Boston Red Sox legendary pitcher Curt Schilling recently announced plans to run against Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2018, joining hundreds of other pro baseball players who have run for public office. According to Baseball-Reference.com and many other sources, roughly 300 people involved in playing, ownership, beat writing, scouting, and management have been elected to office, including Ronald Reagan (who played Grover Cleveland Alexander in a movie) and started his career as a broadcaster calling Chicago Cubs games.
In fact, my research published in Ron Briley’s edited book The Politics of Baseball shows that players on average do better than the average politician in elections. Certainly fame from playing America’s pastime helps, but it also seems to benefit a fair number of minor leaguers, owners and commissioners. Because baseball is seen as a team sport, the ability to organize and work together with a disparate group of varying talents seems well-suited to the political arena.
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