“Redskins” seems like a demeaning term - arguably a slur. I understood why some people considered “Washington Redskins” a racist name. But the argument that there’s something wrong with either the name or the chop doesn’t make much sense. If one is offended by the name “Braves” and/or the chop, then it makes sense to be inclined to root against the Atlanta baseball team. The Washington Post’s Kevin Blackistone, who was race obsessed before being race obsessed was cool, says he prefers the Astros to the Braves because they “mistreated their sport” whereas “the Braves mistreat human beings.” Why? Because the Braves name is appropriated from Native Americans, and Atlanta fans do the tomahawk chop. This is one reason why I’m rooting for the Atlanta Braves in this World Series.īut for some on the woke left, other things aren’t equal. However, other things being equal, I’ll favor a team that, as far as is known, didn’t cheat over one that is known to have cheated. Given the opportunity, I believe many players would have taken advantage of the same or similar technology, and it’s possible that other teams did so and weren’t caught. Personally, I don’t hate the Astros for yielding to the temptation to gain an edge in this extremely difficult, high-stakes sport. Several players who gained this advantage are still important members of the Astros. They used technology to steal other teams’ signs, thus gaining an advantage by knowing in some cases what pitch was coming. In this year’s World Series, one of the teams - the Houston Astros - cheated on a large scale just a few years ago. It’s normal for fans to root against players and teams that offend their moral sensibilities. This doesn’t mean that fans should keep their moral views on the sidelines when thinking about baseball. There are no “baseball gods.” Nice guys finish first, last, and in the middle. I meant that the outcome of baseball games and baseball seasons has nothing to do with morality. The other day, I wrote that baseball is not a morality play.