Oscar Gamble Society

With MLB’s decision to honor Jackie Robinson this past Sunday came the expected glowing biopics of Jackie himself.  Not enough can be said about what this man did - and most of us can’t imagine what he went through to accomplish what he did.  Just amazing.  But we’ve also heard a number of voices expressing concern that the percentage of blacks in MLB is declining, and that’s a “major issue”.

I respectfully disagree.

First, I find it curious that folks like CC Sabathia (though he’s far from the only one) want to exclude every other minority group except African-Americans when raising the red flag of concern.  Guys like David Ortiz and Vlad Guerrero don’t “count” - they’re Dominican, not African-American.  The ballplayers from Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, etc, don’t count.  And the Japanese ballplayers apparently shouldn’t be part of this discussion.  I’m Caucasian-American, so I guess my perspective doesn’t count, but it seems to me that when Jackie Robison broke the color barrier 60 years ago, he did it for *all* minorities - not just those that were specifically African-American.  To me, his legacy is that over 40% of MLB (if I recall the number correctly) is “minority”.  Make no mistake, every single one of the guys that fall into that category can - and should - thank Jackie Robinson. 

Second, the issue has never been to meet or exceed a quota of African-American baseball players - nor should it ever be.  The issue was one of *opportunity*.  The issue was that guys like Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and so many others, were denied the opportunity to play MLB - not because of a lack of ability, but because of a lack of “proper physical attributes”.  The opportunity now exists for players world-wide, quite frankly.  Baseball academies are all the rage in the Dominican Republic (among other places, I believe).  The Pacific Rim has its share of scouts and team representative scouring the fields for talent.  We’ve had ballplayers from Australia - and some European countries.  If a player has the talent to play professional baseball *and* the desire to pursue that goal, they *will* be given an opportunity - and will be judged based on their talent, no longer based on the “proper physical attributes”.

To me, this is the “issue” - if you choose to call it that.  Athletic African-Americans, like anyone else, have opportunities outside of baseball… most notably in basketball and football, but even in soccer and if Tiger Woods is to have any impact, in golf.  (Ideally, African-Americans can look beyond the sporting fields for career opportunities if they so desire - but that’s a separate discussion/issue for another forum.)  It’s a *good* thing that young African-American athletes can *choose* to play one sport over another - rather then be told what they can and cannot do.

Now, MLB - and specific players (Joe Morgan comes immediately to mind) - has made an effort to bring baseball to the inner city.  Perhaps its just a PR move, perhaps not - but such an effort isn’t, and shouldn’t, be limited to African-American neighborhoods.  I understand if MLB wants to attract the best athletes (in general), and thus develops inner city programs in America, and baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Japan, and whatever other programs seem useful in attracting the best talent overall to the game of baseball.  MLB should/is making sure that anybody who’s interested in the sport as a child has the opportunity to try the sport, and if they so desire, to continue to have access to the sport for as long as they so desire.

MLB’s concern should be (and perhaps actually is) that MLB is attacting the best athletes to make the sport the best it can be i.e. don’t exclude people on the basis of race.  Put another way:  Don’t tell a black athlete he can’t play so that an inferior white athlete can, and don’t tell an Asian athlete he can’t play so that an inferior black athlete can.

Now, all that said, I do agree with the assertion that MLB (among other sports, most notably football) needs to do a far better job of getting minorities into management positions.  When I say “minority”, I’m thinking not only of African-Americans, however - but also Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, Japanese, etc.  In other words, as on the field, the front offices should be housed by the folks most qualified for the job - regardless of race.  In this regard, it does seem that the “opportunity” is not as equal as it currently is on the field of play.  *That* should be the focus.

Sixty years ago, Jackie Robinson opened the door to opportunity and choice.  All athletes now have the opportunity to play professional baseball if they so choose.  However, not all non-athletes or ex-ballplayers seem to have equal opportunity to coach/manage in baseball or work in baseball front offices if they so choose.  If we’re to use the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier to bring light to current, related issues - then it’s *off* the field that needs to go under the microscope, not on the field.

Okay, I’m done now.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 6:58 am and is filed under Sports, Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.