In what might be the least surprising political note of the autumn, the Los Angeles Times’ Dan Morain reports Dodgers 2B Jeff Kent has contributed $15,000 to supporters of a California anti same-sex marriage proposition.
In a disclosure filed with the California secretary of state, Kent listed his occupation as professional baseball player for the Dodgers and his address as Austin, Texas. He gave the $15,000 in a transaction dated Monday but which only now is public.
Proposition 8 would ban same-sex marriage by imposing a California constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman.
With both sides spending upward of $30 million each, the measure has become the most costly ballot measure ever dealing with a social issue, and the spending is by far the most for any proposition anywhere in the country this year.
Frank Schubert, managing the Yes-on-8 campaign, said he was unaware that Kent had weighed in.
“He has had a stellar career and will no doubt one day be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame,” Schubert said. “I wish the Giants had kept Kent and traded [Barry] Bonds.”
Either Schubert is thoroughly unfamiliar with Bonds’ accomplishments between the lines, or his views on baseball are as enlightened as his take on civil liberties. Having made a surprise hospital visit recently, perhaps now would be a good time for the Sultan Of Surly to further curry public favor by making a large donation to Prop 8’s opponents?