Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Carlos Delgado is known throughout the baseball world as one of the most feared sluggers in the game. Last year the 32 year old All-Star hit 42 homers and drove in 145 runs. He has averaged almost 40 home runs a year over the last six seasons. With his imposing physical frame, baldhead and gold earring he is one of the most recognizable faces in the game. Lately he has put the baseball world on notice that he will use his fame to fight the US’s war on the world.
...Athletes have historically paid a steep price for standing up to the way sports is used to package patriotism and war. In the 1960s, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing to go to Viet Nam. In 1991 Bulls guard Craig Hodges found himself black balled from the NBA after protesting the Gulf War at a visit to George Bush’s White House with the champion Chicago Bulls. A similar fate befell shooting guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 1998 when he refused to stand for the National Anthem.
Delgado doesn’t care.
...Delgado fortunately is aided by both his superstar status and the fact he plays in Canada where the media is less likely to take orders from the Pentagon and slam the slugger.
But his resolve comes from a deeply personal place. You might say the issue of the US military’s human toll hits home. Delgado is from Puerto Rico and has campaigned for years to end the U.S. Navy's presence in Vieques, an island that had been a weapons testing ground for sixty years. The Navy recently left Vieques, but it has also left behind an area with 50% unemployment, abnormally high cancer rates, and deep poverty. Delgado is now part of a movement to get the US government to clean up their mess. He sees the people of Vieques as another casualty in the war on Iraq, the guinea pigs for the weapons that have wreaked havoc throughout the Persian Gulf.
"You're dealing with health, with poverty, with the roots of an entire community, both economically and environmentally," Delgado has said. "This is way bigger than just a political or military issue. Because the military left last year and they haven't cleaned the place up yet.
Common Dreams article
...Athletes have historically paid a steep price for standing up to the way sports is used to package patriotism and war. In the 1960s, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing to go to Viet Nam. In 1991 Bulls guard Craig Hodges found himself black balled from the NBA after protesting the Gulf War at a visit to George Bush’s White House with the champion Chicago Bulls. A similar fate befell shooting guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 1998 when he refused to stand for the National Anthem.
Delgado doesn’t care.
...Delgado fortunately is aided by both his superstar status and the fact he plays in Canada where the media is less likely to take orders from the Pentagon and slam the slugger.
But his resolve comes from a deeply personal place. You might say the issue of the US military’s human toll hits home. Delgado is from Puerto Rico and has campaigned for years to end the U.S. Navy's presence in Vieques, an island that had been a weapons testing ground for sixty years. The Navy recently left Vieques, but it has also left behind an area with 50% unemployment, abnormally high cancer rates, and deep poverty. Delgado is now part of a movement to get the US government to clean up their mess. He sees the people of Vieques as another casualty in the war on Iraq, the guinea pigs for the weapons that have wreaked havoc throughout the Persian Gulf.
"You're dealing with health, with poverty, with the roots of an entire community, both economically and environmentally," Delgado has said. "This is way bigger than just a political or military issue. Because the military left last year and they haven't cleaned the place up yet.
I see Satan skating to work before that happens.
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