By Bob Herpen
The Phanatic Magazine
Monday was a watershed event in the long history of relations between baseball and the U.S. government.
Cal Ripken, baseball's Iron Man and most blemishless personality, was named special envoy to the State Department -- complete with the announcement by none other than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"This isn't a political statement for me, necessarily," Ripken said upon receiving the honor. "This is about the kids and planning baseball and using baseball for good reasons."
Right, Cal. Put a good and honest face on the situation. Be the company man you've always been, except now the stakes are a bit higher.
On the surface, Ripken is on track to be the goodwill ambassador and point man for making baseball a more viable cultural choice and positive influence for young kids across the globe. However, his mere presence inside the Beltway at any time may signal a new, secret chapter in the tensions between the game and the government.
Both baseball and Congress can grip Cal right where they want him with this cloud of steroid allegations hanging like the Sword of Damocles. It's a perfect set-up.
George Mitchell and current senator John McCain, primarily responsible for the Congressional hearings last year, now have a reputable baseball insider to take some cautionary messages to Bud Selig. Don't think they won't smell an opportunity to fire a warning shot coming a mile away.
Likewise, Bud and his cronies have a squeaky-clean lookout to feed some good PR to the House and Senate and press the MLB agenda. Selig is at least smart enough to recognize an inside source as valuable to spread the word of baseball's problem-solving to those who might again put it on trial.
It's as easy as a whisper passed through an intermediary between parties to get things done in the seat of America's power, and Ripken is the perfect conduit. From his home in Aberdeen, he's an hour from Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C. and four from Park Avenue in New York - close enough to be within reach at any time.
The smiles, the glad-handing, innocuous words of praise, camera flashes and softball questions, he's accustomed to. Those are the hallmarks of media-induced hero worship in American sports. That's what he'll encounter as he circles the world as the ace face in baseball's quest to reach all continents.
It's what happens after the spotlight dims where Ripken might find himself in the middle of a game he's not prepared to play. Clubhouse lawyers are one thing; actual Federal litigators with Harvard pedigrees and aggressive lobbyists in tow are another.
Let's hope he either moves too fast and too distant with his new job, or turns on the charm to keep either side at bay. The name and the reputation are valuable currency, and that's why he was picked to be an ambassador in the first place.
Nonetheless, what Cal may find is that hardball in the District has a totally different meaning and connotation than at Camden Yards.
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