Baseball Welcomes the World While America Hits a Blind Spot

To those who are in doubt as to whether or not the USA is integrally involved in the global economy, the recent World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays presented some compelling evidence.

There was much more to it than a battle between a USA team and a Canadian team. Over the course of the baseball season, the Dodgers spent an obscene amount of money to pay for the very best talent they could find.

Where did they find their world-class talent? The world. In addition to the good old USA, they had players from Canada, Japan, South Korea, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, Curaçao, and South Sudan. Were they taking jobs away from USA players? Obviously. Did it work? Obviously. The level of talent was unprecedented. Yamamoto was an almost perfect pitcher. Ohtani, their pitcher/slugger, isn’t just all-world; he’s all-galaxy.

Toronto, which came within a hair of taking it all, was represented by players from six countries: the USA, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Japan, and Canada.

If none of these “aliens” had been playing in the World Series, would it have been as entertaining? Aren’t the best performers the most entertaining on the big stage? Of course. Does the USA have a problem with excellence? Major League Baseball has special legislation from Congress to smooth the immigration process for foreign players. For the remainder of the USA economy, not so much.

There is much foreign talent in business and science that wants to come to the USA to work. The USA is aging. It needs blue-collar workers and farm workers. It needs more young people. Are baseball players with no collars more important than workers with blue collars and white collars?

Our bipolar immigration “policies” are wildly swinging from administration to administration and are embarrassing. The global economy is a fact whether we join it or not. Major League Baseball has been rewarding excellence. We as voters in the USA have been rewarding buffoonery in Washington. The whole world was watching the World Series. The whole world is watching us too. Were they equally impressed?