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Can Dr. Ibram X. Kendi hit a major league curve ball?

CO. Hoosier

Hall of Famer
Aug 29, 2001
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MLB doubled down on its radical racial chic with a web page of recommended readings, activities and discussion topics to observe the first anniversary of George Floyd's death. MLB has a wonderful and important story to tell about racial integration as it confronted the issue before Truman integrated the military, before SCOTUS decided Brown v. Board of Education, before congress passed meaningful civil rights laws, and while Jim Crow laws flourished in many places in America. Instead of telling its compelling story, MLB embraces the "anti-racism" schtick imbedded in CRT, endorses the historical inaccuracies in the 1619 Project, and adopts the whites are racists themes advanced by Robin DiAngelo and others.

MLB must think its fans are racists ignorant goons. The condescension imbedded in its race messaging is palpable. This isn't the fan base I know.

Im not suggesting the topic or race should be hidden or kept in the shadows. What I am saying that we have made huge racial progress in the US and MLB is a very significant part of that progress. The ball parks are places of common interests and mostly devoid of the racial and other strife going on beyond the gates. How many here have "high-fived" a person of color outside of a ball park? And this isn't just about MLB. Baseball from little league to majors is about common purpose and friendships that go beyond race. Instead of bringing the current off-field racial strife into the ball parks, baseball should be sending its own message out through its gates and into the community.

Tony Gwynn is one of many minorities who could hit the hell out of the ball. Hundreds of players have left their marks including those in the Negro Leagues. Their stories are important. Their stories should be part of the MLB story.
 
MLB doubled down on its radical racial chic with a web page of recommended readings, activities and discussion topics to observe the first anniversary of George Floyd's death. MLB has a wonderful and important story to tell about racial integration as it confronted the issue before Truman integrated the military, before SCOTUS decided Brown v. Board of Education, before congress passed meaningful civil rights laws, and while Jim Crow laws flourished in many places in America. Instead of telling its compelling story, MLB embraces the "anti-racism" schtick imbedded in CRT, endorses the historical inaccuracies in the 1619 Project, and adopts the whites are racists themes advanced by Robin DiAngelo and others.

MLB must think its fans are racists ignorant goons. The condescension imbedded in its race messaging is palpable. This isn't the fan base I know.

Im not suggesting the topic or race should be hidden or kept in the shadows. What I am saying that we have made huge racial progress in the US and MLB is a very significant part of that progress. The ball parks are places of common interests and mostly devoid of the racial and other strife going on beyond the gates. How many here have "high-fived" a person of color outside of a ball park? And this isn't just about MLB. Baseball from little league to majors is about common purpose and friendships that go beyond race. Instead of bringing the current off-field racial strife into the ball parks, baseball should be sending its own message out through its gates and into the community.

Tony Gwynn is one of many minorities who could hit the hell out of the ball. Hundreds of players have left their marks including those in the Negro Leagues. Their stories are important. Their stories should be part of the MLB story.
i'll say this much the pride of the national league, your saint louis cardinals, i do not believe have a single black player on the roster. i'm reaching here but maybe they're trying to penetrate the black market more. nba is about 75% and nfl 60%. the birds' roster is heavily comprised of players from LA countries
 
i'll say this much the pride of the national league, your saint louis cardinals, i do not believe have a single black player on the roster. i'm reaching here but maybe they're trying to penetrate the black market more. nba is about 75% and nfl 60%. the birds' roster is heavily comprised of players from LA countries
In addition to increased LA numbers we have numbers of Asians too. We have discussed the decreasing numbers of AA's in baseball a few times here. There are many reasons for that, but I don't think racism is among those. MLB focusing on race as it has done in the link above could be part of the problem. Baseball has many AA stories to tell, but it doesn't. Look at the lame-brained decision to yank the all star game from Atlanta. That was to be a celebration of Hank Aaron. AA's in Atlanta would have been more interested in that event than Denver fans.
 
i'll say this much the pride of the national league, your saint louis cardinals, i do not believe have a single black player on the roster. i'm reaching here but maybe they're trying to penetrate the black market more. nba is about 75% and nfl 60%. the birds' roster is heavily comprised of players from LA countries
Did they trade world series champion Dexter Fowler?
 
In addition to increased LA numbers we have numbers of Asians too. We have discussed the decreasing numbers of AA's in baseball a few times here. There are many reasons for that, but I don't think racism is among those. MLB focusing on race as it has done in the link above could be part of the problem. Baseball has many AA stories to tell, but it doesn't. Look at the lame-brained decision to yank the all star game from Atlanta. That was to be a celebration of Hank Aaron. AA's in Atlanta would have been more interested in that event than Denver fans.
I highly doubt AA players are being turned away by because of race if they can play better than someone else. May have to do with it being played when they are kids vs Basketball and Football . Look at the NBA , if you are an American born white player you have about no chance to make it anymore. Latin's play baseball year round with sticks and milk carton gloves if they have to. Just more interest for them, you rarely see any play basketball or football save kickers. I just can't imagine that once at major league level race has any part of it.
 
i'll say this much the pride of the national league, your saint louis cardinals, i do not believe have a single black player on the roster. i'm reaching here but maybe they're trying to penetrate the black market more. nba is about 75% and nfl 60%. the birds' roster is heavily comprised of players from LA countries
The "pride of the national league"? You mean the team that dropped 4 straight at home to the Reds? The team whose fans boo louder for the best hitter in baseball (Castellanos) than they cheer for their own star player (Arenado)?

OK fair enough. Castellanos may the second best hitter in baseball - behind the Reds' Winker:

 
My other question would be if we are labeling everyone where do black latin players fit? I admit I haven't kept up with baseball the last few years to know who is on what team like I used to
 
The "pride of the national league"? You mean the team that dropped 4 straight at home to the Reds? The team whose fans boo louder for the best hitter in baseball (Castellanos) than they cheer for their own star player (Arenado)?

OK fair enough. Castellanos may the second best hitter in baseball - behind the Reds' Winker:

And those damn 11 WS titles and a town that’s truly “baseball heaven” (to my personal annoyance).
 
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i'll say this much the pride of the national league, your saint louis cardinals, i do not believe have a single black player on the roster. i'm reaching here but maybe they're trying to penetrate the black market more. nba is about 75% and nfl 60%. the birds' roster is heavily comprised of players from LA countries
You are reaching big time. Only ~7% of MLB players are black, which comes out to only ~2 per team. And every team has lots of Latin American players. Heck, there are more players from the Dominican Republic alone than there are black players. Think about that stat: more than 10% (98) of MLB players are from an island with the population of the state of Georgia (~10.7 million).

As for Asian born players, it's still a very, very small percentage. I believe there were only 13 (1.4%) Asian born players on opening day rosters this season. In fact, the % of foreign born players has dropped slightly for four straight years (28.3%, down from a peak of 29.8% in 2017).
 
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You are reaching big time. Only ~7% of MLB players are black, which comes out to only ~2 per team. And every team has lots of Latin American players. Heck, there are more players from the Dominican Republic alone than there are black players. Think about that stat: more than 10% (98) of MLB players are from an island with the population of the state of Georgia (~10.7 million).

As for Asian born players, it's still a very, very small percentage. I believe there were only 13 (1.4%) Asian born players on opening day rosters this season. In fact, the % of foreign born players has dropped slightly for four straight years (28.3%, down from a peak of 29.8% in 2017).
so you don't think this is an effort to reach the black community to try to spike interest in the game? i have no idea. i was shocked to see zero blacks on our roster. i mean my childhood was ozzie smith, big silent george, lou brock, willie mcgee, terry pendleton, vince coleman, on and on.
 
so you don't think this is an effort to reach the black community to try to spike interest in the game? i have no idea. i was shocked to see zero blacks on our roster. i mean my childhood was ozzie smith, big silent george, lou brock, willie mcgee, terry pendleton, vince coleman, on and on.
Remember when Heyward joined the Cubs? Some Cards fans had some choice words for him.
 
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i'll say this much the pride of the national league, your saint louis cardinals, i do not believe have a single black player on the roster. i'm reaching here but maybe they're trying to penetrate the black market more. nba is about 75% and nfl 60%. the birds' roster is heavily comprised of players from LA countries
No habla
 
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The "pride of the national league"? You mean the team that dropped 4 straight at home to the Reds? The team whose fans boo louder for the best hitter in baseball (Castellanos) than they cheer for their own star player (Arenado)?

OK fair enough. Castellanos may the second best hitter in baseball - behind the Reds' Winker:

Ummmm, Guerrero is clearly the best hitter in the MLB.
 
so you don't think this is an effort to reach the black community to try to spike interest in the game? i have no idea. i was shocked to see zero blacks on our roster. i mean my childhood was ozzie smith, big silent george, lou brock, willie mcgee, terry pendleton, vince coleman, on and on.
Ahh, Willie McGee......longest neck this side of Howard Stern.
If Willie McGee and Anne Coulter procreated, I think they would have a giraffe......literally.
 
When he played for the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant team:

ozzie-smith-90donruss-simps.jpg
 
MLB doubled down on its radical racial chic with a web page of recommended readings, activities and discussion topics to observe the first anniversary of George Floyd's death. MLB has a wonderful and important story to tell about racial integration as it confronted the issue before Truman integrated the military, before SCOTUS decided Brown v. Board of Education, before congress passed meaningful civil rights laws, and while Jim Crow laws flourished in many places in America. Instead of telling its compelling story, MLB embraces the "anti-racism" schtick imbedded in CRT, endorses the historical inaccuracies in the 1619 Project, and adopts the whites are racists themes advanced by Robin DiAngelo and others.

MLB must think its fans are racists ignorant goons. The condescension imbedded in its race messaging is palpable. This isn't the fan base I know.

Im not suggesting the topic or race should be hidden or kept in the shadows. What I am saying that we have made huge racial progress in the US and MLB is a very significant part of that progress. The ball parks are places of common interests and mostly devoid of the racial and other strife going on beyond the gates. How many here have "high-fived" a person of color outside of a ball park? And this isn't just about MLB. Baseball from little league to majors is about common purpose and friendships that go beyond race. Instead of bringing the current off-field racial strife into the ball parks, baseball should be sending its own message out through its gates and into the community.

Tony Gwynn is one of many minorities who could hit the hell out of the ball. Hundreds of players have left their marks including those in the Negro Leagues. Their stories are important. Their stories should be part of the MLB story.
I've said this before but the nerds now run the game of baseball.
When the vast majority of front offices are run by nerds who have never played the game. You end up with a shitty product and policies to match
 
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Ahh, Willie McGee......longest neck this side of Howard Stern.
If Willie McGee and Anne Coulter procreated, I think they would have a giraffe......literally.
Just spit out my beer! Ran like he was going to fall down forwards. Whitey ball. Good decade for the birds and the Hoosiers.
 
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Just spit out my beer! Ran like he was going to fall down forwards. Whitey ball. Good decade for the birds and the Hoosiers.
That was my other thing how did he stay upright? We shouldn't leave our own 7 footer only because of his neck Todd Lindeman out of the neck contest though
 
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To the original point, I don't see it being as interesting to the AA kids to get started in, you can play hoops by yourself or just a cpl of people and NBA is marketing more '' heros'' I don't think a suggested reading list is going to bring many players out. Baseball isn't nearly as big on the HS or college level in most places vs BB and FB . Don't see baseball players selling much to anyone like basketball players and football. Honestly I think trying to use the race issue for MLB is a long past thing . I just don't see a major league talent being left out because of race. You have a better chance of facing being a white guy trying to play basketball but again if you can play it isnt going to matter. Coaching and managing I can see there could be a factor . The best thing with baseball is you can be an average size person and play, you might be in FB and BB but there is a much bigger size factor vs baseball. Would be interesting if some of the great AA stars from the 60s and on after the color barrier would have maybe played a different sport with their athletic ability today ?
 
Those 80s teams had my favorite pitcher too. Joaquin Andujar. He wanted to hit a homerun more than anyone on the team. Like he was swinging a big red bat with all his might
Wasn't a cards fan but back when it was game of the week nationally and local used to show the WGN Cubs games , no cable in my dad's house. Cards were on a lot. Andujar, Hendrick, Oz , I hated Willie mcgee! F******* Willie McGee was my nickname for him. He was so goofy looking but he won a lot of games for them. I don't see Willie excelling in other sports like some athletes. He looked like he didn't know how to hold a bat, awkward but had a helluva career
 
Wasn't a cards fan but back when it was game of the week nationally and local used to show the WGN Cubs games , no cable in my dad's house. Cards were on a lot. Andujar, Hendrick, Oz , I hated Willie mcgee! F******* Willie McGee was my nickname for him. He was so goofy looking but he won a lot of games for them. I don't see Willie excelling in other sports like some athletes. He looked like he didn't know how to hold a bat, awkward but had a helluva career
June 1984 "The Sandberg Game" off Bruce Sutter.
 
Wasn't a cards fan but back when it was game of the week nationally and local used to show the WGN Cubs games , no cable in my dad's house. Cards were on a lot. Andujar, Hendrick, Oz , I hated Willie mcgee! F******* Willie McGee was my nickname for him. He was so goofy looking but he won a lot of games for them. I don't see Willie excelling in other sports like some athletes. He looked like he didn't know how to hold a bat, awkward but had a helluva career
Good memory. Wow. He’d always choke up like crazy
 
Good memory. Wow. He’d always choke up like crazy
Not to forget Keith Hernandez . My best Harry Caray memory dozing on a Sunday afternoon on the WGN broadcast. '' Steve , the Wilsons are here from Kokomo Indiana, thats Omokok spelled backwards...........silence, Steve that didnt sound very good did it? No Harry, it didn't . I didnt know at that time Harry was drinking beer the whole game while he called it.
 
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