Chicago Cubs, Ben Zobrist not afraid to challenge MLB

A couple Chicago Cubs, the latest being Ben Zobrist, have shared a few critiques of Major League Baseball early in the 2018 season. Maybe the league should pay attention.

On the surface, the fact that Chicago Cubs veteran utility man Ben Zobrist asked Major League Baseball not to be such a stickler about players’ shoe choice doesn’t seem like a matter of much importance.

On one side, the MLB has clear guidelines set for uniform policy (shoes must be at least 51% team color), and they’re within their rights, therefore, to tell Zobrist that he needs to shift his attire.

But on the flip side of that…really? Plain, throwback black cleats are a problem for you, Major League Baseball?

As a friend of mine said this morning, when you take your cues on how to enforce regulations of individual expression from the NFL, you probably need to re-think your strategy.

Zobrist’s grievance attracted some support from fellow ball-players and also raised interesting questions about marketing, with shoes becoming such a status symbol and staple in modern fashion.

More than that, though, Zobrist making his case to the MLB about allowing players to express themselves more freely (within reason) fits with the Cubs’ outspoken, authority-challenging style (cultivated by their manager).

Remember Anthony Rizzo putting it out there that the MLB schedule should be shortened, specifically cutting out some of that horrid April baseball where people can’t hit and everyone is freezing (if the games even play in the first place)?

A lot of fans reached straight for their standard tropes about players being spoiled or whining despite making millions of dollars. And in doing so, they again missed the point: all Rizzo was asking for was more reasonable work conditions, just as we might have done. He even said he’d take a pay cut.