Chicago mayor to give Jackie Robinson West players championship rings
After Little League International announced its decision to strip Jackie Robinson West of the United States championship this week, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel was among the first to send his support to the players, saying the city still considered them champions. Emanuel even went as far as to call the president and CEO of the Little League International Stephen Keener asking for his decision to strip the kids of the championship title to be reserved.
Well, apparently those weren’t just empty gestures designed to raise the hopes of some undoubtedly disappointed young athletes. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Manuel will back up his words by going through with a ceremony honoring the team at next month’s City Council hearing and presenting each member with a championship ring. .
“Mayor Emanuel believes it is unfair for the organization to have punished the children who did nothing wrong,” said a mayoral source.
“These young men demonstrated tremendous character both on and off the field, and Chicago will honor them as the champions they are,” Emanuel said.
“The memories they created will last a lifetime, and so will the championship rings they have earned.”
As the Sun-Times story notes, Emanuel sought private donors to fund championship rings for the team immediately following their run in August. As it goes, those rings take months to manufacture, so this ceremony is by no means a last second decision or reaction. It’s something the city has been planning and obviously looking forward to delivering. Now that they can, they’ve decided it’s appropriate to separate the kids form the drama and scandal to honor their performance.
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Obviously, that’s not a decision everyone will agree with. In fact, Emanuel’s intentions have already been met with contention. Some simply believe it sends the wrong message to reward the team — emphasis on team — regardless of which level the infractions took place on, while others are turning it into a political or racial issue.
While all are certainly entitled to their opinions, it really is difficult to find fault with honoring the kids who were almost assuredly innocent bystanders. Beyond that, this story has drawn enough attention over the past few weeks that those players know exactly what happened, why it was wrong and why by name they are no longer recognized for their achievement. To assume they don’t understand or won’t learn from it is wrong too, and to simply shun them is the worst outcome.
Let them have one last moment, then let them live and continue to learn.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
