Editorial Roundup for Tuesday – April 26, 2005

• Baseball fans : Prime minister campaign

Baseball fans : Prime minister campaign

From the Chicago Tribune April 17, 2005

A baseball fan in Fenway Park got more than he bargained for the other night when he reached over a low right field wall, apparently trying to grab a ball hit for a triple by Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek. The guy’s hand collided with the mouth of Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield, who was trying to field the ball. Sheffield reacted instantly by taking a swing at the fan.

The offender was promptly ejected from the stadium, so he didn’t get to see the Red Sox triumph over the hated Yankees. He was lucky not to be arrested, and he can expect to be held in contempt by a lot of fans for daring to interfere with the game. (Even Red Sox players sided with Sheffield, in a rare show of interteam solidarity.) Oh, and the fan would be wise to avoid New York for a while—maybe the next 20 years.

And all this was for what? A lousy baseball, for heaven’s sake—which he didn’t even get. …

Teams go through dozens of them in every game without thinking twice about it. But many fans, seeing a round object headed their way, react as though it’s a winning lottery ticket or a splinter from the True Cross. Occasionally, say when Barry Bonds hits a record-breaking home run, the ball can be valuable. But most of them have about the same monetary worth as a day-old loaf of bread. …

So it might be wiser, when a ball arcs toward your seat, just to stay out of the way. If you don’t believe us, ask Steve Bartman.

From the Daily Telegraph, London April 20, 2005

Michael Howard’s Tory critics are right when they say that he should stop banging on about immigration and asylum-seekers, and move on to the meatier, everyday issues that divide the two main parties. The Conservative leader has made the point bravely and well that Britain should be more choosy about which foreign nationals should be allowed to live and work here, and which should be excluded or sent back where they came from. Everybody now knows where he stands on the subject. Some voters will agree with him, others will say that he is wrong. Nearly halfway through the election campaign, very few in either camp are likely to switch sides on this issue, no matter how much more may be said about it on the hustings. What a relief it was yesterday, therefore, when Mr Howard promised to scrap Labour’s plans to revalue every house in England for council-tax purposes – plans that threaten to land millions of households with bills that they cannot afford, simply because the notional prices of their homes have gone up. This is exactly the sort of policy upon which the Conservatives should concentrate from now on. Mr. Howard’s priority must be to focus on those bread-and-butter issues that touch the lives of every hard-working and independent-minded family in the country – on tax, crime, education, pensions, health care and transport. In every one of these areas, the Conservatives have better thoughtout policies than either Labour or the Liberal Democrats. So far, however, they seem to have lacked the courage to trumpet their ideas to the electorate.…