Rob Manfred Says MLB Statement About Roe v. Wade Would Have Been Inappropriate
Woke corporate politics has become a consistent problem in recent years, with the trend only accelerating since the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Sports leagues and organizations have also increasingly bowed to progressive pressure and taken it upon themselves to enter the culture wars.
Just recently, for example, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays engaged in performative Twitter theater over gun control.
MLB also publicly expressed support for BLM and then caved to presidential misinformation and activism by moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia in 2021.
Commissioner Rob Manfred recently defended that indefensible decision, saying he would do the same thing again despite record primary voting in Georgia.
But maybe the tide against injecting politics into sports is finally turning.
In an interview with LA Times reporter Bill Shaikin, Manfred gave a revealing answer when asked why MLB didn't issue a statement after the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade:
"This is a really personal issue. People have widely varying views on the topic, and they are deeply held. From my perspective, to make a statement on behalf of the organization, given those differing views, was not something that I felt was appropriate."
Manfred is right, of course. Abortion is a very personal issue with widely varying and nuanced views, and also has absolutely nothing to do with MLB.
Moving the All-Star Game was a laughably poor decision that accomplished nothing other than embarrassing the league and further eroding baseball's popularity. Maybe Manfred's finally learning that he has no business injecting himself into complicated political topics.
Corporations like Disney have seen how quickly their status can change when trying to engage in woke political activism.
MLB's made plenty of their own disappointing mistakes in the past few years. But Manfred's comments seem to indicate that executives might actually be learning their lesson.