MLB's Perceived Lack of A-A Players

[crashtest]

Until this (cited below) behavior is changed, and there is no lack of this attitude among the relatively few African-American "super-stars" in the game today, I fail to see the need for all the angst and self-flagellation going on in baseball this year over the presumed "problem" of their under-representation. Their percentage mirrors precisely the percentage of African-Americans in the general population, as well as the extra-ordinarily high percentage of violent, young, African-American males who end up spending time behind bars - as should be the case with
Gary Sheffield. He is seriously deranged and in drastic need of mental heath therapy if not incarceration.

mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070601&content_id=1998854&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[jamesa46]

Definitely some pretty strange comments by Sheffield. In fact they are out and out threats!

I will say this though, Sheffield has always had a good eye at the plate and the man knows the strike zone. The umpires might just be squeezing the plate on him but how do you defend yourself against that? All of a sudden the strike zone changes the next season?

At the bottom of all of this is Sheffield is having a bad year at the plate and he obviously has allowed this to mess with his head.

One could almost claim 'roid rage if he wasn't having such a lousy season offensively.

[redbaron]

Sheffield has always been a loudmouth. That is why he never stays in one place very long. The organization and his teammates get tired of his crap. Yeah, he's a good hitter and has been a better than average player. But, this tirade borders on pure lunacy.

As for a lack of African American baseball players.....it takes a lof of self-discipline to be a good baseball player and most young black guys don't have any self-discipline. They grow up watching the NBA and its ring of thugs and think they can get rich in the NBA and act as they see fit. Guys like Allen Iverson and Ron Artest are their heroes. We need more Tony Gwynns in baseball to serve as role models. Instead, we have trash like Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield.

[Coach]

The way I look at it is....

Baseball is open to anyone who tries out for it. MLB goes out of it's way to find players within the US and outside the US. MLB wants people who can play the game. It's a game of skill and that skill has to be sharpened constantly. That's one of the things that I like most about it, size and speed are not everything in baseball. It's not like baseball is not looking for athletes of all races.

Baseball is also not an instant gratification sport, a first round draft pick finds himself in some small town stadium having to prove himself for a few years before he gets to play at the highest level. In the NBA and NFL, you could be starting and you are assuredly getting a big salary from day 1 as opposed to a signing bonus and a minor league salary.

[crashtest]

Racism - a one-way street. Here is Sheffield's latest rant:

Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacksESPN.com news services

Updated: June 3, 2007, 4:17 PM ET
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The percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball is at an all-time low and Gary Sheffield says he has a theory why that's the case.



Sheffield

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English*going to be coming out. … [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.

"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."

According to a 2005 report by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, only 8.5 percent of major leaguers were African-American -- the lowest percentage since the report was initiated in the mid-1980s. By contrast, whites comprised 59.5 percent of the majors' player pool, Latinos 28.7 percent and Asians 2.5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*As if what "your race" speaks can be called "English"

**Uh, no sh!t Gary, no sh!t. "Your race's" lack of self-control and delayed gratification is palpable to the extreme. In fact, that trait, more than any other is most likely the most influential factor in the fall-off of "black faces with English coming out" that are attached to bodies that play MLB. It may take a village for Hillary, but it takes a Daddy to make a major league baseball player.

sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2891875

[Coach]

crashtest said:

Racism - a one-way street. Here is Sheffield's latest rant:

Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacksESPN.com news services

Updated: June 3, 2007, 4:17 PM ET
Comment
Email
Print
The percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball is at an all-time low and Gary Sheffield says he has a theory why that's the case.



Sheffield

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English*going to be coming out. … [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.

"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."

According to a 2005 report by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, only 8.5 percent of major leaguers were African-American -- the lowest percentage since the report was initiated in the mid-1980s. By contrast, whites comprised 59.5 percent of the majors' player pool, Latinos 28.7 percent and Asians 2.5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*As if what "your race" speaks can be called "English"

**Uh, no sh!t Gary, no sh!t. "Your race's" lack of self-control and delayed gratification is palpable to the extreme. In fact, that trait, more than any other is most likely the most influential factor in the fall-off of "black faces with English coming out" that are attached to bodies that play MLB. It may take a village for Hillary, but it takes a Daddy to make a major league baseball player.

sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2891875

If a white guy said any of that sh*t about a minority group the way Sheffield did about latins, there would be hell to pay.

[predator]

THAT IS JUST THE WAY IT IS
BASEBALL PLAYER'S DON'T HAVE THEIR POSSIES AND
HOMIES FOLLOW THEM AROUND DAY AND NIGHT
THE APES DO

[redbaron]

predator said:

THAT IS JUST THE WAY IT IS
BASEBALL PLAYER'S DON'T HAVE THEIR POSSIES AND
HOMIES FOLLOW THEM AROUND DAY AND NIGHT
THE APES DO

Would someone please interpet what this nut just said?

[redbaron]

admin said:

crashtest said:

Racism - a one-way street. Here is Sheffield's latest rant:

Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacksESPN.com news services

Updated: June 3, 2007, 4:17 PM ET
Comment
Email
Print
The percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball is at an all-time low and Gary Sheffield says he has a theory why that's the case.



Sheffield

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English*going to be coming out. … [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.

"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."

According to a 2005 report by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, only 8.5 percent of major leaguers were African-American -- the lowest percentage since the report was initiated in the mid-1980s. By contrast, whites comprised 59.5 percent of the majors' player pool, Latinos 28.7 percent and Asians 2.5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*As if what "your race" speaks can be called "English"

**Uh, no sh!t Gary, no sh!t. "Your race's" lack of self-control and delayed gratification is palpable to the extreme. In fact, that trait, more than any other is most likely the most influential factor in the fall-off of "black faces with English coming out" that are attached to bodies that play MLB. It may take a village for Hillary, but it takes a Daddy to make a major league baseball player.

sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2891875

If a white guy said any of that sh*t about a minority group the way Sheffield did about latins, there would be hell to pay.

If a white guy said that, he'd be labeled as a bigot, a racist, and be suspended. Sheffield is right when he implies that blacks are hard to control. They are not receptive to discipline which is why we are seeing a dropoff in black players. To be a good baseball player, you have to be disciplined. More blacks migrate to basketball because they see what those thugs in the NBA get paid to dol Frankly, I think basebal is better because these undisciplined blacks go somewhere else.

[Coach]

redbaron said:

predator said:

THAT IS JUST THE WAY IT IS
BASEBALL PLAYER'S DON'T HAVE THEIR POSSIES AND
HOMIES FOLLOW THEM AROUND DAY AND NIGHT
THE APES DO

Would someone please interpet what this nut just said?

I think he was saying that because of the predominance of causcasian players, the sheer number of games and associated travel connected with playing baseball, that the hip hop lifestyle that our african american friends so often connect with creates a polar opposite of the Ward Cleaver Syndrome that the caucasian player falls in to. Therefore, the lack of ability of the african american to discontinue communication with the lowest tier of his economically challenged network of social acquaintances and create a more diverse network by incorporating economic, societal and moral overachievers into his life fosters feelings of social abandoment on behalf of the african american when communicating and working in the majority caucasian population of Major League Baseball.

[crashtest]

admin said:

redbaron said:

Would someone please interpet what this nut just said?

I think he was saying that because of the predominance of causcasian players, the sheer number of games and associated travel connected with playing baseball, that the hip hop lifestyle that our african american friends so often connect with creates a polar opposite of the Ward Cleaver Syndrome that the caucasian player falls in to. Therefore, the lack of ability of the african american to discontinue communication with the lowest tier of his economically challenged network of social acquaintances and create a more diverse network by incorporating economic, societal and moral overachievers into his life fosters feelings of social abandoment on behalf of the african american when communicating and working in the majority caucasian population of Major League Baseball.

Thank you, Barbara Billingsley for the superb translation from Ebonics to English:

Attendant: Can I get you something?
Jiveman #2: S'mo fo butter layin' to the bone. Jackin' me up. Tightly.
Attendant: I'm sorry I don't understand.
Jiveman #1: Cutty say he cant hang.
Woman : Oh stewardess, I speak jive.
Attendant: Ohhhh, good.
Woman : He said that he's in great pain and he wants to know if you can help him.
Attendant: Would you tell him to just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can with some medicine.
Woman : Jus' hang loose blooood. She goonna catch up on the`rebound a de medcide.
Jiveman #2: What it is big mamma, my mamma didn't raise no dummy, I dug her rap.
Woman : Cut me som' slac' jak! Chump don wan no help, chump don git no help. Jive ass dude don got no brains anyhow.

[Coach]

First Jive Dude: sh*t man, that honky mus' be messin' my old lady... got to be runnin' cold upside down his head. You know?
Second Jive Dude: Hey home, I can dig it. You know he ain't gonna lay no mo' big rap up on you man.
First Jive Dude: I say hey sky, s'other s'ay I wan say?
Second Jive Dude: UH...
First Jive Dude: Pray to J I get the same ol' same ol'.
Second Jive Dude: Eh. Yo knock yourself a pro slick, gray matter live performas down now take TCB'in man.
First Jive Dude: Hey, you know what they say... See a broad, to get that booty yak 'em.
First Jive Dude, Second Jive Dude: Leg 'er down 'n smack 'em yak 'em
First Jive Dude: Cold got to be. You know? Shiiiiit.

[Coach]

Clerk: Do you swear on the Constitution of the United States to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Witness: Ain't no thing.
[he slaps the clerk's book and the clerk uses his book to slap the witnesses hand as if "giving fives" to each other]
Defense Attorney: [approaches the witness as he sits down in the witness stand] Would you describe, in your own words, what happened that night?
Witness: Check it, bleed. Bro... was ON! Didn't trip. But the folks was freakin', Man. Hey, and the pilots were laid to the bone, Homes.
[the stenographer wears sunglasses and sways back and forth as he types]
Witness: So Blood hammered out and jammed jet ship. Tightened that bad sucker inside the runway like a mother. sh*t.

[predator]

admin said:

redbaron said:

Would someone please interpet what this nut just said?

I think he was saying that because of the predominance of causcasian players, the sheer number of games and associated travel connected with playing baseball, that the hip hop lifestyle that our african american friends so often connect with creates a polar opposite of the Ward Cleaver Syndrome that the caucasian player falls in to. Therefore, the lack of ability of the african american to discontinue communication with the lowest tier of his economically challenged network of social acquaintances and create a more diverse network by incorporating economic, societal and moral overachievers into his life fosters feelings of social abandoment on behalf of the african american when communicating and working in the majority caucasian population of Major League Baseball.

YOU COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER

[Coach]

Elaine: Would you gentlemen care to order your dinners?
First Jive Dude: Bet, babe. Slide a piece o' da' porter. Drink side, run da' java.
Second Jive Dude: Hey lookie here. I can dig grease 'n chompin' on some butter and draggin' through the garden.