I’ve written before about “conflict of interest” in
terms of public speech. I feel implored
to mention it today because of news reports about the public criticism that
Major League Baseball’s star 21-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper launched on
the way Matt Williams was managing the team.
The Washington Post has a complete story this morning by Jason Reid
(link). Harper was out over two months after ligament surgery on his thumb, injured
in a reckless slide in April. (Previously, Williams had taken him out of a game for not running out a one-hopper, and I had scolded him on Facebook.) Any time a
star player routines, others are benched and sometimes sent back down to the
minors. Of course, professional baseball
players are used to this. I’d like to
see the Nationals get more use out of pitchers Blake Treinen and Ross Detwiler. And I’d like to see more of Tyler Moore, now
in the minors, who can actually hit monster homers that out-distance Harper’s.
It surely does put manager Matt Williams in a tough
position, because Harper’s behavior in this regard is inappropriate, even
insubordinate. It reminds me of a
political squabble in the workplace that I retired from some ten years ago.
I’ve experienced the possibility that my public
speech could create ethical conflict at work in the past. A lot of this related to my authorship and
publication of my first “Do Ask Do Tell” book in 1997 when I had been working
for a life insurance company specialized in selling to military officers. The “don’t ask don’t tell” policy and my own
gay history (both in the military and as a civilian) contributed to the
potential conflict, which took on a certain moral and existential nature. I’ve given the details on my Wordpress blog,
here. There are obscure ways that this issue could surface again, even in my estate-management environment. But given my own background, I find it
astounding that a player would feel free to speak out like this. Harper was actually warned about how he used
social media when he was coming up the ranks in 2011 and 2012.
I have reason to believe that a few of the Nationals
know who I am, so maybe these comments will have some effect.
Yes, I was in New York last weekend (partly for NYC Gay Pride Sunday) and went to
the Yankees’ game Saturday night (to see a 2-1 Yankess loss). I had not been in the “new” Yankee stadium
before, and found it rather overwhelming.
You can actually see the IRT elevated trains pass by the outfield beyond
the right field stands. The Nats won a
Pride game in Chicago while I was there – the game had been moved to a Saturday
double header because Chicago Pride would take place near Wrigley Field on
Sunday.
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