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Taking their cue from the compassionate conservative currently occupying the
White House, a group of Congressmen have taken it upon themselves to
personally intervene in an individual’s job action.

The catch? The person in question is Eric Gregg, one of the major-league
umpires who resigned as part of an end run around a perfectly legal labor
agreement in 1999. The attempt to strong-arm Major League Baseball failed,
and 22 of the umpires in involved were subsequently let go by MLB (an
arbitrator recently ordered that nine of the 22 be rehired, a group that
does not include Gregg).

In appealing to Bud Selig, the 25 Congressmen, led by Rep. Robert Brady
(D-Pa.), state in their letter that Gregg is "destitute and near
bankruptcy" and may be in danger of losing his home. Gee, I can’t
imagine why. Gregg has stubbornly refused to pursue another line of work in
the wake of his resignation. As best as I can tell, he’s been doing some odd
jobs, including bartending, and essentially biding his time, waiting for a
phone call that isn’t going to come.

This seems like a natural development, right? A man quits his job as part of
an illegal labor action, won’t establish another career in the wake of doing
so, and finds himself suffering the consequences of that decision.

Of course: Congress should take up his cause!

Eric, get a job. Mr. Brady, get some common sense. Gregg is not a victim of
anything but his own decision-making, and his ridiculous attempts to create
sympathy for himself are embarrassing. There are millions of people more
deserving of a helping hand, and the use of government officials’ time and
effort on Gregg is a slap in the face to each and every one of them.

I had planned to provide a full list of signatories to the letter sent by
Brady to MLB, but I’m having some difficulty doing so. I have been able to
acquire a partial list, which I’ll include below. If your Congressman is on
here, and you happen to be falling on hard times, drop him a line. I’m sure
he’ll be happy to round up some of his cronies and make it their business to
get you back on your feet.

Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.)
Rep. Robert Borski (D-Pa.)
Rep. Mike Doyle, (D-Pa.)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.)
Rep. Joseph Hoeffel (D-Pa.)
Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.)
Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.)
Rep. Frank Mascara (D-Pa.)
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.)

Joe Sheehan is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by
clicking here.

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