A slap in the face to MLB and the memory of Jackie Robinson

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I read this article and it has left me fuming. Mind you this papeer is as left as you get in Canada

From the Toronto Star.....

Jun. 28, 2003. 01:17 PM
Whitest team in the majors
Jays have the fewest visible minorities
Economics blamed for lack of diversity

GEOFF BAKER
SPORTS REPORTER

Venturing into the Blue Jays clubhouse less than two years ago meant having your ears filled with the buzz of Spanish dialects from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and South America.

A glance around the room would take in not only the Latin American players chatting among themselves, but also a good number of blacks from the United States dressing alongside their white counterparts. Such a scene was nothing new. A Jays team once led by Joe Carter, Robbie Alomar, George Bell, Tony Fernandez and Devon White was for years known to be as diverse as the city it represents. That is no longer the case.

A study by the Star has found that this year's edition of the Blue Jays had the fewest number of visible minorities on the opening-day roster of any of the 30 major-league teams. A Toronto club that boasted of its diversity in recent radio ads actually had the visible-minority players on its 25-man roster drop from 11 on opening day a year ago to only six this season.

Fuelling that change has been a rapid decline in the number of Latin Americans suiting up for Toronto, a drop that comes even as their numbers expand throughout baseball. The Jays in their glory years were a haven for players of Latin American descent, but the three they had on opening day — and the four they now have — were the fewest of any team.

Opening-day rosters, not current ones, were used for the study for easier comparisons between teams and years.

Despite being the most homogeneous squad in baseball, the important fact remains that the Jays are winning and contending for a playoff spot. Toronto was only three games out of first place in the American League East yesterday as it entered a weekend series with the Montreal Expos, who, coincidentally, began the season with the most visible-minority players.

That raises the issue of whether the Jays truly need to be more representative of the city they play in at a time when they are satisfying fans by winning. A less obvious issue, one bound to generate heated debate, is whether Toronto has somehow gained an advantage by bucking baseball's diversity trend — and whether others will copy this model and change the demographics of the game.

"I believe the vast majority of people will come to see a winning ball club, whether it has nine Dominicans, nine Americans or nine people from Japan on the field," Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey said. "I think the excitement generated by a winning team far outweighs any other consideration."

Godfrey also doesn't believe the victorious Jays are setting any kind of trend for teams to emulate. He believes that even to concede there is a trend here would suggest the Jays have targeted white players as a priority, an insinuation he rejects.

"Baseball teams don't sit down and say, `I'll take so many of those and so many of those,'" he said, adding he wasn't aware of Toronto's low visible-minority ranking until now. "I don't believe in quotas on or off the field. I want the best person in the position, on or off the field."

Peter Donnelly, director of the Centre for Sports Policy Studies at the University of Toronto, was stunned to hear that the Jays, once hailed for diversity, now have so few minorities relative to the rest of baseball.

"You're talking about the most multicultural city in the world," Donnelly said. "In many ways, Toronto is more multicultural than New York. So, there's a responsibility there and it probably makes marketing sense to reflect your community.

"You go to a Jays game when Seattle's in town and look at the number of Japanese fans in the stands," he said in reference to the Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki.

Complicating the entire issue of race is the fact the Jays aren't really seeking the best players available, many of whom happen to be non-white. Budget-conscious Toronto instead is looking for value.

And the facts show the Jays took a dramatic, economically beneficial turn toward a much whiter roster after J.P. Ricciardi was named general manager in November 2001. Of the 39 players Ricciardi has since acquired through trades, free agency or waiver claims, 36 of them — 92 per cent — are white.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`They come from Florida or Texas, where they've played baseball since they were old enough to spit. Others hail from the Dominican or Puerto Rico, where baseball is a way of life.'

Excerpt from Blue Jays radio advertisement last March that touted the team's diversity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Those moves have seriously altered the makeup of the Jays, who had 11 visible-minority players on the opening-day roster the past three seasons and at least 10 each year since 1994.

Ricciardi is at a loss to explain the numbers as anything beyond coincidence, although he does correctly point out that the number of black players in the game has steadily declined. The number of Latin Americans, on the other hand, has more than doubled since 1991 and they made up 28 per cent of the 750 players on opening-day rosters. Also, 54.4 per cent of the players were white and 45.6 per cent were either Latin American, black, Asian or Native American.

"We don't look at players as black and white," Ricciardi said, adding that his job was to put together the best possible team within the budget. "We do look at players for what they can do for us."

Ricciardi, who has a Cuban-born manager in Carlos Tosca, doubts fans care much about a team's racial makeup. He cited the Expos, who began the season tied with the Texas Rangers at 14 visible-minority players, including12 Latin Americans, one black and one Asian, as an example.

"Look at the Expos and all the players they have and they still get only 5,000 people coming to their games," Ricciardi said.

Of the 21 free agents signed by Ricciardi, the only non-whites have been since-departed outfielder Pedro Swann and recent bullpen pick-up Juan Acevedo. Toronto's only non-white of 13 players acquired in trades was relief pitcher Felix Heredia, no longer with the team. All five of Ricciardi's waiver claims were white players.

Two of the four players Ricciardi kept from the Rule 5 draft, in which teams choose unprotected minor-league prospects from other organizations, have been non-whites Aquilino Lopez and Corey Thurman. Even including their names among Ricciardi's acquisitions still means nine out of every 10 new players coming to Toronto are white. Despite that, no one is complaining too loudly about Ricciardi's moves.

That's because many of the white players Ricciardi imported, such as Eric Hinske, Frank Catalanotto, Greg Myers, Tom Wilson and Mike Bordick, are resounding successes. Their performances have complemented the play of Toronto's two biggest offensive stars, Puerto Rico native Carlos Delgado and black Texan Vernon Wells, who have helped the Jays soar into contention.

Ricciardi has purged the team of higher-priced talent and replaced it largely with imported players in their late 20s and early 30s who have yet to attain free-agent service time. That nearly all of those new players are white will be less interesting to some GMs than their average salary of only $642,000 (U.S.) compared to the $2.5 million being paid the average non-white who left the team.

Just as difficult to overlook will be the Toronto clubhouse, described by Jays players and management as the most harmonious and clique-free they've seen. It wouldn't be a stretch for some GMs to assume that a clubhouse with fewer language divisions and cultural differences makes for more harmony.

Ricciardi won't make that assumption, saying his players merely accept their differences.

"We have guys who all get along," Ricciardi said. "I think it's only an issue if you make it an issue. To go into a clubhouse and see Carlos Delgado, (Eric) Hinske and Frank Catalanotto talking baseball ... I don't think they care.

"I'd like to think we're beyond that at this stage in the world."

But Donnelly said having a team more in line with baseball norms regarding minorities should be important to a team struggling to sell tickets.

"I would say that it's crucial in Toronto," he said. "They can't be happy that they're only playing in front of crowds of 18,000 to 20,000. Winning is important, but there may be more than one way to skin a cat in the world's most multicultural city. And short of winning a World Series, they're not getting the attention other teams in the city get."

While players come and go throughout a season, the racial makeup of most teams remains surprisingly consistent. The Jays temporarily upped their visible-minority total to seven by adding Mexican-born Acevedo two weeks ago, but the number could go right back down again with possible upcoming trades involving black outfielder Shannon Stewart and Venezuelan pitcher Kelvim Escobar.
 

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This should be a non-issue. I'm a Cubs fan and I don't care if there are 25 black, white, Latino, or Asian players. I just want to see a winner. To think the Blue Jays signed Juan Acevado because he is a Latino and not on his ability is an insult to the Toronto fans.

Usually what happens is a team will make some moves and a writer will tie a bunch of events to it to make their angle better. I hope that is not the case here,
 

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I agree. I think most fans wouldn't care if the player comes from Mars and has green skin - can he hit or pitch and make the team better? That's the bottom line not some frigging quota of minorities. Not in this day and age.
 

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I think there's too many white journalists in Toronto.
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[This message was edited by Mr Tanaka on June 28, 2003 at 11:05 PM.]
 

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LogansRun,

After you dry your eyes, why don't you take a racial count on each basketball team. I would like to know how many white guys you count. Now I'm sure you've already done this as obviously you're a race-counter. Then I what you to do... what you I KNOW YOU"VE NEVER DONE, I want you to go to any sports statium when a basketball, football, baseball or hockey game is being plated. OKAY. Then I want you to count the number of blacks PAYING (NOT GETTING COMPT TICKETS)...ACTUALLY SUPPORTING THE TEAM WITH THEIR MONEY.

What I guarantee you'll find is that on the ave. only about 1% of the the paying fans are black. Even in urban areas like Detroit, where 90% of the population is black!Next, do a racial count of the blacks who are employed at the statiums. On ave. more blacks work -I include ticket scalpers - their then there are paying to get in.


Racial counts cut both ways dude. Stop your friggin whinning...and grow up and get a life.
 

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even tho he only mentions it in passing, the author of that story hits the nail on the head when he says that this is an artifact of the jay's money saving efforts. if a gm truly goes after the best players he can get the result will be a diverse lineup. if not, well, you're gonna be heavy with slow white guys that have had extended minor league careers.
 

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Doesn't carlos delgado play for the bluejays? theres a latino.
I think latinos are taking over baseball ...

sammy sosa
pedro martinez
carlos delgado
manny ramirez
alex gonzalez
tino martinez
edgar martinez

you put thoes players together vs the best baseball players in mlb and they will crush them.
I would love to see a all latin team vs a all american team who would win? who knows
 

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Wouldn't the fact that some people still cannot see past race (either way) be the REAL slap in the face to Robinson and those others who broke the color barrier?
 

"When you win, say little; when you lose, say less
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Although the article on Saturday morning was obviously rubbish, is it a mere coincidence that the Jays have suddenly gone down the toilet and lost 4 straight? ... You have to wonder ...
 

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