The name Caleb Campbell may mean nothing to most Gotham Baseball
readers. Some might recognize the name once it is given some context,
but wonder how it impact Gotham Baseball. It also opens a whole can of
political issues, some of which could influence whom you would vote for
as President of the US.
Campbell, a 7th round selection of the Detroit Lions, played his
football at Army. He was planning on attending the Lions camp, with a
good shot at making the team, utilizing the Army’s Alternative Service
Orders, which allowed Campbell to play football while working as a
recruiter for the Army. Earlier this week, the Army rescinded that
policy, ending Campbell’s participation.
This move, ordered by the Department of Defense, required that Campbell report for active duty, immediately. It was also determined not to grandfather in graduates who previously took advantage of this arrangement. As a result, the minor league career of Nick Hill, Milan Dinga, Chris Simmons, Cole White and Drew Clothier, have also ended.
Readers will recognize the names of White, Hill and Dinga, as they were all multiple time selections to the All Gotham Team. Last year, White and Dinga both expressed to GBM excitement at the chance at being drafted in their respective draft years to play pro baseball, thankful for a shot at their “childhood dreams”.
Both players were quick to state if the opportunity did not come, they would be “proud” to serve their countries as officers in the Army.
This move brings West Point in-line with the policies at the Naval Academy and at Air Force.
Now for the editorial:
If the Department of Defense wanted all of the service academies to have the same rule, it is perfectly within its rights. During a time when the nation is at war – whether or not you believe in the cause or not – realists understand that students at the service academies are soldiers as well as students.
The DOD has determined that these graduates of West Point would best serve the military in combat at the current point in time, and that is their call. They would know better than anyone. To change the rules going forward is perfectly acceptable. You can debate the correctness of the policy, or the change, as long as you look at it from both sides of the fence.
But remember this, not all military personnel serve in combat related functions. The Army Band, Color Guards, and other personnel serve in very visible roles not related to combat, but Public Relations.
Militarily, there is no requirement for the flag corps to be present at the Major League All-Star game, a choral group to sing the National Anthem at an event, the ceremonial flyover at a NASCAR event are all public relations tools for the military. These baseball players, under enlightened thinking by the head of West Point and the Army, were being given that same chance.
What makes matters worse, is that for the five baseball players, they did everything they were asked to do, and then had the rules changed on them. No one knows if these players would have agreed to attend West Point without the existence of the ASO. And it is unfair to ask them, or judge them on their answers if they gave them.
By not grandfathering in two classes of recent graduates, the Department of Defense has broken a promise to each of these athletes. Cadets are expected to live by an Honor Code. Shouldn’t the DOD honor its commitments to these athletes?
Caleb Campbell will get the most attention on talk radio, because it appears to some that he lost the most – a shot at the NFL rather than playing in the minors. Dinga has been suffering from injury woes since leaving school, but Hill and White, was hitting over .350 in the New York Penn League prior to Wednesday, and both had a shot at cracking a 40-man roster at some point over the next three years.
It is not known whether Army students who win academic scholarships are going to have to forfeit them in order to report for duty as well.
David Robinson, Roger Staubach and Napoleon Kaufman are three great stars of the Naval Academy who played professional ball and went on with their lives. Which, in a way, shows the error of this policy.
Taxpayers footing the bill for Cadets and Middies do so with the idea that they are creating career military officers, not graduates who will seek discharge once their commitment has ended. When was the last time you saw Robinson in an ad for the Navy?
The ASO was put in as attempt to bridge the Cadet-athlete gap, knowing that the best advertisement for West Point was not some 60-second commercial, but the sight of Nick Hill taking the mound for the California Angels, telling his story with each appearance of how West Point helped him get to where he was. The ASO was the opportunity for Schuyler Williamson, the second Army baseball player drafted in 2004, to play baseball for a season, and then CHOOSE to return to his career in the military.
The new rules are in my opinion, a mistake. The refusal to grandfather in athletes who relied on ASO is breaking a promise. What will be interesting is to see if either John McCain, a graduate of Annapolis, or Barack Obama, are quizzed on the campaign trail about the change in policy.
I know how they answer might influence some votes, here at GBM, as well as in the organizations of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, L.A. Angels and Seattle Mariners.
The name Caleb Campbell may mean nothing to most Gotham Baseball
readers. Some might recognize the name once it is given some context,
but wonder how it impact Gotham Baseball. It also opens a whole can of
political issues, some of which could influence whom you would vote for
as President of the US.