Professionals

Arroyo may be guilty of violating the "professional" code of conduct most ballplayers honor. But you know what, I don't care.

When did baseball players become "professional" in the sense that part of their job is maintaining the code of honor that distinguishes the nobility from the rabble? Jack Wilson sounds like he would challenge Bronson Arroyo to a duel, if that was still legal.

Ballplayers are not "professionals" in the old-fashioned sense of lawyers and clergymen. There is no long history of this. Baseball players are "pros" because they do something that other people do for fun. And get paid. Guys that get paid a little are "semi-pro" players.

I couldn't give a rat's ass about "professionalism" in a baseball context. I want the baseball team to win games.

I applaud Jack Wilson's outstanding dedication this off-season. I've always been a fan of Jack Wilson, and I've never said a bad word about his play. And of course I applaud the gentlemanly off-field behavior of players like Jack Wilson.

But that's not why I'm a fan. I do not follow the team because I hope the players will put on a tuxedo and give money to charity. Does anyone?

So I wonder: did Jack bust his ass this offseason because he wants to be a better player and win games? Or did he bust his ass this offesason because he is a "professional"? There's a huge difference, I think.

If Jack Wilson thinks of himself as a "professional" in the same sense that, say, a journalist might, then of course it's laudable that he's a student and a steward of the history and standards of his discipline. All hail respect for the game. But this only gets you into SABR. Get the journal, Jack. Go on eBay and collect memorabilia to donate to the Honus Wagner Museum.

We're not all into this way of appreciating the game. Thank god. Without some irrational, unprofessional passion, baseball would lose about 98% of its fan base.

So I'm not impressed with the professionalism angle on the Arroyo-Wilson war of words. Not at all. Arroyo may be a punk and a jackass, but he's a winner. And Jack Wilson may be a man of principle and integrity, but he's a loser. Duh -- look at the standings. And losers don't bitch to the fans about the way the winners part their hair, starch their shirts, or phrase their correspondence.

That's how I see it.

The season has gotten incredibly tiresome. I'm sure that, were players to read blogs, their attitude would probably be, "You're not having a good time, so why don't you find another hobby." Maybe I'll take that advice.

The Pirates are just not worth the attention these days.