To compare last weekend’s actions of members of the Missouri softball team with those of last fall by black football players is ridiculous.
The football players took a stand that could have left them without their respective scholarships to support fellow students protesting indifference to racist episodes on campus.
It seems the softball team is looking out for itself.
Retired football coach Gary Pinkel backed his players, a move that angered many wealthy boosters and politicians.
Softball coach Ehren Earleywine was quick to throw unnamed players under the team bus.
Before last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to South Carolina, members of the softball team issued a statement saying the game would be played under protest. Earleywine and the program are being investigated based on complaints from “outside and inside” the team, according to a university statement.
Players defending an embattled coach is not shocking, but the softball team’s childish tirade included the allegation “the administration was completely incompetent in handling the fall football scandal and they are doing a worse job at this.”
I wonder how football team members feel about that declaration.
Athletic Director Mack Rhoades is targeted in the statement for “conducting an unjust investigation, which includes: bullying and intimidating players during forced interviews.”
“Rhoades told us that we, the players, don’t have any say in who is the coach of our team; we believe a gag order has been placed on our coaches.”
They obviously were misinformed on the gag order, because Earleywine had plenty to tell the Kansas City Star last Sunday.
“There’s a couple of kids on the team that probably have things, exchanges between myself and them or different scenarios, that they would have liked to see handled differently,” Earleywine said.
“I’m tough on kids. I make them accountable, and there’s discipline in our program. I’m a throwback. If that’s demeaning, maybe, but it’s not about them, the person. It’s about their performance as a player.”
The coach some players are backing admitted he demeans players in the name of success on the diamond.
While it is unknown what he said to these unnamed players, we do know that the coach can let emotion get the best of him.
Earleywine began the season with a one-game suspension for committing a Level III NCAA recruiting violation.
In 2015, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Ethics Committee reprimanded him for “unprofessional comments made over the three previous years.”
While arguing a call last season in April, he made contact with an umpire, leading to an immediate two-game suspension by the SEC. He was thrown out of another game later that month, which also landed him a two-game suspension.
Earleywine has been quite successful as Mizzou’s softball coach, posting a 450-151 record. The Tigers closed 39-13 this season with the SEC Tournament upcoming.
His team might have his back, but his actions should be investigated. His players took a needless shot against the football team and AD – and Earleywine should accept some responsibility for those actions too.
It’s concern time for Cards
Ryan Howard returned to his native St. Louis last week and promptly hit a home run that secured a 1-0 victory for his Philadelphia Phillies over the Cardinals.
“It’s always good to be able to come home and play,” Howard said. “This is home. This is where it all began for me. I think it’s just something different when you get to play against the team you grew up watching.”
While the Cardinals won three of four games against the Phillies, the Redbirds closed the 10-game home stand 4-6. That left the Redbirds nine games behind the torrid Chicago Cubs.
It’s still too early to give up on winning the division, but June 1 is not far away. That’s when I start paying attention to standings.
The Cubs were 24-6 at the start of this week, the best 30-game record since the 1984 Detroit Tigers went 26-4. The Tigers won the World Series that season over the San Diego Padres.
Who did the Padres beat in the NLCS? The Cubs, three games to two.
Losing two of three to the Pirates meant the Cardinals blew a chance to catch the NL Central’s second-place team.
The Cardinals can’t be concerned with the Cubs’ great record. At 16-16 as on Monday, the Redbirds need to snap the .500 trend and begin stringing victories together.
Cepeda honored in KC
Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Orlando Cepeda, who helped bring the 1967 title to Busch Stadium, will be honored during the 2016 Hall of Game awards gala on June 11 at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Gem Theater in the 18th & Vine District in Kansas City.
Other honorees include Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Tony Oliva.
Cepeda coined the phrase “Bravo, Bravo, El Birdo” in 1967, a season in which he posted 25 home runs, a National League-leading 111 RBI and won the NL MVP Award. He was a seven-time All-Star and was elected by the Veterans Committee to the Hall of Fame in 1999.
He was traded to the Cardinals by the San Francisco Giants while the teams were playing in St. Louis during a 1966 series. Broadcaster Harry Caray later helped Cepeda purchase a home in Olivette, but he was not a St. Louisan for a lengthy time.
The Cardinals unexpectedly traded Cepeda for Joe Torre after the 1968 season.
For more information on the Hall of Game gala, visit the National League Baseball Museum website at www.nlbm.com.
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
