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Pedro is like the rest of us Published version: I HAVEN'T bothered to read the sports pages since Walter O'Malley sold and moved my beloved Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958, a move that powerfully demonstrated to me that baseball had become big business rather than sport. But I see that Pedro Martinez's departure has become page one news and prompted Dan Shaughnessy to express shock over this triumph of lucre ("New Met grabs for `respect,'" Sports, Dec. 14). Here's a lesson for Shaughnessy: Baseball is no worse than any other of the institutions of civil society that have foresaken values like loyalty and professionalism in favor of more money. Physicians are becoming increasingly frustrated with the corruption of the doctor-patient relationship by the need to charge a sufficient number of reimbursable encounters with the consumer. Partners in law firms are now considered shareholders who can lose their entire careers if they don't attract enough clients or accumulate enough billable hours. Hopefully at some point society's shock at the hollowness of some of its professional institutions will become more authentic than the shock of Dan Shaughnessy that Pedro Martinez has foresaken his team, his town, and his fans for a few extra bucks.
HARVEY A. SILVERGLATE Original, unedited version sent to The Boston Globe: Dear Editor of The Boston Globe: I haven't bothered to read the sports pages in any newspaper ever since Walter O'Malley sold and moved my then-beloved Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958, a move that powerfully demonstrated to me that baseball had become big business rather than sport. But seeing that Pedro Martinez' recent departure has become page one news and has prompted Dan Shaughnessy to express shock over this triumph of lucre, I couldn't help but take notice. Here's a lesson for Shaughnessy: baseball is no worse than any other of the many institutions of civil society that have in recent decades foresaken values like loyalty, collegiality and professionalism in favor of more money -- even when substantially less seems more than adequate. Physicians, for example, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the corruption of the doctor-patient relationship by the need to charge a sufficient number of reimbursable "encounters" with the "consumer." Partners in law firms are now considered "shareholders" who can lose their entire careers if they don't attract enough clients or accumulate enough billable hours. Universities, including our local World's Greatest University, increasingly treat their students like customers, except that real customers are privileged to speak more freely than students on today's increasingly repressive campuses -- all while endowment portfolios reach mammoth proportions. It is even difficult to find a newspaper today that will indulge a brilliant journalist or a vital investigative story unless it aids the bottom line -- even at newspapers that would remain solvent notwithstanding an occasional such foray. I am not generally a doomsayer, nor even a pessimist. But we do seem to be in a period today where certain time-tested virtues and relationships are being subjugated to an increasingly hostile culture. An optimist is not someone who sees much to praise in this development, but rather is someone who believes that history and culture follow cycles. Hopefully at some point society's shock at the hollowness of some of its professional institutions will become more authentic than the shock --shock! -- expressed by Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca over the presence of gambling in wartime Casablanca, or the shock of Dan Shaughnessy that Pedro Martinez has foresaken his team, his town, and his fans for a few extra bucks. Sincerely,
HARVEY A. SILVERGLATE |