Would he do it all over again?
That was the only question I wanted to ask Benny Gallo. He wanted to talk about baseball.
Baseball is not what he does. He is who he is.
It’s the wonder of looking at a freshly mown field, the pride of identifying a teenager who might be good enough to make a living playing the game, the camaraderie between colleagues who sacrifice nights and weekends for something that might be less work. and more calling.
“The energy of baseball and the people that are in baseball, it’s really contagious,” Gallo said. “You’re in your element.”
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For Gallo, that’s all in the past. His life in baseball ended three years ago when the Washington Nationals fired him as one of their scouts. The Nationals required their employees to get the COVID vaccine. He refused.
He sued. The Nationals advised staff to consider “reasonable accommodation” for employees with “sincerely held religious beliefs”.
In his lawsuit, Gallo cited in part his belief “as a devout Christian about the sanctity of his physical body.” The team told him they “recognise and respect” his religious beliefs but could not accommodate him because not vaccinating meant he would “pose an unacceptable health risk” to those he would come in contact with.
Before a possible trial, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that citizens could challenge the sincerity of Gallo’s religious beliefs. The National Council lawyers did just that.
“I had to go through all the reasons why I went against the church’s recommendations,” Gallo said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t agree with what the Pope is telling me.’ “
In the end, there was no trial. In August, two years and four months after Gallo filed suit, he and the Nationals agreed to a confidential settlement. He would have to wait months or years before an actual trial, and he said the nonprofit advocacy group funding his lawsuit has expressed concern about how long the case is taking.
“I would love to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court,” Gallo said, “but reality sets in.”
Gallo didn’t get his Nationals job back. He stays out of baseball.
One spring day, he drove from his home in Encinitas to Orange County, an unemployed scout who just wanted to catch a high school game featuring soon-to-be first-round draft pick Bryce Rainer of Harvard-Westlake.
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“Really talented,” Gallo said. “You could see this guy was legit.
Gallo’s position on vaccination would not cause problems for the team today.
The Nationals did not return a message asking if the team still mandates COVID vaccinations for its employees, but Major League Baseball does not, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak. In 2021, MLB required a COVID vaccination for employees in the league office, the person said.
In the past three years, 19 states have passed laws regarding exemptions from COVID vaccinations, including 10 that require private employers to exempt anyone who cites a religious reason for refusing vaccination, according to the National Academy of State Health Policy.
Gallo wonders if his refusal to get the vaccine could explain why he can’t get a scouting job or even an interview. But as Gallo acknowledges, there’s no good time for any scout to be looking for a job.
“You have a better chance of getting a seat on the next shuttle than you do of getting a job,” he said.
He’s 66. He noted a lawsuit filed against MLB last year by 17 former scouts alleging age discrimination. The suit has been extended to 35 scouts, but a trial date has not been set.
In the data revolution, teams often choose to supplement — or replace — scouts with video that can be evaluated by back-office analysts.
Just last month, MLB announced a deal with a Swiss technology company that the company said will “transform the search for player talent” by providing video analysis from 20,000 professional, amateur and international games each year to the league’s 30 teams.
Life was easier in 1980 when Gallo was selected in the same draft as Darryl Strawberry.
“He had 1,” Gallo said, laughing. “I had 396.
He played. He was training. He researched. He then refused the vaccine and essentially avoided the sport he loved.
He sold cars. He drove for Lyft. He received a personal trainer certificate. He is considering bartending.
“I took my Social Security early and I took my baseball pension early, so I’ve got that,” he said. “But it was hard.
“I miss baseball. I think I belong there.”
He looked straight at me.
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“If someone told you you couldn’t write anymore,” he asked, “what would you do?”
No one told Gallo that he could no longer search until he refused the vaccine.
“If someone thought for whatever reason that vaccination was the right thing to do, that’s fine,” he said. “But for me, what I did was the right thing to do.”
So the question I’ve been waiting to ask: Knowing what he knows now, would Gallo do it all over again?
“I would do it again.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.