Here's another angle from which to see the presidential race: Where your sports heroes are putting their money - should they happen to be campaign donors. Few are, but I noticed last night that John Smoltz has contributed the max to Mitt Romney. Yep, I'm a Braves fan, from way back (even have a Smoltz autograph from when the Braves used to train in West Palm Beach). At opensecrets.org, where I did the search to pull up Smoltzie's donor info, they describe his "occupation" as "Atlanta Braves Baseball Pitcher," which doesn't really do justice to a cinch Hall of Fame career.
Another Brave, actually now retired, who gave the max, also to Romney, is Dale Murphy, the great centerfielder from the 1980s. When I did a profile of Romney two years ago and went out to Utah to visit some of the LDS authorities and other Mormons, Romney's guy asked if there was anyone in particular I really wanted to meet. "Dale Murphy," I said. We met for breakfast. He looked like he could still play, and I brought up his stats from 1982 and 1983, when he won the back-to-back NL MVPs that should have won him election to the Hall of Fame. Murphy was amused that someone could remember his stats, especially since he seemed to have forgotten them. By the way, Murph is a Mormon, and Smoltz a member of an evangelical church. Small sample size, I know, but it's nonetheless interesting they're on the same political team.
