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Opinion

Biggio' s pin incident latest MLB misstep 

Zach Lee
Opinion Columnist

There are plenty of things that don' t belong in baseball -- steroids, gambling and $55 million contracts for Gil Meche -- and there are plenty of people who don' t belong in baseball -- Barry Bonds, Bud Selig and arguably Pete Rose.

Community involvement and Craig Biggio should be nowhere near either one of those lists.

But still, the second baseman who has spent nearly two decades in an Astros uniform was told Thursday that he had to stop wearing a pin that represents a non-profit group dedicated to helping kids with cancer.

Apparently, that' s more important than catching Bonds with a needle full of human growth hormone before he breaks Hank Aaron' s record and his massive head gets too big for his bum knee to support.

Biggio told the press that he wears the pin during spring training because many pictures for baseball cards are taken then, and children who are a part of that group -- The Sunshine Kids -- get a little bit of enjoyment out of seeing Biggio wearing the pin when they find him in a pack of cards. He also wears the pin during batting practice and photo shoots.

"Major League Baseball does a lot of good things, but this is one of the stupid things," Biggio told reporters.

Amazingly, though, it' s not as stupid as some of the things Selig' s office has tried to do while he' s been commissioner.

In 2004, the same commissioner who told Biggio to keep his do-good attitude to himself worked on an agreement with Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios to put spider webs on the corners of the bases during regular season play to promote the release of Spiderman 2. 

That' s stupid enough on its own, but beside Selig' s request to Biggio -- which has nothing to do with regular season play because Biggio doesn' t wear the pin during regular season games -- it looks like the commissioner' s spider-sense must be a little rusty.

This isn' t just an issue for baseball fans; it' s an issue for people who give back to the community. 

Instead of coming up with a plan to approve charities and designate an area on caps in which pins can be worn, the commissioner' s office took away what was a subtly remarkable gesture.

And the fact that the hats are new this spring may have something to do with it. Several new pieces to the official cap design have been put in place this year, and it would be a true shame to find out that Selig was more interested in showing off the latest fruits of MLB' s contract with New Era caps than letting players show support for charities.

Lee, an English/Spanish senior, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu