Playing By The Rules
by J. Clark Kelso, Professor of Law & Director,
Capital Center for Government Law & Policy
University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and
Donald H. Wollett, Professor Emeritus University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law

Our lives are changed forever by the tragic events of last September 11. The country remains on "high alert" and "condition yellow." Our young women and men are in harm's way overseas. Uncertainty and the threat of much more violence at home and abroad cloud our future.

But life also goes on. We still have bills to pay; children to get off to school; and families to raise. Lawyers and judges still have cases to try, jurors to instruct and convince, and clients to advise.

Given the press of ordinary life and business, it takes a strong personal commitment to remember what actually has changed and to honor the memory of those thousands who died at the hands of terror. It is not enough simply to say that our lives have changed; we must take action. Potential energy must become kinetic.

Umpires and judges share the burden of enforcing the rules of the game, in baseball and in life. This picture expresses the whole purpose behind the Playing by the Rules Youth Citizenship Project; i.e., umpires and judges (and other legal professionals) working together to aid young people to learn to play by the rules in all that they do. Left to right are "acting" Pacific Coast League umpire, Johnny Doskow, the "Voice of the Sacramento River Cats," Third District Court of Appeal Justice Connie Callahan, and amateur umpire, Marcia Barclay, who has umpired Olympic and collegiate games and is a member if the ASA Softball Hall of Fame. Barclay is also a senior supervisor on the administrative staff of the Sacramento County Superior Court.

This has been part of the inspiration for a group of local leaders who have unified over the last several months around a powerful idea: Creating a common, community forum for children and adults alike to celebrate and reinforce America's history, values, culture and law.

That forum - the pole star around which each of us has rallied - is the uniquely American game of baseball. The game which, as George Will has noted, gives us the gift of "virtues made vivid." Baseball is a microcosm of American society, and its history is interwoven throughout our nation's history and law. We are a nation built by immigrants and characterized by diversity, held together at least in part by our national pastime.

In partnership with the Sacramento River Cats, the nation's preeminent minor league baseball franchise, and on behalf of the McGeorge School of Law and all of the members of our advisory committee, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Playing By The Rules project. Playing By The Rules' mission is to promote the development of character, good citizenship, selfless service, and patriotism among young people using the history, culture, stories, and timeless performers of baseball as exemplars and focal points for discussion and education.

The goal of the Playing by the Rules Youth Citizenship Project is to reach and inspire all our region's young people. This group reflects the adult and youth commitment to facilitating this goal. Left to right, back row, Jessie Morris, Chief Deputy Public Defender of Yolo County, and his daughter, Cathrine; Fern Laethem, Board Member of the Center for Youth Citizenship and executive director of the Sacramento County Indigent Defense Project; and Jerry Chong, general counsel, Asian Sports Foundation and of the Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy and Leadership (CAPITAL). Left to right, front row, are three young men representing the Center for Youth Citizenship, and David Kunisaki representing the Asian Sports Foundation.

We have room for just one story here. In 1945, the 16 major league club owners met to decide whether to racially integrate baseball. A secret vote was taken, and 15 out of 16 owners were against integration. The lone exception was a lawyer, Branch Rickey, president, part owner, and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey was plotting a revolution, and on October 23, 1945, Rickey's office announced the signing of a young man named Jackie Robinson, who excelled in four sports at UCLA. Rickey explained, "We made this step for two reasons. First, we are signing this boy because we think of him primarily as a ball player. Secondly, we think it is a point of fairness."

Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson opened the door to major league baseball for all races. Without them, integration would have been long delayed. Because of their courage and determination, they revolutionized the game of baseball and created a greater awareness of civil rights for the rest of America at a time when the official judicial doctrine was still "separate but equal." According to baseball author Jules Tygiel, "The spirit of Robinson is a constant reminder of all that the game and the nation aspire to in the realm of equal opportunity and freedom."

Baseball not only survived the tandem of Rickey-Robinson, but it prospered. It became, at long last, truly the national pastime - open to all, playable everywhere, coast to coast and beyond. Someone once said about Branch Rickey, "he's not a graceless man, but he's not a charmer either. It just goes to show how far you can go in this life with nothing but brains, guts, and integrity."

And Jackie Robinson, the other side of the equation, was equally remarkable. He rose to the occasion, controlled his competitive instincts for the first season by agreement with Rickey; then, having proved that he could play the game, performed the second year with breathless spirit that characterized his temperament.

Jackie was truly his own man, but we need to be reminded that Rickey was the one who picked him. Once he was free from the restraints of his agreement, Jackie played with the recklessness manifested by people who are not afraid to fail although they never expect to.

Baseball is a game of freedoms. Freedom to compete on terms defined by merit, freedom to have merit determined by performance, freedom to compete under rules enforced by neutrals, freedom to enjoy playing the game, freedom to win with grace, and freedom to lose with style. We are going to highlight these freedoms in all of our materials and activities.

The first project of Playing By The Rules is a special celebration of Law Day on May 1st and May 2nd. On Law Day, we have the opportunity as a community and country to celebrate respect for the "Rule of Law." Respect for the Rule of Law means that we respect the limitations imposed upon our government and ourselves by the law, including constitutional provisions, statutes, judicial decisions and international obligations. It means that we are a government of laws, and not merely of individuals.

Bob Hemond of the River Cats and Justices George Nicholson and Bob Puglia meet with Branch Rickey, Jr., President of the Pacific Coast League, to discuss the Playing By the Rules project. [l-r: Hemond, Nicholson, Rickey, Puglia]

We have asked area law firms to invest $1,000 to "Adopt a School" for Law Day. The donations will let us arrange for buses to transport high school students and chaperones to a River Cats baseball game on Thursday afternoon, May 2nd. Each student will be provided with educational materials about law and the legal profession, and a "ballpark lunch" of hot dogs, chips and drinks.

The other event occurs on the evening of May 1st, when the legal community has the chance to celebrate Law Day at an evening River Cats game and pre-game barbecue at Raley Field. The entire Sacramento legal community - judges, partners, associates, staff, law students, and family and friends - should come out to this game so we may jointly celebrate the freedoms that come with our nation's respect for the rule of law.

A second project, which is just getting underway, will involve "tele-mentoring" using the Internet as a platform for a mentor program where professional and amateur baseball players of the past and present, umpires, coaches, lawyers, judges and legal educators will connect with area high school students.

You can join us in these efforts. Visit our website at www.playingbytherules.org. Learn more about the Adopt-a-School program or the May 1st barbecue and game by calling the offices of the Capital Center for Government Law & Policy at (916) 739-7104. Volunteer some time to help mentor a kid. This is your chance to "Play Ball!"