Sunday, April 11, 2004
The Give and Go
T.J. Quinn of the New York Daily News looks at political contributions by sports figures, finding "a world of folks who lean toward the conservative side, but are pragmatists at heart."
For example, Don Fehr of the MLBPA has given to Republicans Orrin Hatch and John McCain, who supported MLBPA challenges to baseball's antitrust exemption, while Bud Selig contributes heavily to Democrats. The only two New York baseball players to contribute within the past three election cycles are Al Leiter ($2,000 to Senator/Hall of Famer Jim Bunning) and Alex Rodriguez ($2,000 to George W. Bush). Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Valentine and Nolan Ryan also contributed to Bush, who got far more money from the sports world than anyone else. Ryan also contributed to the New York Senate campaign of Rick ("I'm the Guy Running Against Hillary Clinton") Lazio.
Only three teams don't contribute to MLB's own PAC: the Braves and Cubs, who are tiny parts of media companies with much broader agendas, and George Steinbrenner's Yankees.
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T.J. Quinn of the New York Daily News looks at political contributions by sports figures, finding "a world of folks who lean toward the conservative side, but are pragmatists at heart."
For example, Don Fehr of the MLBPA has given to Republicans Orrin Hatch and John McCain, who supported MLBPA challenges to baseball's antitrust exemption, while Bud Selig contributes heavily to Democrats. The only two New York baseball players to contribute within the past three election cycles are Al Leiter ($2,000 to Senator/Hall of Famer Jim Bunning) and Alex Rodriguez ($2,000 to George W. Bush). Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Valentine and Nolan Ryan also contributed to Bush, who got far more money from the sports world than anyone else. Ryan also contributed to the New York Senate campaign of Rick ("I'm the Guy Running Against Hillary Clinton") Lazio.
Only three teams don't contribute to MLB's own PAC: the Braves and Cubs, who are tiny parts of media companies with much broader agendas, and George Steinbrenner's Yankees.
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