Charges of Racism Getting Old
By Mike Silva ~ August 30th, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
Just when I think I have heard it all in baseball something happens that just amazes me. Yesterday I came across this article on Baseball Think Factory. The premise of the piece was the harsh treatment of Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley by the Wrigley Field faithful. Bradley, who has a checkered past that was outlined by the author, claims he’s been a victim of racism from the bleachers this season. The author, Dan Mennella, used this as an opportunity to lecture the reader on his perceived racial inequity in the game of baseball. Milton Bradley, just like many of his predecessors who faced adversity, decided to point the finger of racism rather than take accountability for a subpar season. Not only is this a predictable response (we heard this in New York from Willie Randolph before his dismissal last season), it’s one that I am tired of hearing and, quite frankly, will not accept.
Mennella’s examples include comparing Bradley’s fiery antics to Paul O’Neill, the huge drop off of African Americans in baseball, and charges of racism by other African American members of the Cubs. He also talks about the “shame he felt” editing a story by an MLB colleague who described the All Star outfield of Adam Jones, Carl Crawford, and Curtis Granderson as “athletic”.
First, Paul O’ Neill had a temper, but I never remember it being used against broadcasters, umpires, and fans. I still remember a classic meltdown Bradley had at Shea Stadium, as a member of the Montreal Expos, thanks to heckling by the New York faithful. Point being, O’Neill’s act got old but, unlike Bradley, it never seemed to become bigger than the team. Next, you have the African American participation in baseball. There is no doubt the interest in baseball has dropped in the African American community. The same could be said throughout white suburbs across the country. I live on the south shore of Long Island, and I think I see more participation in basketball, soccer, and lacrosse than baseball. I don’t even see kid’s playing wiffle ball. Baseball is a global game now and it’s going to be less white and black going forward. That isn’t called racism it’s called globalization. As for the charges by Dusty Baker, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jacque Jones, the individual and team performance probably had more to do with the fans ire than race. Finally, the “athletic” comment. On Sunday May 13th, 2007 the Mets started an outfield of Carlos Gomez, Carlos Beltran, and Endy Chavez. I remember referring to that group as “athletic” that night on 1240 AM WGBB. I marveled at their speed as they gobbled up one Oliver Perez fly ball out after another. Was I, as a Caucasian male, demonstrating racism by calling the all Latino outfield athletic? I will let you decide on that one.
I think you see my point. Sports fans across the country want to win with the best players, not the right ethnic mix. It’s funny how a town that has Michael Jordan and Ernie Banks as two of their biggest stars is accused of racism. As a matter of fact, Chicago resides in the state where our African American President got 60% of the vote this past November. It’s about time Milton Bradley looked into the mirror for the answers to his career long problems. Recently Albert Belle called himself “an angry black man” in an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Milton Bradley probably falls in a similar category. As for Dan Mennella, I could chalk it up to youth, inexperience, or a combination of both. His Twitter page states that he is a grad student at Stonybrook University. Well Dan, here is a lesson from the real world: your article, although well written, gets an F because your premise is about as old, tired, and inaccurate as it gets.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
bradley has been talking too much to the horrible governor of ny. im sure as his approval ratings continue to plummet our pres will join them
maybe they can get a beer together
August 30th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Mike,
I appreciate your feedback, but I think that was a pretty misguided counterargument.
Here are the highlights of your points.
1. O’Neill’s antics never went as far as Bradley’s.
2. Four men (Jones, Baker, Bradley and Lee), have misconstrued Cubs “fan ire” for racism.
3. We have a black president.
4. You once referred to an all-Latino outfield as “athletic.”
5. A similar “angry black man” has copped to such charges, so Bradley is probably one, too.
6. I’m young (a grad student), therefore I’m inexperienced.
I wrote a couple times in my piece that the booing is fine — Bradley has underperformed woefully. But, based on the similar experiences of three other black players/manager in Chicago, I’ve taken the liberty of making the inference that he has heard unequivocal racial slurs and taunts, which can’t be written off as “fan ire.”
August 30th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Dan
When you put Milton Bradley’s word against just about anyone in this world, I probably go with the other guy. Just my take. If this were Ryan Howard, Curtis Granderson, Carl Crawford, I might take it more seriously. Plus, the guys from Chicago, Hawkins, Dusty, Jones ,etc, didn’t play for great teams and that probably had a lot to do with the ire. Derrick Lee IMO gave a very “lukewarm” endorsement of Bradley. Hey, if Chicago fans hate Lee there certainly is a home for him at 1B in NY.
As a Mets fan, and someone who goes to a # of games, I never heard racial epithets against any of the Latino ballplayers, or African American ballplayers over the course of my 20 years. Both races have had some real villians over time. Even at Strawberry’s worst it was about behavior, not color. Bobby Bonilla never faced racial profiling from the crowd. A Jerk is a Jerk whether it’s Vince Coleman or Jeff Kent!
We need to stop catering to this “inherent” racism that is an old and tired argument. If the Cubbies are in first place Bradley wouldn’t be saying these things (well, maybe he would) and it wouldn’t get press. Racism has as much to do with Bradley’s problems, as Willie Randolph’s firing. Both are a result of bad player/team performance.
Your piece was good, this was more about the topic, not you.
Of course, if anyone from Chicago cares to elaborate I am all ears. Perhaps my NY POV has tainted the argument.
August 30th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Dear Mike,
i am more than delighted to discover that baseball fans are color blind, judge each player only on his baseball playing abilities and not his appearance – CERTAINLY not by measurement of his “hustle” or “scrappiness”, those qualities unfortunately being completely incompatable with infestation by Black blood. I am also delighted to learn that every Black man who has related his experience with receiving racial taunts, not booing, while playing in the outfield at Wrigley, or anywhere else, is “misinterpreting” the words.
I guess it has nothing to do with race if an underperforming Asian or Caucasian is not booed but those crazy n-words are perceiving their own treatment differently.
Jacque Jones and LaTroy Hawkins did, in fact, play for the Cubs. Dusty Baker was their manager. As for opposing players, you might could try asking Mike Cameron, who has also imagined he heard racial taunts. You could ask Willy Taveras or Michael Bourn, or, as you suggest, Curtis Granderson (if he remembers one series in 2006) or Carl Crawford (if he remembers one series back in 2003) or any other baseball player who could be described as, oh, what is that adjective?
Oh yeah. Got it.
“Athletic.”
A term which is, for some unknown reason, never applied to Josh Hamilton, Colby Rasmus, Hunter Pence or Nate McLouth.
You may think that Bradley is a stone liar as well as a crazy n-word, but you should at least first attempt to, you know, like, interview other dark skinned ballplayers with African ancestry to obtain other points of view before simply dismissing Bradley’s claim. Or you could try sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley instead of your nice, cosy press box, and listening to what is actually said, instead of assuming based only on your preconceived notion of who Bradley is that he MUST be lying.
As for your statement that fans only want “the best players” available no matter their ancestry/color/experience, all I can say is that if you really think that fans want the best baseball player possible playing for their own team, you need to read a few team blogs and you certainly need to listen to just one hour of sportstalk radio to discover that fans like or dislike all sorts of players for all sorts of reasons that have very little to do with the players’ actual statistics. For example, David Wright is not “clutch” and is not a “leader” and should be traded.
Paul O’Neill never got into it with umpires? Oh cmon. He got into it with umpires every single AB unless he hit the first pitch, or all pitches were called balls. Now he never had an umpire verbally attack him without any provocation, as Mike Winters did Bradley – and, in case you have forgotten, Sean Casey backed that crazy n-word and it was the umpire who was disciplined by MLB and NOT Bradley. Behaviour like O’Neill’s was termed “competitive” and “intense” and praised. Had O’Neill not been Caucasian? Can you name even ONE Black man who behaves in every way like O’Neill and is not criticized for not knowing his place, um, I mean, having, uh, temperament issues?
O’Neill had a foul temperament which was tolerated because he was a very good player on a winning team. Any temperament other than Tony Clark/Curtis Granderson/Doug Glanville is simply not tolerated in Black players and they are always portrayed by the media as either bad people or somehow crazy and discussion of their temperament somehow always overshadows their accomplishments on the field.
The election of Obama has no relevance whatsoever to whether or not there are people among the few thousand in the Wrigley bleachers who feel perfectly comfortable hurling racial names or even preferring to heckle players who don’t fit their own particular definition of what a good outfielder should be, namely, uh, “scrappy.” I promise you that the election of Obama has not suddenly eradicated racial stereotypes and all peoples’ long held stereotypes of proper behaviour for Those People.
August 30th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Lisa
Thanks for stopping by.
Again, I am not a press box elitist. I am a regular guy who has tried to make a foray into media. Sometimes I am in the pressbox, but often I am just bringing my opinions to the fans from the same seats as them. Ever hear of Kaz Matsui? He got terrible treatment from the Shea faithful, but never because of race. As for scrappy – Homer Bush was considered “scrappy” on the 98′ Yankees. I think your rebuttal reeks of the same generalizations that you despise.
I personally have had Sean Gibson and Larry Lester on the show to educate the audience on the negro leagues and the need to market the game to the African American community. Mind you I am a Caucasian male. I also gave Mel Hall, a black man, a chance to plead his case on my show after his trial in Texas.
I can’t speak for the fans of Chicago, I am from NY, but I doubt the charges made my Milton Bradley are completely accurate. As I said to Dan there are many people, black or white, that I would listen to before Milton Bradley.
Quite frankly, his charges are just another excuse for what has been a career full of sketchy behavior and unfulfilled potential.
Am I saying racism doesn’t exist? No, but I don’t think it factors into the playing field as much as Mr. Bradley says. To put his plight on the same level of Jackie Robinson, or other African Americans in this country is borderline ridiculous.
August 30th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
It is a normal feeling too lean in the direction of your own racial background. And there is a big movement from all people about how they feel about those who are not part of their back ground.
Some feel that it is good all around and others may not feel that way.
But is it possible that there is a reason to have fear of others who are not of your own background, or were they brainwashed to do so.
How about this example.
And very often in life things go on that offends many people.
Such as affirmative action.
This both pleases and offends a great many people.
And if you get it your happy, but those who pay for it are not so happy about it. Especially when the people who get it has an overwhelming percentage of their people that do get it. And then make babies after babies to get more of it.
Yet when all people who live by a fair law for all, then race matters not. But if a group does not do that then what happens?
But the racial behavior of all people are not the same for all people. What do you do when one group commits way more crimes then the others.
Do you just walk away, or do you punish them if you can find them.
Racism not only exist,but it has a great effect upon us all.
I remember the block busting situation that happened years ago.
Certain people moved into your neighborhood and slowly but surely the people who lived there moved out.
And it will happen every time if that situation comes again.
Why would they do that? Fear is the reason.
Yes there was also cultural differences, but fear of them caused them to move.
That is racism, And by both sides.
Fear works you know, and fear has a lot to do to bring out racist feeling that you must have in order to survive.
Any one of you want to move into Harlem. I do not think so.
August 30th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Mike,
of course I know who Kaz Matsui is, he’s on my team. He’s not worth the money and should be a bench guy. I know very well that Mets fans were not exactly in love with him either. However, I’ve never heard or read that Kaz was called racial names, or complained that he was being called racial names or being booed because he was either Japanese or non-Caucasian.
Now, exactly what does Kaz Matsui have to do with the treatment received by Black ballplayers at Wrigley field?
Once more, might could I suggest that you interview other Black outfielders and actually get other points of view before damning a person you don’t even know personally. If, in fact, you actually WILL listen to others, as you say.
I will try to avoid any traces of sarcasm in any future posts, as this has obviously served no useful purpose.
As for your description of Homer Bush as “scrappy” i can’t find any
verification of this description in print. I will, however, ask my friends who are Yankee fans if they can corroborate your description. Which is more than you would do for Bradley.
And, by the way, to compare the treatment of Bradley to any treatment of Jackie Robinson is beyond ridiculous.
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
@ Mike Silva
Stop with the “Caucasian male” nonsense. You don’t refer to blacks as Negro males, do you? Of course not. You call them black men.
Start calling yourself a white man, you pussy.