wrbones
04-11-03, 08:33 AM
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/56450.htm
TIM AND SUSAN DEFAMED
By BEN WALKER
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PEACE STRIKES OUT:
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins had been invited to a Cooperstown celebration of their baseball flick "Bull Durham" - but the Hall of Fame president canceled it because of their outspoken anti-war activism.
AP
April 11, 2003 --
The Baseball Hall of Fame president has pulled the plug on a 15th-anniversary celebration of the movie "Bull Durham" because of anti-war criticism by co-stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.
Dale Petroskey sent a letter to Robbins and Sarandon this week, telling them the festivities April 26-27 in Cooperstown had been called off.
Recent comments by the actors "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger," said Petroskey, a former White House assistant press secretary under President Ronald Reagan.
Robbins responded in a letter to Petroskey, saying: "You belong with the cowards and ideologues in a hall of infamy and shame."
Robbins plays an up-and-coming minor league pitcher in the 1988 film and Sarandon plays a fan who helps him focus his erratic talent. Kevin Costner also stars.
Instead of commemorating the movie, the Hall canceled the celebration in a letter sent Tuesday.
"In a free country such as ours, every American has the right to his or her own opinions, and to express them. Public figures, such as you, have platforms much larger than the average American's, which provides you an extraordinary opportunity to have your views heard - and an equally large obligation to act and speak responsibly," Petroskey wrote. "We believe your very public criticism of President Bush at this important - and sensitive - time in our nation's history helps undermine the U.S. position, which ultimately could put our troops in even more danger. As an institution, we stand behind our President and our troops in this conflict."
Robbins and Sarandon, his longtime partner whom he met in the filming of "Bull Durham," have been active in rallies to protest the war in Iraq.
In his letter, Robbins said he'd been looking forward to "a weekend away from politics and war." He said he did not realize baseball was "a Republican sport."
"I am sorry that you have chosen to use baseball and your position at the Hall of Fame to make a political statement," Robbins wrote. "I know there are many baseball fans that disagree with you, and even more that will react with disgust to realize baseball is being politicized.
"To suggest that my criticism of the president put the troops in danger is absurd . . . I wish you had, in your letter, saved me the rhetoric and talked honestly about your ties to the Bush and Reagan administrations."
Robbins signed his letter: "Long live democracy, free speech and the '69 Mets - all improbable, glorious miracles that I have always believed in." AP
TIM AND SUSAN DEFAMED
By BEN WALKER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEACE STRIKES OUT:
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins had been invited to a Cooperstown celebration of their baseball flick "Bull Durham" - but the Hall of Fame president canceled it because of their outspoken anti-war activism.
AP
April 11, 2003 --
The Baseball Hall of Fame president has pulled the plug on a 15th-anniversary celebration of the movie "Bull Durham" because of anti-war criticism by co-stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.
Dale Petroskey sent a letter to Robbins and Sarandon this week, telling them the festivities April 26-27 in Cooperstown had been called off.
Recent comments by the actors "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger," said Petroskey, a former White House assistant press secretary under President Ronald Reagan.
Robbins responded in a letter to Petroskey, saying: "You belong with the cowards and ideologues in a hall of infamy and shame."
Robbins plays an up-and-coming minor league pitcher in the 1988 film and Sarandon plays a fan who helps him focus his erratic talent. Kevin Costner also stars.
Instead of commemorating the movie, the Hall canceled the celebration in a letter sent Tuesday.
"In a free country such as ours, every American has the right to his or her own opinions, and to express them. Public figures, such as you, have platforms much larger than the average American's, which provides you an extraordinary opportunity to have your views heard - and an equally large obligation to act and speak responsibly," Petroskey wrote. "We believe your very public criticism of President Bush at this important - and sensitive - time in our nation's history helps undermine the U.S. position, which ultimately could put our troops in even more danger. As an institution, we stand behind our President and our troops in this conflict."
Robbins and Sarandon, his longtime partner whom he met in the filming of "Bull Durham," have been active in rallies to protest the war in Iraq.
In his letter, Robbins said he'd been looking forward to "a weekend away from politics and war." He said he did not realize baseball was "a Republican sport."
"I am sorry that you have chosen to use baseball and your position at the Hall of Fame to make a political statement," Robbins wrote. "I know there are many baseball fans that disagree with you, and even more that will react with disgust to realize baseball is being politicized.
"To suggest that my criticism of the president put the troops in danger is absurd . . . I wish you had, in your letter, saved me the rhetoric and talked honestly about your ties to the Bush and Reagan administrations."
Robbins signed his letter: "Long live democracy, free speech and the '69 Mets - all improbable, glorious miracles that I have always believed in." AP