It may be the offseason, but Major League Baseball found itself receiving bad press over the weekend after news broke that its political action committee made a $5,000 donation to the re-election campaign of Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.
The news was controversial for some not only because she is a staunch supporter of President Trump, but also because of her many gaffes. The barrage of bad press against her has occurred because of things like her attending a private school created for the purpose of segregation while growing up, photos surfacing of her with Confederate artifacts, and a joke about how she would “sit in the front row” of a public hanging.
As a result of this, many companies are requesting that their contributions to her campaign be refunded. On Sunday, MLB joined this group, and an MLB spokesperson told USA Today, “The contribution was made in connection with an event that MLB lobbyists were asked to attend. MLB has requested that the contribution be returned.” MLB certainly has this right and it seems to be the right choice from a public relations standpoint.
But you know what would be ideal? If the Major League Baseball commissioner’s office disbanded its PAC altogether.
In the decade starting in 2010, the league’s PAC has spent around $2.75 million on elections, giving to Democrats and Republicans both at the state and federal level. Of the roughly $500,000 the PAC spent on elections this year, 57 percent went to Democrats, 43 percent to Republicans. The PAC gave $245,500 to federal candidates, with the rest going to state and local.
The PAC’s spending history is rather confusing at a first glance, giving to people of vastly different ideologies, from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ($2,500 this year) to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ($5,000 in 2008) and various candidates in between.
It’s hard to make the case that this can ever make the league look good. It donates to candidates on both sides, so regardless of someone’s political beliefs, MLB is bound to donate to someone they despise because it wants political favors.
After all, Major League Baseball has received around $1.41 billion in federal subsidies via bonds since 2000, and they have misled cities into building them taxpayer-funded stadiums.
Plus, the league lobbied for the Save America’s Pastime Act. How exactly was it “saved”? They got Congress to include an exemption on Minor League Baseball players from minimum wage laws (which they had not been paid since they are classified as seasonal employees; it was included on page 1,967 of this year’s omnibus spending bill).
Sure, Major League Baseball benefits immensely from propositions like these, but it comes at the expense of others. Corporatism is a problem that the public must stand up against. Stop supporting people who condone corporatism, because otherwise, pro sports organizations will keep scamming us for stadium money. Paying off politicians in hopes that they can get away with paying their prospects less than $7.60 per hour does not seem like a great way to win over fan support.
If MLB keeps up the political spending, there’s also the possibility that MLB donates to another controversial candidate and receives more bad press.
What if it had been Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore they had donated to around the time allegations came out about him last year? It’s certainly possible they’d make a blunder that big.
In 2006 alone, the MLB Commissioner’s Office PAC donated $1,000 to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who killed a woman; they gave $6,000 to former Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., who resigned last year amid sexual harassment allegations; $1,000 more went to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., now best known as a pedophile, sex offender, and federal prisoner; plus, they sent $1,000 to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who may or may not be a white nationalist.
If MLB stands by supporting these kinds of people, that says a lot about the league’s priorities.
There’s no way MLB can win the optics battle here. Their safest play is avoiding political activity altogether.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
