I love baseball. The day the Cubs finally won the World Series was arguably one of the most enjoyable days of my life. But I’ve found supporting this franchise to be complicated.
Last year, the Cubs acquired closer Aroldis Chapman at the trade deadline to strengthen their bullpen. Chapman was one of the most sought after closers in the game at the time, so the trade made sense from a competitive perspective. The controversy with the pitcher lies within his torrid and violent past. In late 2015, Chapman got into a domestic violence dispute with his girlfriend. He was accused of choking his partner in addition to firing a gun near her.
The Cubs knew this when they traded for him, but they did not care. Their World Series championship was undoubtedly tainted by his presence on the team. Whenever he was on the mound, I could not help but feel conflicted in cheering for his success.
But that was last year. This playoff team is certainly without controversy, right?
The Ricketts family donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s campaign. The owners of the Cubs are quite politically involved and well known Republican donors. Their support for the president and his agenda has always been separate from the team itself until this past summer when many players from the team decided to have an informal visit to the White House.
Though their championship was already celebrated by former president Barack Obama, the front office and some players decided to visit the Trump White House as well.
This may seem silly, but the smiling faces of some of the team’s best players mean something. Visiting the White House is inherently political. When you’re pictured next to the president, whoever it may be, you’re making a statement.
Trump is a controversial president. In my mind, those who aren’t doing everything they can to oppose him are endorsing his openly racist and bigoted ideology. The Cubs may not have seen a problem with smiling with the president, but it was an insult to all of those most hurt by the current administration’s actions. Their ignorance is not fatal, but rather disappointing given how likeable the team is.
Their postseason berth comes on the heels of the president’s comments about protests throughout the National Football League. He also rescinded an offer to the Golden State Warriors to come and visit the White House after the team already denied him. Trump has made the world of sports political. In my mind, any visit to the White House is a ringing endorsement of Trump’s policies and his presidency.
The Cubs ignorance when it comes to politics won’t stop me from being a fan. But their actions cannot go unnoticed. It’s possible that those involved don’t understand the serious threat that the Trump administration has posed to the world, but their failure to see the bigger picture is nevertheless discouraging.
I’ll love the Chicago Cubs until the day I die. But their actions throughout this season have yet again given me reason to question their morals.
