OT Retire 21

[71buc]

It's approaching 6:00 AM here and this is way off topic but I was hoping to ask you all to help me out. In three hours I will be undergoing a surgery to donate a kidney to a friend I met through baseball. Due to a series of complications this has been a year long journey. I find myself both anxious and relieved that it is finally coming to fruition. Even though I am not an employee of baseball the MLB assistance team (BAT) is paying for 6 weeks of my salary, hotel and airfare. They are an amazing organization.http://web.mlbcommunity.org/index.js...ssistance_team

Many people who known me have asked me about my motivation to do this. I try not to minimize my actions when I explain that it's the right thing to do. It would be a bigger deal if I ignored my friend's needs when I obviously have*the ability to make a difference in his life. While delivering Mickey Mantle's eulogy Bob Costas quoted Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who said every boy builds*a shrine to some baseball hero, and before that shrine, a candle always burns.*Perhaps this is my candle to Roberto. In the past 40 years I know that he has inspired many other selfless acts. He was a powerful role model during my formative years. As a child I was acutely aware that I lacked his athletic talent. However, I knew early on there was much more to the man than baseball and that I could perhaps emulate him in a more profound way. I am fairly certain that belief is what lead me to this moment and a career in social work.

The Roberto Clemente award is in my opinion the most significant award a player can earn. However, I am hoping that one day MLB will honor Roberto by retiring his 21 as they have Jackie Robinson's 42. Both men transcended the game. Robinson is baseball's moral compass and Clemente is it's patron saint. Although Clemente has profound cultural significance for Latinos such as I, for many fans of my generation Clemente represents a bigger ideal than ethnicity, nationality, culture, and language. He represents compassion, mercy, honor, dignity, and pride. As a society I fear that these are all values we seem to be losing a grip on. By retiring 21 MLB would be honoring those principles as much as the man. This is where I am asking for your assistance. If you share my beliefs, please email MLB and tell them to retire 21. I could not find a link to the commissioners office. However, you could address your email to Bud Selig here*http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/help/contact_us.jsp. Thanks for indulging me.