Thursday, October 10, 2013

Applying the logic of the shutdown to baseball

A disgruntled Atlanta Braves fan wrote a tongue-in-cheek (we hope) letter to his congressman, Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, on Oct. 8, the day after the Los Angeles Dodgers eliminated the Braves from the playoffs

We read his letter on Hardball Talk and figured we'd share some of it: 
Like you, I'm sure, I am profoundly disappointed that the Atlanta Braves lost the NLDS last night. And to the Dodgers -- a bunch of California liberals! 
This outrage cannot be allowed to stand. But the system has failed us. We tried to resolve this issue through traditional means: In last night's game alone, we must have sent batters to the plate at least 40 times. But just because we couldn't score enough runs, the Dodgers refuse to relinquish the title -- and worse, they won't even discuss it.  
LA's stubborn refusal to even talk to us about reversing the results of this series is unsportsmanlike and un-American. But there is an answer: If the Dodgers won't listen to the cries of average Americans like you and me, then Congress should outlaw Major League Baseball until the Dodgers cave... 
Just because the Dodgers had more hits, scored more runs, and won more games doesn't make them right. You can help them see that. And if that means the country will be deprived of its national pastime -- well, the Dodgers will have only themselves to blame. 
Read the whole thing here.