Ethics and Baseball Presented by: Christopher Anderson, III General Counsel/Deputy Director Florida Commission on Ethics and A. Bryant Applegate County Attorney Seminole County, Florida 1
Overview 2
Courage to do the Right Thing 4
The story goes like this: the 1962 New York Mets were the worst team in baseball history. They lost 120 games that year. However, the manager of the woeful Mets was the legendary and lovable Casey Stengel who for many years had managed the powerful New York Yankees. His wife would attend most of the games and cheer the team on. One night, she did not go to the game but went to bed early. Late that night Casey arrived home after a long game and tried to be quiet so as not to wake her up. As he got into bed, his wife asked him how the game was, to which he responded very proudly that the Mets had scored 13 runs that evening. After a long quiet pause she responded with, “but did you win?” As a life-long Mets fan, I love this story – it is that way in the field of ethics as well. Sometimes we have to accept the fact that after making the right decision we still feel that we did not win; or that we have to do things differently even though we feel like we scored 13 runs. 5
Choo-Choo Coleman was a weak hitting, poor fielding third string catcher for the 1962 Mets. Manager Casey Stengel was once asked how does Choo-Choo catch a knuckle ball, to which he responded, “Choo-Choo misses it, lets it roll to the back stop and picks the ball up”. It is that way in Ethics sometimes; an honest mistake may be made. However, the question then becomes, “do we let it simply go by or do we have the courage to step back and pick the ball up?” 6
You may not think it - but people will always remember when someone does the right thing; especially when, at the time of the decision, it takes courage. Enjoy the clip. 7
Knowing the Rules & Training 9
It was one of the most amazing games in all of baseball history. On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates was pitching against the Milwaukee Braves. He went into the bottom of the thirteenth inning having pitched 12 perfect innings (36 batters up - 36 outs). Unfortunately for Haddix, the Pirates had not scored a run either. In the bottom of the 13 th , the first batter up for the Braves reached first base on an error and was sacrificed to second. Henry Aaron came up to bat but was intentionally walked. With runners now on first and second, Joe Adcock of the Braves hit what should have been a game winning three-run homer. However, Henry Aaron (still in my mind the true home run king of all time) had his head down and thought the ball was caught, so he turned around and headed back to first at which point Joe Adcock passed him up in his home run trot and was called out. This reminds me that when dealing with ethics, the Sunshine law and related matters it is important to be vigilant and pay attention to all the rules and not take things for granted as the great Aaron did. Even the great Henry Aaron made a rookie mistake by keeping his head down and not paying attention to what was happening. The rules of the game prevailed. Everywhere you look there are umpires! So please don’t hesitate to ask about the rules and be vigilant. And yes, Henry Aaron is still the home run king as far as I am concerned. For us baseball fans, can you imagine a pitcher in today’s game pitching thirteen innings!! 10
The third game of last year’s World Series ended when the St. Louis Cardinals scored the winning run in the ninth inning after the third base umpire ruled that the Cardinal runner was obstructed from going to home by the third baseman for the Boston Red Sox. The runner and the third baseman got tangled up on the ground after the latter tried to dive for a wild throw from the catcher. The ball went past the third baseman into foul territory down the left field line. The left fielder threw the ball home and the runner was tagged out in time, but the third base umpire had already ruled that the runner was “obstructed” under the rules of baseball; and in the umpire’s opinion, the runner would have beaten the throw home if he had not gotten tangled up with the third baseman. It was the first time in the history of the World Series that a game ended on an “obstruction call.” However, for me the interesting part of this historic baseball moment occurred after the play. Many of the players on both teams did not understand what was happening. It took a few minutes of explanation from the umpires to make the players understand that, even if the third baseman did not intend to obstruct the runner, under the 147 year-old rule intent does not matter. It is for this very reason that when I brief current employees (and new employees during orientation) I stress that it is important to review the entire Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. In many cases involving ethics, intent does not matter. It is important to know the rules and equally important to seek counsel when in doubt. Another great thing about baseball is that in the very next game, the game ended when a Cardinal runner was picked off first base. That was also the first time a World Series game ended with a runner getting picked off. 11
Norm Cash was one of the very good left handed hitters of the 1960’s. He played for the Detroit Tigers and had a great sense of humor. One day, Nolan Ryan was one out away from pitching a no-hitter against the Tigers. Cash was the last batter. He walked up to the plate holding a broken off table leg instead of a bat. The umpire told him that he couldn’t hit with the table leg. Cash replied, “I know. I already struck out three times against this guy and I am about to strike out for the fourth time, so does it really matter what I am holding?” The umpire made him use a bat, and as he predicted, Cash struck out to end the game. On another occasion, Cash was the runner on first base when the game was delayed because of rain. When the tarp was removed and the players took the field to pick up the game where it was left off, Cash went to second base to see if anyone would notice that he took an extra base. Of course, the umpires made him go back to first. It is great to have a sense of humor. However, ethics is a serious business and if you strike out or try to take that extra base, you may not get a second chance. 12
Voting Conflicts/Anticipation 13
In the 1954 World Series, the New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in 4 games. Baseball historians have noted that a turning point in the Series occurred in the first game when the great Willie Mays made the most famous and incredible play in World Series history. In the 8 th inning of game one the score was tied at 2-2. With runners on first and second for the Indians, Vick Wertz hit a long fly ball to the deepest part of the Polo Grounds. Willie Mays, while running full speed and with his back to the field, made an over-the-shoulder catch a few feet from the wall (and over 450 feet from home plate). However, the part of the play that often gets overlooked is that without hesitating, Mays spun around and in one motion threw the ball back towards the infield thinking that the runner on second was tagging up to try and score (which happened on occasion at the Polo Grounds because of how deep its centerfield was). Willie Mays, the greatest center fielder in the history of baseball, knew the situation, and knew he had to act quickly to prevent a bad thing from happening to his team. It is that way in the field of ethics as well. It is important to know what is going on around you. For example, is someone offering a gift in return for some action, or seeking information not subject to disclosure, or offering unauthorized compensation? These are just a few of the situations that will require an individual to know the circumstances and to act quickly in order to avoid a problem, whether real or perceived. By the way, Jack Brickhouse, the famous announcer, was calling the game for NBC and in his excitement after the play said, “This must appear to be an optical illusion to a lot of people!” There are no optical illusions in ethics; just bad optics if things go wrong. 14
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Financial Disclosure/Correcting Mistakes 16
For those of you who are baseball fans you will remember that back in 2010, Armando Galarraga, pitching for the Detroit Tigers, was about to become only the 21 st pitcher in baseball history to throw a perfect game (27 up and 27 down). However, the last batter up for the Indians reached first base after umpire Jim Joyce clearly made a mistake in calling the batter safe instead of out. The replay showed it wasn’t even close. The batter was out by two steps, and everyone at the game and watching it on television knew it. After the game and after he viewed the replay, the very emotional umpire with tears in his eyes apologized to Galarraga and bravely met with the media to say that he blew the call. Galarraga embraced umpire Joyce and told him not to worry and “that nobody is perfect”. It was a great moment in sportsmanship. They even appeared on a nationally televised ESPN awards show together to talk about the experience. The end result of course is that both of them continue to get lauded for their character and acceptance of the mistake. It is that way in ethics. We all try to be perfect but sometimes honest mistakes can be made. It is how we handle the mistakes that may decide how it is viewed by others. Can you imagine if umpire Joyce refused to apologize and own-up to the mistake? 17
Travel & Gifts 18
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