On Jackie Robinson Day

by Los Soxos on Apr 16, 2008 1:07 AM CDT Comment 11 comments

This is my first fan post so I want to make it meaningful. I believe that it is a shame that there are not many African-American players in the majors, and at the same time, I also believe it's a shame that Jermaine is our only African-American player on my Sox. Not to say that Kenny (who is a great general manager based on the limits he has been given) has not tried (Tori Hunter for example), but I put the blame more on the major leagues. They (Bud Selig) seem more interested in exporting our game to the world rather then outreaching the communities who have no fields to play on and who could benefit from a sport that is part teamwork and part strategy. I really hope that one day there will be another Frank Thomas or Harold Baines wearing a Sox uniform, but in the mean time, let's hope Jermaine does not get injured or else there will be no more African-American major leaguers playing on the SOUTH SIDE of Chicago. What a shame.

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A few years ago, the Oakland A's didn't have any African-American players

which was surprising considering the racial demographics of Oakland itself.

To take a glass half full approach, be happy that the Sox have Dye.

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

by rhythm on Apr 16, 2008 10:46 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

i blame dewon day

somewhere in arizona, jerry owens silently weeps.

by larry on Apr 16, 2008 12:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

No fields or little league in the inner city

And it used to be that every public high school in Chicago had a baseball team, now only about half of them do. You’ll never get to be a professional if you don’t have any organized ball as a youngster, it really is sad.

''It's a grinder-type attitude, energetic attitude, confident-type attitude, and if it grinds on some people, then I need to know who those people are so we can move them on''

by ChicagoPete on Apr 16, 2008 12:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Great Post!

I like the Obama picture too!

by 815Sox on Apr 16, 2008 4:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Follow the Money

With any bureaucracy, just follow the money. The reason MLB has more interest in expanding its product globally is because it stands to gain more from that than from bringing it to the inner cities.

That said, it continues to irk me that Jackie Robinson Day leads to heated debates about whether MLB is marketing itself sufficiently to urban areas and to inner cities. Jackie Robinson doesn’t merely represent African-Americans playing baseball, he represents the freedom to choose. Thanks in large part to Robinson’s efforts, African-Americans are free to play baseball, basketball, football, or any other professional sport.

Is the reason for fewer and fewer blacks in the majors because of a lack of effort by MLB? Or is it simply because urban youths aren’t interested in playing baseball as much as they are interested in football and basketball? The road to the majors is a long, tenuous one, whereas NFL and NBA players are getting paid millions of dollars oftentimes before they’re of legal drinking age. Somebody living in poverty, be he white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or anything else, is looking for a quick exit from that life, and the other major sports simply provide a greater possibility of instant gratification. Also, even building fields or increasing education in the inner cities won’t solve the problem that it’s still a lot easier (and cheaper) to get together with 3 or 5 buddies for a quick game of hoops instead of rounding up 18 guys to play a game that requires gloves, balls, bats, helmets, and other equipment .

Also, it seems to me that baseball is by far the most diverse sport of the major US sports. How come nobody’s complaining about the lack of African-Americans in the NHL? Or about the lack of white players in the NBA? Or Asians in the NFL? The fact is that certain people simply gravitate towards certain sports, and while MLB could be assigned part of the blame, there simply isn’t that much blame to go around. Athletes will play what they want to play, and really, that’s what professional sports, and Jackie Robinson Day, are all about.

Joist

by Joist on Apr 16, 2008 5:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

those answers are simple

no one cares about hockey. white people are unathletic; they should be grateful they still have the “big dopey white guy” role in basketball; plus they can play hockey. asians are too smart to play a contact sport that leaves most debilitated to some degree for life.

somewhere in arizona, jerry owens silently weeps.

by larry on Apr 16, 2008 6:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL

On a more serious note, I thought it was interesting that Jeff Blake has been outspoken about how racial biases influence the demographics of the players at a certain position, ie that white people should be quarterback and lineman, but not running backs and wide receivers. It game me some food for thought regarding the racial biases in sports.

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

by rhythm on Apr 18, 2008 10:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

So?

That still doesn’t change the fact that the MLB and other Pro Sports orginizations are ignoring the needy communities in this country, especially inner city communities. Its not like they don’t make enough money to do this by any stretch.

by 815Sox on Apr 16, 2008 6:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, but the players are ignoring them too

as well as the rest of the country

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

by rhythm on Apr 18, 2008 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I’m a Sociology major with a focus on inner city issues so I’m well aware of this. Interesting major, but it can be really damn depressing

by 815Sox on Apr 18, 2008 3:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its The Wrong Game In The Wrong Place

Baseball is an historical artifact. It doesn’t really belong in the 21st Century. The pace is too slow and it doesn’t televise as well as other more modern sports. Soccer has the same problems. However, both games remain enormously popular because of their historical legacies and because, at their heart, they really are very good, very interesting games.

Baseball has an additional problem in that it isn’t played much in a casual, just for fun, day-to-day basis in the US. (Its a different story, of course, in the baseball-playing Latin countries and a damn good thing too.) You don’t have to have organized youth baseball to become good. Willie Mays didn’t have that. But what you must do it play all the time. That means daily pick-up games with lots of kids in your neighborhood who have the interest, space and means to play. If you don’t have that, then you need all those youth teams and tournaments that the suburbs provide.

It seems to me that the conditions that grew generations of great African-American baseball players are gone forever. Young Jackie Robinsons or Roy Campanellas just aren’t going to grow up in neighborhoods where all their friends play baseball everyday. (That’s probably true for young Mickie Mantles and Luke Applings too.) So, the only way there are going to be great Africa-American players is if there are leagues to pull them the interested together and get them playing alot.

I guess that’s what Los Soxos is calling for. I’d like to see it, but I don’t think it could ever work. Bud Selig really has made alot of noise about this and, as far as I can tell, he’s spent some money too. I’m no fan of Bud, but he really does care about minorities succeeding in baseball. But I don’t think it matters. The game just doesn’t resonate with African-Americans anymore and I don’t see that changing.

by Landfill on Apr 20, 2008 11:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs