The Frazier Paradox

On Monday night, NY Mets 3^rd baseman Todd Frazier theatrically dove into the stands against the Dodgers to make a fantastic catch a la Derek Jeter to rob Alex Verdugo of his at-bat. Or did he?

Frazier hustled to the foul pop then tumbled over the railing only to then emerge with the baseball seconds later after being assisted to his feet by Dodger fans. The ball was seen in the webbing of his glove, then after being out of camera sight for a split second while on his back under the seats, Frazier popped up and back onto the field, showed the Ump the ball in his glove, then threw it into the stands. The Third Base umpire Mark Wegner gave the out sign and the Mets, who won the game (4-1), got the first out in the second inning. After DeGrom got the final two outs of the inning, Frazier trotted back to the dugout where he was seen suspiciously gesturing to his teammates while animating the play.

Slow-motion replays captured a green gym bag and a white ball lying on the small shelf-table inches from where Frazier tumbled and another ball that evidently rolled a few feet away under some seats. After the tumble, the white ball is not to be seen where it was. It appears that Frazier dropped the hit baseball and while prone, grabbed the kids’ toy rubber ball which somehow lodged under him and as he stood up and hopped back onto the field, showed that toy ball, now in his mitt, to the Umpire. OUT!

A clever ruse, you might say? Boys being boys? Whatever you can get away with? Baseball players have been known to cheat to get the call since the first pitcher discovered saliva on the ball made the pitch move funny. Spitballs, Vaseline, Brylcreem, thumbtacks, emery boards, tar, whatever to doctor the ball, as long as you don’t get caught, right? Stealing signs, is that cheating? Too much pine tar? Corked bats?

This one seems different however. It seems like it’s all in good fun, “Good clean fun, unbound fun”, Ralph and Ed would say, but maybe there is something else there, maybe a question of integrity and respect. Are we in a “win at any cost’ time in our history, does the end justify the means? Was Frazier, who probably instinctively grabbed the ball, any ball, to justify his competitive nature to get the out, supposed to admit he didn’t catch the ball? Is it his responsibility to set the record straight with the Umpire who he duped into making the bad call?

Now, the Mets are and have been out of the playoff hunt for some time now so they’re just playing out the string, so games don’t really matter to them, but the Dodgers are fighting for the NL West and the Wild Card and are within a game of both. Every game is important to them. What if this call ended the game and the Dodgers missed the playoffs by one game? What if this happened in the 9^th inning of Game 7 of the World Series? Does it matter? Should it matter?

What happens if this Umpire is ridiculed, or worse, disciplined? What if his performance is evaluated on his number of mistakes and it costs him a chance to work the playoffs or World Series? Will it cost Wegner or his family money?

What if my eleven year-old Little Leaguer does this and gets away with it? What do I tell him? Good job son, way to go! Am I supposed to teach him that cheating is okay in Sports as long as you can get away with it? What kind of ethical values am I teaching him? This is diametrically opposed to the lessons of Sportsmanship I am teaching him. Lose with class, win fair and square. Is morality in life lessons different from sports? Aren’t sports a microcosm of life?

Would the young Bozo playing softball at the field claim he caught a ball he knew he didn’t really catch? Is it a matter of age? Maturity? Values? Philosophy?

I know, lighten up Bozo, it’s only a pop foul. However, these are questions that I felt needed to be addressed.

Now, I don’t think Todd Frazier is a bad guy in any means, but did he do something questionable? Or unethical? Has he been coached or programmed to “try to get away with it”? Does it just come naturally from watching baseball over the years? What would his Little League Manager say? Do ethics matter in baseball?

Would he have gotten shit from his teammates or Manager if he told the truth? What should Todd have done? Now that Todd has had a chance to think about it, is he proud of himself? What does he tell his son? Would he do it again?

Now baseball is a beautiful game, mathematically, geometrically, nothing invented has even come close. Can the participants dirty the game? Is the game being disrespected in this instance? By how much are players allowed to cheat or try to cheat? There are no rules saying you can’t try to cheat for this situation. No consequences for getting caught for this type of cheating. Maybe a wry smile, “you dog, you…”

Golf is a sport that embodies integrity with countless rules and penalties. Players call penalty strokes on themselves when no one is around to witness the infraction. Does it make a difference because it’s an individual sport vs. a team sport? Integrity is integrity, isn’t it?

Do the right thing! But what is the right thing? I guess it’s different for everybody.

-HB