The introduction of the radio, the television, the internet, and now social media like twitter has allowed for more people to be connected to events around the world. Technology has played (and obviously still plays) a huge role in projecting ones ideas to the mass public.
David F. Venturo stated in his essay on Baseball and Material Culture in the Cambridge companion to baseball that, "radio and television broadcasting, which owners adopted by fits and starts, and with varying degrees of enthusiasm and understanding of their potential, made the game available over distances of hundreds, even thousands, of miles to millions of people who had never visited a ballpark" (Cassuto and Partridge 139). Further, this idea that baseball could be more personal even when it was hundreds of miles away is very progressive. Broadcasting a baseball game on television not only allows for people to see the players play the game, but it also allows people to form opinions about specific players based on what they see and hear.
Specifically, technology and media has allowed baseball players to create a name for themselves to the public eye. This presentation of the self can be good or bad and I am not debating that all baseball players present themselves appropriately or even a version of their true self. I am however, always pleased when a professional athlete does something to benefit someone other than him or her self. Children so often look up to professional athletes as inspirational figures, or someone they strive to be like when they grow up. Therefore when a professional athlete has the courage to stand up for something they are passionate about, children, through technological advancements, can learn quickly about these athletes and hopefully strive to be like them.
The Detriot Tigers relief pitcher, Phil Coke was bullied and harassed as a child, long before he entered the major leagues. Monday, at a hearing for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence in Detroit, was among other panelists who testified to help prevent and reduce children's exposure to violence. Policy recommendations will be presented to Holder later this year. What led Phil Coke to sit among other panelists to help the Attorney General's Defending Childhood Initiative? As a child Coke was often provoked into fighting by bullies and just bullied in general as a young child. Most importantly Detroit U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade "stopped him in the hallway to thank him [after Coke's testimony] and stated 'What you're doing is so important... kids will listen to you.'" Aware of his impact and stature as a Major League player, Coke wanted to use this to help increase awareness about bullying (Hunter, Detroit News).
The idea that baseball has become more personal through technology and has been able to reach more people quickly is visible in the story of Phil Coke. In making the decision to promote himself in a positive light, hopefully more children will look up to him not only as a great baseball player, but also as a strong human willing to fight back when being bullied.
