A Black Eye for Baseball, and for America
Before I even get started, let me say that I hold Jackie Robinson in the highest regard. Not just baseball players, not just athletes, but all Americans of all races and colors owe him a great debt.
It is unfathomable to think that a modern day ballplayer would tolerate the outrageous slings and arrows that Robinson endured. Baseball recently fell all over itself to praise Gary Sheffield for not pulling a Ron Artest on a Boston fan. But just imagine what the Yankee outfielder would have done if the fan’s malice was motivated not by the color of Sheffield’s uniform, but by the color of the man wearing it.
That said, you’d think there have been no racial pioneers in this country in the 58 years since Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. In March of this year, Congress decided to give Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal, putting him in the company of such distinguished Americans as Danny Thomas, Harry Chapin, and Charles M. Schulz. Robinson no doubt deserves such an honor, joining Roberto Clemente, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens as the only athletes to receive the award. But the timing of the medal, some 32 years AFTER Robinson’s death, smacks of tokenism.
This is the same Congress that cares so little about issues that affect blacks and other minorities living and dying today, such as a stolen election, the health care crisis, capital punishment, corporate corruption, and a war against phantom enemies. Even Martin Luther King would appear to be too controversial for such an award (though he has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom). But with one stroke of the pen, Congress hopes to burnish its race relations credentials by making Jackie Robinson the Crispus Attucks of the 20th century.
Not to be outdone, Major League Baseball has declared April 15 Jackie Robinson Day across the league. I’m all for coming up with something else to think about on tax day, but could we please honor somebody other than Robinson for contributions to baseball. Hank Aaaron, for example.
Unlike the adoration received by Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds in their attempts to break the single season home run record, Aaron was met with death threats and racial insults in the year leading up to his conquest of Babe Ruth’s all-time mark.
Thirty years later, his accomplishment seems all the more amazing, even as Bonds takes aim at it. Bonds, who will turn 41 in August, still needs 53 more homers to pass Aaron. That doesn’t seem too daunting in the modern, the steroid-juiced era, especially for a guy who has averaged 45 a year over the past three. But when Aaron played, the mound was higher, the parks were bigger, and the off-season was spent working, not working out. Aaron never hit more than 47 homers in a season, and it took him three years to hit his last 42 roundtrippers.
Also lost in all the Robinson glorification is the fact that the situation for blacks in baseball still leaves a lot to be desired. Escorting Rachel Robinson onto the field at Dodger Stadium earlier this month was Milton Bradley. The Dodgers’ hot-headed centerfielder expressed his admiration for Robinson in a column in the L.A. Daily News.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2817257,00.html
In a perfect world, the Dodgers might have chosen a representative who wasn’t best known for throwing a plastic beer bottle at a fan last year in Colorado. But they didn’t have much choice, since Bradley is the only black everyday player on the roster.
While Robinson would have been honored by the the recognition for his accomplishment, he would have been disappointed at baseball’s overall performance on racial issues. For sure, the onslaught of Hispanic and Asian players like Cesar Izturis, Hee Seop Choi, and Odalis Perez would not have happened were it not for Robinson’s efforts. But the percentage of black players and managers is lower today that it was when Robinson died. L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said it best in his April 15 column.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-plaschke15apr15,1,1290351.column
"In his last public address, at the 1972 World Series shortly before his death, Robinson scolded baseball for its failure to hire an African American manager.
Not surprisingly, Rachel Robinson's most passionate answer during a brief interview Thursday was about baseball's failure to recruit more African American players.
Last season African Americans made up only 9% of major league rosters.
Thirty years ago, it was 25%.
Every season, through lack of interest and opportunity, the barrier that Robinson broke seems to regenerate a few more inches.
'I'm very saddened by that fact,' Rachel Robinson said. 'Change can occur, but it has to be sustained, and I wish I could see that happen in my lifetime.'"
The Dodgers are talking about making Jackie Robinson Day an annual event, and asking Major League Baseball to make sure they have a home game on April 15 every year, the same way Boston plays at Fenway Park on Patriots Day. Before they do, they had better make sure they plan to have a black player on the roster. It would be a terrible black eye for baseball if they didn’t.
It is unfathomable to think that a modern day ballplayer would tolerate the outrageous slings and arrows that Robinson endured. Baseball recently fell all over itself to praise Gary Sheffield for not pulling a Ron Artest on a Boston fan. But just imagine what the Yankee outfielder would have done if the fan’s malice was motivated not by the color of Sheffield’s uniform, but by the color of the man wearing it.
That said, you’d think there have been no racial pioneers in this country in the 58 years since Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. In March of this year, Congress decided to give Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal, putting him in the company of such distinguished Americans as Danny Thomas, Harry Chapin, and Charles M. Schulz. Robinson no doubt deserves such an honor, joining Roberto Clemente, Joe Louis, and Jesse Owens as the only athletes to receive the award. But the timing of the medal, some 32 years AFTER Robinson’s death, smacks of tokenism.
This is the same Congress that cares so little about issues that affect blacks and other minorities living and dying today, such as a stolen election, the health care crisis, capital punishment, corporate corruption, and a war against phantom enemies. Even Martin Luther King would appear to be too controversial for such an award (though he has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom). But with one stroke of the pen, Congress hopes to burnish its race relations credentials by making Jackie Robinson the Crispus Attucks of the 20th century.
Not to be outdone, Major League Baseball has declared April 15 Jackie Robinson Day across the league. I’m all for coming up with something else to think about on tax day, but could we please honor somebody other than Robinson for contributions to baseball. Hank Aaaron, for example.
Unlike the adoration received by Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds in their attempts to break the single season home run record, Aaron was met with death threats and racial insults in the year leading up to his conquest of Babe Ruth’s all-time mark.
Thirty years later, his accomplishment seems all the more amazing, even as Bonds takes aim at it. Bonds, who will turn 41 in August, still needs 53 more homers to pass Aaron. That doesn’t seem too daunting in the modern, the steroid-juiced era, especially for a guy who has averaged 45 a year over the past three. But when Aaron played, the mound was higher, the parks were bigger, and the off-season was spent working, not working out. Aaron never hit more than 47 homers in a season, and it took him three years to hit his last 42 roundtrippers.
Also lost in all the Robinson glorification is the fact that the situation for blacks in baseball still leaves a lot to be desired. Escorting Rachel Robinson onto the field at Dodger Stadium earlier this month was Milton Bradley. The Dodgers’ hot-headed centerfielder expressed his admiration for Robinson in a column in the L.A. Daily News.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2817257,00.html
In a perfect world, the Dodgers might have chosen a representative who wasn’t best known for throwing a plastic beer bottle at a fan last year in Colorado. But they didn’t have much choice, since Bradley is the only black everyday player on the roster.
While Robinson would have been honored by the the recognition for his accomplishment, he would have been disappointed at baseball’s overall performance on racial issues. For sure, the onslaught of Hispanic and Asian players like Cesar Izturis, Hee Seop Choi, and Odalis Perez would not have happened were it not for Robinson’s efforts. But the percentage of black players and managers is lower today that it was when Robinson died. L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said it best in his April 15 column.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-plaschke15apr15,1,1290351.column
"In his last public address, at the 1972 World Series shortly before his death, Robinson scolded baseball for its failure to hire an African American manager.
Not surprisingly, Rachel Robinson's most passionate answer during a brief interview Thursday was about baseball's failure to recruit more African American players.
Last season African Americans made up only 9% of major league rosters.
Thirty years ago, it was 25%.
Every season, through lack of interest and opportunity, the barrier that Robinson broke seems to regenerate a few more inches.
'I'm very saddened by that fact,' Rachel Robinson said. 'Change can occur, but it has to be sustained, and I wish I could see that happen in my lifetime.'"
The Dodgers are talking about making Jackie Robinson Day an annual event, and asking Major League Baseball to make sure they have a home game on April 15 every year, the same way Boston plays at Fenway Park on Patriots Day. Before they do, they had better make sure they plan to have a black player on the roster. It would be a terrible black eye for baseball if they didn’t.
posted by John Rosenthal @ 3:58 PM
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