Bud Selig And A League Of Extraordinary White Gentlemen

I know we said we'd be on auto-pilot this week, but for the second straight day, we've got some eyebrow raising news that just doesn't sit right with your editor.

Upon first glance, I wanted to give kudos to Bud Selig for forming a 14-person committee to take a look at some of Major League Baseball's issues.  It is a step in the right direction for a sport that seems so set on not moving into the 21st century.

And then I take a look at the committee ... and it appears as if baseball is intent on not moving into the new era.

Of the 14 members in Selig's committee, Frank Robinson, baseball's first African American manager, is the only representative of a minority group.  A deeper look into the committee reveals no Latino rep.

I'm not writing this because as someone who represents that demographic.  Instead, I make this post because if you take a look at the baseball's landscape and it is full of Latin ballplayers and managers.  Yet, you can't get one representative from that area?  I'm kind of shocked.

Baseball's best player, Albert Pujols, comes from a Dominican Republic background and plays in a city where at any given time, the only people with Latin backgrounds are Pujols, Yadier Molina, (and on the rare occasion) me.

Do you think Pujols, a known humanitarian and a guy who has yet to be linked to performance-enhancing drugs, would be a fit representative for a group that makes up a good chunk of major league talent?

How about Ozzie Guillen, the first Latin-born manager to win a World Series?  For all his flaws, he's an ambassador to the game of baseball.

Even if Pujols and Guillen politely declined, Selig could have found at least one current or former ballplayer or manager to be a guy who spoke up.  If I wanted to get into it more, I'd note there is no oriental rep either.

So, who's on board?  Tony La Russa (age 65), Jim Leyland (age 65), Mike Scioscia (age 58), Joe Torre (age 69),Terry Ryan (age 56), Andy MacPhail (age 56), John Schuerholz (age 69).

Mark Shapiro (age 42) is the youngest member of the committee.  And still white.

Among the other old white men own reps include Chuck Armstrong of the Seattle Mariners, Paul Beeston of the Toronto Blue Jays, Bill DeWitt of the St. Louis Cardinals and Dave Montgomery of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Oh, then there's columnist George Will (age 68) ... and guess what ... still white.

"A League Of Extraordinary White Gentlemen," coming to meeting room near you.

The Boston Red Sox Don't Care About Black People

While this may be news to some of you out there living in caves, under rocks or in mom's basement it isn't news to the TBDS team of sportswriters.

It's been a fact since the dawn of time - or at least since Ted Williams was swinging the stick.

The Boston Red Sox (a.k.a. the NEW New York Yankees) don't care about black people.

And it could hurt them when the free agency market opens up in the offseason.

Per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

"The trade of left fielder Manny Ramirez and loss of shortstop Julio Lugo to injury left the Sox with a predominantly Caucasian roster. Why bring this up now, with the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series? Well, the free-agent market will open in about a month. The makeup of the Red Sox's roster could be a concern for players they pursue, whether it's this offseason or in the future. ... The Sox's composition is surprising in an era in which rosters are more diverse than at any point in the game's history, even as the number of African-American players continues to decline."

True that. I think it was an ESPN piece a few years that remarked about the declining number of African-American ball - to the point where traditional black universities are giving scholarships to non-black players just to field a team.

But wait, there's more...

"But the Sox carry a special burden. They have a shameful history of discrimination, one that their present ownership group has tried to address. And a perception has long existed among some African-American athletes that Boston is hostile to players who are not white. ... The question is whether the Red Sox will lose players they want because of the makeup of their club, the perception of the city or both."

It would be terrible to lose out on a player that can change the face of your franchise (no pun intended) because of the color of his skin. Isn't this why Jackie Robinson was so important to the game of baseball?

It's almost sickening that this is an issue.

What's with all the new-fangled racism in baseball?

I think it all began with the concept that white players that aren't as athletic as their teammates are scrappy and that distinction only (apparently) goes to white players.

But Rosenthal has a point. We'll see how the offseason shakes out. Likely, this will be a story that drifts away after a while

But maybe it shouldn't.

I'll leave you with this very curious comment from a columnist last year.

Found at FireJoeMorgan.com and reproduced with the help of the BBTF Newsblog Discussion:

"My disinterest in baseball as a kid has lasted all my life. I’m still not interested in the game. I don’t watch it on television or follow it in the newspaper. I know all about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, but today’s baseball stars are all guys named Rodriguez to me. They’re apparently very good but they haven’t caught my interest."