How FOX and Major League Baseball Can Really Support Our Troops

By Tom Finkel in Baseball

Thu., Oct. 29 2009 @ 4:56PM

Though last night's World Series opener lacked a compelling plot line on the field, the dramaturgs at Major League Baseball and FOX saw to the heartstrings-pulling with a flag-waving tribute to Our Troops.

As MLB announced in a press release yesterday, Game One was "dedicated in support of Welcome Back Veterans (www.welcomebackveterans.org), an MLB Charities initiative designed to support returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families with mental health treatment and job opportunities."

The celebration included appearances by First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden, as well as a stirring rendition of "God Bless America" performed by U.S. Army Sgt. Mary Kay Messenger of the West Point Band.

Commendably, welcomebackveterans.org has bestowed a reported $5.8 million in grants, according to MLB. And FOX cameras' repeated shots of uniform-clad servicemen and -women sitting in pairs around spiffy new Yankee Stadium were, well, made for TV.

But how's this for an idea: If Major League Baseball really wants to share the World Series love with our military corps, howzabout they invite 52,325 of 'em to take in a World Series game at Yankee Stadium, instead of just a photogenic handful? Now that would be a sight -- especially with StubHub scalpers asking untold thousands for seats.