This stipulation had undertones that no one would understand until now. As has been publicized for the past several months, Selig wants to drastically realign both leagues and he is using the Diamondbacks as one of his pawns. With the sudden success of the Diamondbacks, the other owners who were excited to see Arizona in the NL West are now not so sure. The most vocal of these is Peter Magowan of the San Francisco Giants. It was fine when the Diamondbacks were losing 99 games, but when they took away the Giants pennant last year, Magowan suddenly could not wait to get the Diamondbacks into the American League where he would have to deal with them only during Interleague Play. As a season ticket holder, I am outraged at what the commissioner is trying to do. I believe we as fans have been misled and we should let the commissioner know exactly how we feel. I am therefore asking each of you to write a letter to the commissioner of baseball imploring him to reconsider moving the Diamondbacks to the American League. I have included a sample letter that you may use as a template. The address to send correspondence to the Commissioner’s office is

Office of the Commissioner of Baseball

245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor

New York, New York 10167

If you are among those appalled by this move, please take time and express your outrage. If enough fans are heard, perhaps we can stop this travesty from occurring. If you would rather fax the commissioner’s office, his fax number is (212) 949-5650.

To briefly recap, Bobby Chouinard has been charged with aggravated assault in the Christmas night domestic violence call. He has admitted pointing a loaded gun at his wife Erica as well as pointing the gun at himself. He is also charged with attempting to strangle her. The argument supposedly was over Erica’s reluctance to buy Bobby more beer.

After the story broke, the Diamondbacks found themselves in the midst of a public relations nightmare. Fans and others in the community called for Chouinard’s head on a platter. The old adage innocent until proven guilty seems to have no bearing on this case. No one within the organization or outside is condoning this type of behavior. In reality, the Diamondbacks were against the wall. On one hand, they have stressed character since becoming a franchise. On the other hand, they have an employee and his family in turmoil and begging for help. The longer this story went, the worse it became. As Chouinard awaited his trial date, he insisted that he would report to spring training and pitch for the Diamondbacks. It was obvious from listening to interviews with other players and representatives of the Diamondbacks that this would become a major distraction in the clubhouse and with the fans. Something would have to be done if the team were to focus on repeating their on-field success.

Team officials met with Bobby Chouinard and agreed that it would be best if Chouinard sever his relationship with the Diamondbacks. So on February 2, Bobby asked to be released from the team and the Diamondbacks honored his request. I cannot imagine what this young family is going through. A father with a drinking problem that causes him to lose control. A wife that desperately loves her husband but has lived all their married life in an environment where she must fear for her safety. A young child who is growing up in a less than ideal environment where he witnesses his father threaten his mother. Taking this perspective, baseball seems trivial compared to the problems that still await them. During the press conference announcing this decision, Chouinard was quoted as saying he needed to concentrate on his wife and family to resolve issues he is having. It is a sad story and a sad situation and your heart goes out to them. So much tragedy, so many dreams lost any yet this is lost in those four words, “Released pitcher Bobby Chouinard.”

Teams now have road jerseys, home jerseys, batting jerseys, alternate road jerseys, and some teams even have special jerseys for different days of the weeks. But shirts are only part of the ensemble. Of course you need accessories to make the outfit and what better than a hat. We’ve got home hats, away hats, spring training hats, alternate hats, hats for holidays, and even turn ahead the clock hats. You can’t wear the same pants with everything so of course you need at least two or maybe three different pants so that you have that GQ look. It is getting to the point where instead of an equipment manager, teams need a fashion consultant.

The question that needs to be raised by all of this is, who decides what to wear? Most teams leave the decision up to the starting pitcher. This is great, now not only does the pitcher have to worry about opposing batting line-ups and which pitches are working, they now have to worry about how they look. This is just way to much pressure to place on one man. Imagine the peer pressure that is placed upon the pitcher as 24 other players stand around in their underwear waiting for him to make a decision. People say that hitters have gotten stronger and that is why we are seeing a surge in the runs being scored. Quite the contrary, the reason pitching is suffering is because the pitchers are preoccupied with getting the grass stains out of the uniforms so they are bright and look like new when they start again in 5 days.

Andy Benes this past week signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Now whether he was trying to tell the fans he was happy to be a part of the organization or he was just misquoted, we will never know. But he didn’t endure himself to the Diamondbacks fans when he said his mind and his heart has been in St. Louis the past two seasons. Maybe that explains why he didn’t pitch well last year. If he would have focused as much on his pitching as he did on St. Louis he may have been a 20 game winner.

Gregg Olson also changed uniforms last week signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now Gregg went from being the comeback player of the year in 1998 to being the team’s new mascot, a goat, in 1999. I think his mind was in Los Angeles and his body had to follow. After giving up the home run on opening day 1999 in Los Angeles, he never recovered. During winter workouts this week, Olson talked about his season last year and also about the Arizona Diamondbacks fans. He complained about how the home town fans treated him and how he got booed whenever he gave up a hit. Maybe of the hits he gave up weren’t game winning home runs, he wouldn’t be booed. I’m thinking, anyone who is making more money than most fans will see in their life time and does a mediocre job deserves to be booed off the mound. Olson better develop a thicker skin or a better fastball if he doesn’t want to catch grief from the bleachers.

With the attitude of these players, it will be interesting to see how the Diamondbacks fans react as the Dodgers and the Cardinals come to town in 2000. The fireworks may not be restricted to pre-game activities.

Reading the police account, you have to wonder what snapped in this 26 year-old’s head to decide it is socially acceptable to strike his spouse and threaten her life with a loaded pistol. Here is a kid who last season got his first big break in the major leagues to show that he could pitch. Although he ran into trouble during the play-offs, overall his performance gave him a legitimate shot at making the team this spring. In a matter of a few hours, he went from a promising career playing baseball to facing assault charges with the real possibility of spending 5 to 15 years of his life in prison. His actions have obviously caused a public relations nightmare for the team. For the past three years, the Diamondbacks organization has stressed the importance of good character. Now they are faced with one of their players being labeled a spousal abuser. I would bet his once bright career with the Arizona Diamondbacks is over. The team will attempt to trade him getting anything in return. If they are unsuccessful in their efforts, he will undoubtedly be released from the team.

The Arizona Diamondbacks should make Bobby Chouinard an example to others that the team will not tolerate off-field behavior that is detrimental to society. If sports franchises would take this step, perhaps we would see fewer of these incidents. Chouinard is one of a growing number of sports figures who have run into legal problems. The list continues to grow because we as a culture condone this behavior. Sure, we are each outraged when we hear these stories, but after paying a fine or serving a minor disciplinary suspension, these players return to the field. We as fans cheer them as they take the mound or come up to bat. Soon everything is forgotten until the next arrest or police report. Professional baseball turns their head and looks the other way when a player strikes his wife or is convicted of drug abuse. If a player is found to be gambling, he is banished from baseball for life. This seems to contradict common sense. The values and ethics of sports should be reevaluated to better align with behavior that society deems acceptable. Like it or not, these players and teams are role models and should be held accountable for their actions. Punishment should be given that matches that of society. If you or I committed the same type of infraction, we would be severely and rightfully punished. It is hard to believe. A career and two lives forever changed over a six-pack of beer.

It is obvious to any baseball fan that the game has changed dramatically off the field. For so many years, baseball’s owners ruled with an iron fist. Players had no rights becoming little more than indentured servants to ruthless owners. Over the past 30 years, the pendulum of power has changed within the game. The players now have the upper hand in labor negotiations resulting in bidding wars to obtain the services of marquee players. There is an inherit problem with this situation. Today’s players are viewed much with the same disdain that owners faced early in the twentieth century. Fans look at these players as greedy mercenaries that are rented for a season only to leave to the next highest bidder. Owners, riding a player’s wave of popularity sign them, usually at the trading deadline for that big pennant run. Once the season has ended, the ball club and player part ways each starting fresh in a different direction. This leaves the fans questioning the loyalty of all parties involved. It was once noteworthy for a newspaper to announce a player had been traded to another team sending shock waves throughout the community as if one of their children had grown up and left home. Today, it seems more noteworthy to announce a team has not made a deal.

To rebuild the tradition and introduce new fans to baseball, it has become evident that some form of continuity must be instituted. Most fans of a team are interested in identifying with a specific core set of players whom they may cheer for each year instead of having to buy a program at each game to try and determine who all of these players are in those old familiar uniforms. Fans long for the days where a rookie breaks in with the club, hones his skills in front of the home town fans, and is sent off amid cheers as he plays his last game before a sold-out crowd touted as a local hero. Baseball has become caught up in the “what have you done for me lately” mentality prevalent in today’s society. Much of this is due to the economics of the game as salaries spiral into the stratosphere. Owners and fans demand perfection from these players, as they are being paid millions of dollars. Expectations are set so high that a player cannot possibly produce to this level. This results in animosity and backlash from fans and contention between ownership and players. In the end, the player is traded and fans lose another familiar on-field favorite. The baseballs and trading cards, the T-shirts and fan clubs all vanish and everyone is left wondering why the fans cannot bond with the game like they did when they were kids. So during this time of year when general managers are meeting to make those blockbuster trades or free-agent players are flying across the country meeting with owners to make their best deal, they should think about all of the fans who are being affected. They should think back to when they were children and how they felt when their baseball heroes were gone. Maybe those few extra dollars really don’t matter or maybe the team really doesn’t need another middle-aged long relief pitcher if it means the fans will lose a local icon.