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An image of a child participating in professional baseball practice had become standard on Chicago's south side.
It is not often that a baseball story finds its way onto this blog. But this story is not about baseball, thankfully. Though in many ways simple, bordering moronic, this story is about much more important considerations.
Details about the White Sox-Adam Laroche saga have been trickling in since the story broke last week. Here's what we think we know: Laroche, who was an atrocious baseball player last season, was asked not to bring his 14 year-old son, Drake, to the clubhouse as much, or at all (details still seem unclear) after a number of his teammates had reportedly complained about the son's continual presence in the clubhouse, to the team VP Ken Williams. Offended by Williams' subsequent request, Laroche abruptly decided to retire, leaving $13 million on the table, sparking a nation-wide controversy.
This controversy is overblown and misguided.
One mediocre baseball player's retirement story turned into a discussion about fatherhood and family values, which undoubtedly take precedence over things relatively trivial such as work or sports. It seems obvious to me that one can agree with the above and have no trouble realizing LaRoche is not some sort of a fatherhood martyr here - rather a privileged millionaire, refusing to take into account anybody's perspective but his own, and willing to walk away from a life-changing amount of money to play a game the moment one serious management decision didn't go his way.
LaRoche wants the public to believe his son's total involvement in all team activities was a condition of him signing a contract in the first place. But if that were the case, considering baseball has one of the strongest unions in the world, it would have been in writing. Whether or not the two parties had a conversation about the issue ahead of time is really quite irrelevant because a spoken agreement could have only presumed a reasonable presence of a kid in a clubhouse – not a situation in which a 14 year old would be around the team literally 100% of the time and have his own locker. The situation has clearly gotten out of control and the White Sox have had enough.
A large portion of America empathizes with Laroche and finds it admirable that he would retire in the name of what he believes about fatherhood. But Laroche is retiring based on what he thinks about work, not fatherhood. He sees nothing strange with the fact that he would be able to spend time with his kid while he is at work all the time. What common American can relate to this situation in a country where there is no legal maternity or paternity leave, childcare facilities costs are through the roof, while even the wealthy in society resort to tactics like preschools in office buildings so that their corporate employer can keep them enslaved in an office that much longer because they have a fallacious belief that they are somehow closer to their kids. Why does any portion of greater America relate to this attitude?
Why don't they relate more to the following situation?
Jose Abreu is the White Sox best player. He's Cuban and because of the political differences between his country and the US, in order to fulfill his potential he was forced to abandon his family, including his 5 year-old son Dariel Eduardo, which doesn't preclude him from maintaining a close relationship and being actively involved. It's just a lot more difficult. Performing your duty as a father – calling, advising, raising him – is only a reminder of the exchange he had to make to have his career. When he hit a game winning grand-slam, to the screaming delight of tens of thousands of enthusiast of America's past time, he quickly retreated to the end of the bench where he cried, because he couldn't share the moment with his family.
Imagine the depth of sadness and guilt that Abreu felt when he walked by Drake's locker room every single day. It has not been reported who the players who approached Williams about this issue were, so we can't know if Abreu was involved directly. But from research and reports it is obvious Jose is a very emotional and family oriented man, which brings me back to LaRoche, who had a choice of being understanding about the situation. He could have chosen to relate to the needs of his teammates, coaches and management and realized the presence of a minor in a professional setting may adversely affect productivity. He could have thought about the greater good of his son, for whom an environment of professional athletes at the age of 14 may not be the most suitable. But most importantly, he could have taken into account the perspective of the foreign players.
Laroche is just the latest example of how white privilege affects all aspects of society. Adam Laroche is not used to having anything taken away from him. And in his own arrogance and ignorance failed to notice he had teammates suffering from a struggle infinitely worse than the situation he was offered by the White Sox.
There are reports that the White Sox locker room is divided over the issue. And speculations have begun that this could be a vague racial division. Another “white Sock”, Adam Eaton actually said “We lost a leader in Drake”, which highlights these guys' lack of perspective. Mr. Eaton, Drake wasn't a leader. He was a 14 year old little boy that happened to be the son of your buddy. So instead of making yourself look like a fool in front of the media, you should have walked over to LaRoche in time, and as his teammate and a compassionate human being, paid millions of dollars to win baseball games, you should have pointed to Jose Abreu and reminded LaRoche who the real leader on the team is. And maybe, just maybe the Sox could have reached an understanding that didn't offend anyone and didn't make them into the sports laughingstock of the week.
