'It takes a man'

Iraq war opponents often characterized warmed-over 60s hippies, incoherent left-wing radicals and/or obnoxioius loudmouthes. New York Times' sport columnist Bill Rhoden paints a different portrait of an unlikely anti-warrior: Toronto Blue Jays' first baseman Carlos Delgado.

Following the 2001 terrorist attacks, most Major League Baseball stadia started playing 'God Bless America' during the 7th inning stretch, rather than the traditional 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.' In fact, this was done on the order of baseball's commissionner Bud Selig.

Last March when the United States invaded Iraq, Delgado, in his own quiet way, said that for him, enough was enough. He had stood for "God Bless America" through the 2003 season but vowed not to do so this season. In an act of a simple, mostly unnoticed, protest against the war, Delgado, a 32-year-old first baseman, has chosen to remain in the dugout while "God Bless America" is played.

"I'm not trying to get anyone mad," Delgado explained. "This is my personal feeling. I don't want to draw attention to myself or go out of my way to protest. If I make the last out of the seventh inning, I'll stand there. But I'd rather be in the dugout."

He didn't make a big deal about it or rant or rave to the media. He just did it. Quietly. Rhoden writes, Delgado's protest this season has been so quiet, so subtle that [Selig] didn't know about it until I called him to talk about it on Monday.

"I don't honestly think that politicizes the issue," Selig told Rhoden, calling the playing of the anthem a matter of respect. "After all, we do have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Perhaps Selig is not aware that the choice to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan was a POLITICAL decision.

A Blue Jay player, who was pro-war, noted that Delgado never raised the issue with his teammates.

Despite the silent and inconspicuous nature of Delgado's gesture, baseball's figure head promised to make a mountain out of a molehill.

"I'm in the process of getting more information, but eventually I would like to sit down and discuss it with Carlos," Selig said. "I am very sensitive to this kind of issue, both as a matter of respect for our country and for one's right to express his opinion."

Delgado is American, by nature of having been born on and grown up in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is, of course, a territory that was conquered by the non-imperial United States following the non-imperial Spanish-American war.

The player sees his protest as consistent with his earlier opposition to the Navy's use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a weapons testing ground. In many ways, the United States military waged a form of war for 60 years on the tiny island, using a 900-acre site for bombing exercises.

Delgado, who grew up on the mainland, remembers older residents telling stories about bomb explosions.

"They lived in that target practice area for 60 years," he said. "They tell you stories of how, in the middle the night, a bomb blew up. I never experienced it, but I can imagine it. I can see why you might be a little hostile from time to time. "

Even the general manager of Delgado's Toronto club praised the player even though the GM actively supported the Iraq war and criticized the Canadian government for not sending troops (why didn't Selig investigate that criticism?).

"I have no problem with what Carlos did," the GM said in a telephone interview from Toronto. "Carlos didn't hold a placard and stop traffic. He didn't impede the game because he's not that kind of guy. He's been total class in the community almost from the day he arrived."

"It takes a man to stand up for what he believes," Delgado said Monday. "Especially in a society where everything is supposed to be politically correct."