MLB... marketing geniuses

As you've probably already heard, Craig Biggio is angry with the commissioners office after being ordered to remove his Sunshine Kids pin from his hat. On the surface, this looks like Major League Baseball doesn't care about charities and kids with cancer, but think about it for a minute. MLB's efforts to crack down on steroids and HGH have, according to some reports, made those things even more popular with players and probably the young people who look up to those players. When MLB cracked down on hitting batters with pitches by giving the umpires more power to eject pitchers and managers, and to issue warnings, HBP numbers only went up. In 1998, when reporters asked "Hey Big Mac, what's that big supplement bottle in your locker?" and MLB subsequently grumbled about banning Androstenedione, the guy who sat next to me at work, Phil, immediately ran out and bought Androstenedione and Creatine and started taking them both for no particular reason other than he seemed to think it was cool.
The point is, the commissioners office appears to have an extraordinary power to make things popular by banning them, so in this case maybe they've figured that out and they're using their powers for good instead of stupid. If they crack down on charity work, maybe more players will choose to stick it to the man (pin-related puns and all) and support more charities.

So, if you want to stick it to the man too, hop on over to the Sunshine Kids website.



(And whichever charity uses the big glob of pine tar as its logo should keep under the radar before the league orders Biggio to remove it from his batting helmet.)