Does Sports Illustrated Care That David Price is Talented, or Just That He’s Black?

MITCH BLATT 

Sports Illustrated’s story published today titled “Young, Gifted, and Black,” isn’t the source of problems with race in baseball; it is simply the latest example of that problem. The problem, as SI would have us believe, is that Major League Baseball is only comprised of 8% blacks. The real problem is that people care about how many blacks are in baseball. I’m only concerned with how good the players are.

There have been so many stories on the diminishing numbers of blacks playing baseball over the past few years but none noting why it is such a problem. Let’s not tip-toe around the problem, Sports Illustrated. If you think this is a problem, tell us why it’s a problem. Is racism involved? Do owners not want to sign blacks? Do managers not want to coach them?

Gary Sheffield thought as much. Last year he said that Latinos are coming into baseball because they are easier to control than blacks:

“Where I’m from, you can’t control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that’s a person that you’re going to talk to with respect, you’re going to talk to like a man.

“These are the things my race demands. So, if you’re equally good as this Latin player, guess who’s going to get sent home? I know a lot of players that are home now can outplay a lot of these guys.”

So is he saying managers are treating blacks unfairly? That managers are racist? (That Latin players have no self-respect, for that matter?)

Well, if managers are racist, that’s certainly a shock. Because blacks made up 27% of MLB in 1975. So has baseball become more racist since then?

Or have blacks been increasingly playing basketball and football?

Sports Illustrated admitted in the first sentence of the second paragraph, “Baseball has lost countless African-American athletes to basketball and the lure of the McDonald’s All-American Team.”

What’s wrong with blacks playing basketball? They’re just making a personal choice to play a different sport that they apparently like more. Speaking of basketball, isn’t the NBA like 95% black? I don’t recall the mainstream media caring about whites in basketball.

“Getting African-American kids back in baseball is a huge issue,” Rays outfielder Cliff Floyd says. What if black kids actually want to play basketball? (Hard to comprehend, right?)

Getting blacks back in baseball necessarily means getting blacks out of other sports. Wouldn’t want to do that, would you? If we’re so concerned about the number of blacks in baseball, shouldn’t we also be concerned about keeping the number of blacks in basketball high?

Why aren’t blacks playing baseball, anyway?

According to Carl Crawford:

“A lot of my friends stopped playing, because you have to be able to turn on the TV and see players who look like you.”

Guess I’ve got to stop watching basketball.

Look, sports are for fun, sports are for enjoyment, sports are for competition. After the sacrifices of Jackie Robinson and others, baseball has now been desegregated and has no race problem. C.C. Sabathia is one of the best pitchers in the league. Ryan Howard is one of the best first basemen. It doesn’t matter that they are black; they are great players.

Put this in capital letters: RACE DOESN’T MATTER. I watch baseball, basketball, and football because they are exciting sports with talented players. I cheer for my favorite players based on their talent, not their race. I don’t care that there aren’t many whites in basketball. Let’s not make blacks in baseball an issue either.

Popularity: 16% [?]