It's a pity that baseball has no following in the Nordic countries--or the rest of Europe, because they'd be familiar with the apocryphal statement attributed to Hall of Fame baseball manager Leo Durocher:
Nice guys finish last.
As Reuters reports:
The (Scandinavian) region's reputation for generosity was not undeserved.
Norway brokered the Oslo accord between Israel and the Palestinians in the early 1990s; Norway and Sweden are the top single donors of aid to the Palestinians after the United States; and Denmark launched an "Arab initiative" in 2003 to promote understanding. Its presidency of the European Union helped set up the "roadmap" for Middle East peace.
"That is why is has hurt so much to see the pictures of flags being burned and all the threats against the people who are there to help the Palestinian people," said Fathie El-Abed of the Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association.
And that's what happens to "nice guys."
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