Ferd Lewis: Kurt Suzuki catching flak for his political play

Catcher Kurt Suzuki could have carried his bat all the way around the bases in Houston when he hit that breakthrough Game 2 home run in the World Series.

He could have dissed “Baby Shark.”

But you quickly got the feeling Monday that none of it would have elicited a reaction as fast or as fierce as Suzuki donning that Donald Trump-trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap in ceremonies at the White House.

Suddenly, people who couldn’t even tell you who won the World Series, much less who the Nationals’ catcher had been, were weighing in vehemently, pro and con, with opinions on Suzuki via social media.

Welcome to real hardball, Kurt.

Just as Suzuki, who had been hitting .043 when he clobbered the homer off of Justin Verlander, seemed an unlikely long-ball-hitting hero at the time, so, too, he appeared just about the last pro athlete one would expect to boldly march into the biggest political firestorm of this divisive period and all that surrounds it.

White House visits by championship teams were once grip and grin photo ops. Now, depending on who shows up and who stays home, they are political referendums.

So, there was Suzuki front and center early Monday, instantly reviled by the anti-Trump folks and warmly embraced — nearly as passionately as by the president himself — by pro-Trump faithful, while flashing a shaka.

“Come here, say a couple words, c’mon,” Trump said, grandly beckoning Suzuki to the podium.

When Suzuki tugged on the cap, which had apparently been autographed, the crowd cheered as President Trump enthusiastically hugged the catcher from behind with both hands.

“I love you all, thank you,” Suzuki said while raising his arms triumphantly and flashing the shaka sign.

That prompted the president, roundly booed when attending Game 5, but now beaming over the South Lawn endorsement, to declare, “What a job he did. I didn’t know that was gonna happen.”

Few did. At age 36, the heretofore quiet, largely unassuming Suzuki has definitely stepped out from behind the mask and into a whole different ballgame. One in which he is, depending on your political persuasion, either a proud supporter of or a dupe for the president and his policies.

Suzuki has become the latest and, in Hawaii at least, perhaps the most well-known athlete to step into activism. We’ve already seen St. Louis Cardinals Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong and Bellator MMA champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane number among the supporters of the Mauna Kea protests.

Suzuki’s advocacy was one that few, if any, saw coming. This is somebody, after all, who is said to have shunned endorsing candidates for office on Maui or statewide, even when reportedly solicited by close family members. And, somebody from the county that had gone the heaviest, percentage-wise, in this state for Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election.

Monday, Nationals teammate Ryan Zimmerman presented Trump with a No. 45 Nationals jersey. But several well-known players, including closer Sean Doolittle, declined the opportunity to appear. The Associated Press said 18 of 25 Nationals attended White House ceremonies, and eight players reportedly skipped in all.

Doolittle, in an interview with the Washington Post, said, “I feel very strongly about his (Trump’s) issues on race relations,” in citing a reason not to attend.

Suzuki did not immediately elaborate on his reasons for attending. And it soon didn’t matter much because he is now, for better or worse, known more for the hat with “MAGA” on it than the one with the cursive “W.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.