

As noted by Juliet Macur in the New York Times, even Pope Francis recently
took a stand in support of gays, asking, "Who am I to judge?" and adding that
people "should not be marginalized" because of their sexual orientation.

A number of baseball execs agreed.

Mark Shapiro, Cleveland Indians president: "When we assess talent
acquisition, we factor in all variables relative to a player's performance --
tools, character, personality and medical risk are among the main areas of
evaluation.

"Sexual orientation has not and never would be an area of consideration, and
it certainly would not prevent us from acquiring a player we felt could help
the team be in a better position to win a championship."

Frank Coonelly, Pittsburgh Pirates president: "I cannot imagine that a
baseball player's sexual orientation would affect where he would be drafted
in the baseball draft. Of course, I cannot speak for others, but I know for
certain that the Pirates would make our draft decision based solely on
whether we believed that the man could play."

Derrick Hall, Arizona Diamondbacks president: "The Diamondbacks do not
tolerate any form of discrimination and take pride in being an inclusive and
accepting organization."

Some might view the remarks by the baseball execs as lip service, but going
on the record makes them accountable. Besides, a decision on whether to
pursue an openly gay player should not even be difficult, if that player can
help a team win.

St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, while aware of the
comments by the NFL execs, said he does not even believe Sam's sexual
orientation will affect how NFL teams view him.


As Mozeliak put it, "Overall, I feel in society and specifically in
professional sports, you are seeing more tolerance to different issues. The
sporting world is built on performance and talent, and that typically drives
decisions."


And how would baseball players accept an openly gay teammate? Probably no
differently than football players would: some approving, some disapproving,
some not caring at all.

The clubhouse mirrors society. Houston Astros pitcher Jarred Cosart used a
gay slur on Twitter on Monday. But this is the sport that broke the color
barrier, a sport that now welcomes talent from all over the world.

The culture, historically, is inclusive.

"I think you have to expect and allow for guys to respond to new teammates in
their own way, provided it's respectful," Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels said.
"We've welcomed people with all sorts of backgrounds in the past, with most
having success here.


"If the guy is a good teammate and can help us win, I don't see why this
would be any different.  It would come down to the evaluation --do our people
think the talent and makeup justify the cost?- same test we'd apply to any
potential acquisition."


Actually, it may even go deeper than that.

Chicago White Sox president Ken Williams, who previously was the first
African-American general manager in Chicago sports history, said that if a
team is unwilling to offer its full backing to an openly gay player, then it
should not acquire him.

"Are you, as a leader of your organization, prepared to provide the young man
the public and private support he will need along with controlling, to the
extent you can, what the behavior is in the clubhouse/locker room?" Williams
asked.

"If the answer is yes, then you have an opportunity to use what some see as a
distraction and use it as an individual and team character-building
opportunity along the lines of what Branch Rickey did for Jackie Robinson.

"If the answer is no, then it is unfair to select him because like it or not,
this will be a daily media/fan event and will need to be managed to keep
everyone's focus on the job at hand."

Williams' answer is yes. The answer of every executive I spoke with was yes.

Baseball is ready for a Michael Sam.

--
やっ..........！！！！！！止めろペイモンこの野郎～～～～～～っ
地獄でいきなり聖書なんえ 読み上げやがってえ~~~~~~~~~っ！！殺すえおっ！！



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◆ From: 36.224.205.19
※ 編輯: Zamned          來自: 36.224.205.19        (02/12 10:18)
推 wuchianlin:這篇看完我第一個反應是捲上去看發文者是誰
※ 編輯: Zamned          來自: 36.224.205.19        (02/12 11:43)
推 FreeFly:Cosart : 淦 我只說賈賈是甲甲 沒想到這樣就毀謗到甲甲了
推 mrkey:why not? 這是潮流, 躲不掉的
→ mrkey:連Michael Sam老爸雖然不支持兒子出櫃,但還是聲援他
→ a88152660:怎麼這麼多人對自己有信心認為自己一定會被甲甲看上啊
→ charlie01:和兩種運動的性質有那麼一點點關聯吧
→ charlie01:不過這確實和所有時代潮流一樣 不可能逆的
→ charlie01:勇於出櫃的人會愈來愈多 而聲援和接納的風氣也會愈來愈
→ charlie01:普遍
→ traurigkeit:Cosart問題是他把同志當成貶義詞，並試圖用此詞彙來
→ traurigkeit:貶損他人...完全是歧視的表現。某樓推文根本...
推 suckmanisme:加油！
推 ajburnett:很多人以為自己是男的就一定會被同性戀糾纏 太自以為了
→ ajburnett:異性戀男人也不會看到是女的就撲上去吧
→ Andrewes:其實甲甲也是男人間的運動啊~~(誤)