Posted: July 28, 2020 by chrisharper in baseball
Tags: blm
By Christopher Harper
Like most of my friends in the Boomer generation, I loved baseball as a kid.
My friends and I traded baseball cards. We’d oil our gloves during the winter months in anticipation of the spring.
If we weren’t practicing with a team, we’d hustle to the makeshift diamond our parents built in a nearby vacant lot.
I played second base. I didn’t quite have the arm of a shortstop. I usually batted second or third in the lineup because I was a good hitter.
When I was eight, I wrote a letter to the New York Yankees and got a bundle full of photos, autographs, and information about the team. When I visited San Francisco a few years later, my father bought me a baseball with all of the team’s autographs, including future Hall of Famers Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, and Willie McCovey.
My love affair with baseball was sealed in Yankee pinstripes and Giant orange and black!
As a journalist, I covered a wide range of sporting events, including afternoon games at Wrigley Field in Chicago and Harry Caray’s seventh-inning songfest. I wrote a profile of Rod Carew, who won six batting titles.
Later in life, I flew into Chicago from Beirut to see the White Sox in the 1983 playoffs. I enjoyed the Yankees of the 1990s when I lived there, and even took my 9-year-old daughter to a game. I relished the Phillies of 2008, where I now live, and their World Series win.
But those memories have become tainted by the politically correct version of baseball today. Baseball used to be a game I could attend with my friends and talk baseball, not politics.
Today I have two heroes left in the game. One is San Francisco Giants pitcher Sam Coonrod, the only player to stand rather than take a knee, telling reporters after the game that as a Christian he “can’t kneel before anything besides God.”
The other is Bryce Harper, who revealed a sports coat honoring the Phanatic and a pair of cleats that included feathers emblematic of the Phillies mascot. That was fun!
Whatever the case, I’ve watched my last baseball game until it becomes a game again rather than a political statement. I hope others feel the same way! Maybe Major League Baseball will get the message.
I could understand Cobb. Ty Cobb had what the black ballplayer had. The black ballplayer had to get out of the cotton field. He had to get out of the celery fields, and this was a vehicle to get him out. This was the same thing with Cobb. Cobb had to get out of Georgia. He had to fight his way out and this was why he had this great competitive spirit. And so what he’s saying against blacks was the same thing that I think every poor white man had against blacks. Because we were competition to him.
The left keeps insisting that we have to be hiring based on race in everything from police to orchestras so they “better reflect the communities they serve”.
What if we did this to the NBA & NFL or even MLB?
Think about that for a second.
The reason why breaking the color line in baseball was wrong wasn’t because a “black” men per se were being excluded from the game, it was because baseball players who were as good or better than the current players on the field were excluded that’s a big deal in baseball as Buck O’Neil the great Negro league player and manager put it:
For Jackie to play in the major leagues, that meant that one white boy wasn’t going to play. We had played against these fellas and they knew that we could play. And they knew if we were allowed to play, a lot of them wouldn’t play. See?
By an odd coincidence as the final teams in the league integrated and the white population of the league dropped to 82% in 1961 expansion in MLB took place with two teams added in 1961 and 1962 meaning there were 100 new major league jobs to the system and in 1968 when the white population of the league was down to 73% expansion happened again and another 4 teams (and 100 jobs) were created. (Note non-black “latinos” were not excluded from the majors but at 0.7% of the league the year Jackie Robinson debuted they constituted a nominal figure of about 4 players over a 16 team league)
Around this time Football began to overtake baseball in popularity and accordingly the best black athletes began migrating to that sport and as Basketball increased in popularity again black athletes moved in that direction in a big way.
in 2017 only 28% of the NFL was white and nearly 70% of the league is black (with Latinos and Asians at less than 2%)
In the NBA for 2017 the figures are similar with a slightly smaller white population (20%) a slightly larger Latino population about 5% and over 70% of the league consisting of black players.
Oddly I don’t hear anyone arguing that since the black population is about 12% that whites are unfairly underrepresented in the NBA or the NFL. We don’t see people insisting that that cause for this discrepancy is “systematic racism” Yet the same people who scream that because the number of black coaches is closer to the actual black population of this country as opposed to the percentage of blacks in the league don’t find it odd that those same coaches and the front offices seem to be signing black players way out of disproportion to white ones.
The simple fact is this. We have, thanks to the efforts of actual civil rights leaders (as opposed to the demagogues of today) reached a point where the primary question as to the signing of a defensive back or a wide receiver or a quarterback or a center in the NBA or a center fielder is the skill set of said player rather than their race (and occasionally the price see Cam Newton NE Patriots).
This is as it should be.
So when the racial demagogues start demanding quotas in all kinds of fields tell them you’ll consider it as soon as those same demographic quotas are applied to the high paying jobs in the NFL/NBA & MLB
Two closing thoughts:
As of 2016 the Demographics of MLB are 63.7% White, 27.4 % “Latino” 6.7% black (lowest since 1957) and 2.1% Asian. However I suspect this reflects black athletes gravitating more toward the NBA & NFL. I don’t know why black players are less interested in MLB as it’s a much better game and I would further submit and suggest that with guaranteed money, longer careers and less prospect of serious injury it’s a better choice and smarter choices for the best athletes out there. Plus you don’t have to play in the rain or freezing conditions but it’s not my call.
I haven’t included the NHL in these figures because while the NHL integrated in 1958 with Willie O’Ree joining the Boston Bruins (Ironically the Bruins integrated before the Red Sox) and while we’ve seen black superstars (HOF goalie Grant Fuhr who played from 1981-2000 comes instantly to mind) there just doesn’t seem to be the same interest in the game among the black athletes or the black community which more than anything else is the reason for the 90% white demographic of the league.
The latest in our writeups of the teams in the online baseball leagues I run. This league is full but I will be recruiting players for my next all pathetic league in a month or so if you are interested in joining that one or getting on the waiting list for this one leave a message in comment.
2009 New York Yankees 54-46 1st place
The Yankees have remained steady as their division rivals have collapsed. Can they hold that 8 game lead or are they due for a fall?
Heroes: Robinson Cano leads the league in hits while sitting at 3rd in batting and doubles. Mark Teixera is 2nd in RBI’s and 4th in HR. Meanwhile Alfredo Aceves has shined out of the pen with a 4-0 record & ERA of 2.91 and a WHIP under 1 (0.88)
Zeros: Phil Coke(6.39 ERA 1.66 WHIP) and Brian Bruney *5.83 ERA .308 avg against) are both keeping Yankee opponents in the game while Brett Gardner and Jerry Hairston have not excelled off the bench.
Wild Cards: 8 different Yanks are in double digits in HR but no yankee starter is more than two games over .500 Meanwhile closer Mariano Rivera is 3rd in the league in saves while 1st in blown saves.
Coming Attractions: The Yanks have 3 in Cleveland vs the 1954 Indians and before rushing home for a quick series vs the 2010 Texas Rangers before going back on the road to challenge the 2002 Aneheim Angels.
Injury Report: One of the features of the Yankee lead is an empty DL
1924 Washington Senators 46-56 9 GB 2nd place (tie)
The Washington collapse is starting to slow but with only 60 games left to make up nine for the lead and 6 for a playoff spot if a turnaround is going to happen it has to happen now.
Heroes: Walter Johnson leads the league in wins is 2nd in innings and is top 10 in strikeouts and ERA while hitting .322 in 59 AB. Sam Rice is 1st in Triples and tied for 4th in hits HR. Meanwhile Goose Goslin leads Washington in HR (10) and RBI (64) while 2nd in avg at .305.
Zeros:Ossie Bluege .218 3 HR 37 RBI and Muddy Ruel .228 0 HR 27 RBI have not excelled at the plate while Byron Speece (0-0 1 sv 5.95 ERA 31 BB vs 21 K) Allen Russell (1-0 1 sv 6.11 ERA .324 avg against 2.25 WHIP) and Joe Martina (1-5 1 BS .309 avg against 6.68 ERA are not doing the job on the mound.
Wild Cards: The Senators continue to lead the majors triples (58) while dead last in HR (23) but they’re also one of the hardest to hit a HR off 3rd from the bottom in the AL. And don’t think you’re stealing against them. Not only do they have the best numbers for catching those trying to steal (.500) but only 5 bases have been stolen against them. But they’ve been giving away runs with a .981 fielding pct, worst in the AL.
Coming Attractions: The Senators are in the middle of a 21 game road trip. They stop in Baltimore to face the 1970 Orioles, head west to face the 2015 Kansas City Royals, north to Chicago to face the 2005 White Sox, farther north to Toronto for the 1993 Bluejays and finish off their trip back in Chicago to take on the 2016 Cubs.
Injury Report: After injuries to Wid Matthews, Bucky Harris 2 for George Mogridge and suspensions to Goslin and Mogridge over the last 30 days the Senators are finally all present and accounted for.
2015 Kansas City Royals 46-56 9 GB 2nd place (tie)
The good news for Kansas City is that they are still in 2nd place neck and neck with the Washington Senators as they have been since the start of the season, the bad news is that this is because they have shared the same sudden collapse at the exact same time.
Heroes: Johnny Cueto leads the league in WHIP is 2nd in wins ERA and avg against. wins is 2nd in innings and 4th in innings. Out of the pen Chris Young & Kelvin Herrera are a combined 4-1 with 2 saves and ERA’s (2.11 1.23) that strike fear in the hearts of hitters Meanwhile Eric Hosmer’s .297 avg 18 HR and 59 RBI along with 25 doubles gives opposing pitchers pause.
Zeros: Salvador Perez has put 10 over the fence but with a .202 avg he doesn’t get man chances. Meanwhile the non-Cueto starters have collapsed with Ednson Volquez (3-14 5.05 ERA) Danny Duffy (8-7 6.00 ERA .320 avg against) and Jeremy Guthrie 3-6 6.83 avg against 8.63 ERA) all digging holes for the offense to try to climb out of.
Wild Cards: While the teams .265 avg is middle of the pack no Royals hitter is over .300 for the season. That seems to be the theme of the team, none of their stats jump out positive or negative but the key hit seems to elude them particularly against the AL division A where they are 10-20 this season.
Coming Attractions: The Royals play 3 in Detroit vs the 1968 Tigers before coming home to take on the 1924 Washington Senators followed by the 1970 Baltimore Orioles before heading back on the road.
Injury Report: Kansas City is at full strength.
2002 Anaheim Angels 44-58 11 GB 4th place
The Angels are only two games behind both the Royals and the Senators so their best chance of getting out of the cellar not to mention making any kind of move this season is now. The question is are they up to the task?
Heroes: Garret Anderson is the bright spot on the Angels lineup leading the league in doubles while top 10 in slugging and RBI’s despite a .209 avg Troy Glaus’ 19 HR is good for 10th in the league On the mound Jarrod Washburn is 10-6 with 2.81 ERA and relievers Ben Weber (2-0 ‘s 3-3 in saves 1.53 ERA and Brendan Donnelly (5-3 1-1 in saves 2.05 ERA) are doing the job in the pen.
Zeros: Troy Percival has saved 17 games but he’s also lost 8 (1-8) blown five and put up an ERA of 7.18. Of course John Lackey at 3-9 with a 7.31 ERA and a .332 avg against doesn’t get to a closer often. At the bat Ben Molina isn’t doing much .195 1 HR 12 RBI but he’s not alone four other Angels starters (Tim Salmon, Darin Erstad, Alex Ochoa and Glaus are hitting .230 or worse.
Wild Cards: The Angels .250 avg is 3rd worst in the AL as are their 75 HR 876 hits & 414 RBI’s. On the plus side their .988 fielding percentage is 4th in the league and their .251 avg against is the 2nd stingiest in the league but alas when their opponents hit the ball it goes far as their top 5 in HR allowed indicates.
Coming Attractions: The Angels visit the red hot 2010 Texas Rangers to start a short road trip that ends in Baltimore to face the 1970 Baltimore Orioles before they head back home for two quick series against the 1st place 2009 New York Yankees and the 1988 Oakland A’s
Injury Report. Catcher Sean Wootan not only won’t be available for the series vs Texas but he won’t be back for the next series vs the Rangers a month from now which means Molina’s poor bat will be in the lineup for a quite a bit longer.
This week we looking at the National League Division B in the All Time Any Time Great Teams League All individual stats were current at the time of writing.
All franchise are currently full if you are interested in picking up a team if one becomes available or to join the expanded Futility league when it starts up again leave a comment to this post.
National League
1985 St. Louis Cardinals 48-36 1st place
The Cardinals remain the only team in the majors who have been in 1st place since day one and don’t seem inclined to let anyone take it from them. Can they rule the 2nd half as they have the 1st?
Heroes: You can find Cardinals all over the league leader boards of the league Vince Coleman’s 78 stolen bases is more than every other team in the majors except Cincinnati Willie McGee leads in batting & Triples while on the mound John Tudor is tops in wins and Innings pitched.
Zeros: Some leader boards are worse than others and Jeff Lahti’s five blown saves (against 8 converted) leads the NL. Kurt Kepshire’s 7.67 ERA the WHIP 2.06 and 51 walks vs 39K’s won’t impress anyone. The Catchers spot has been adaquote behind the plate but at it Tom Nieto ( .208 0 HR 12 RBI ) and Darryl Porter ( .192 5 HR 30 RBI ) haven’t delivered.
Wild Cards: St. Louis is one of two teams in the NL that play on turf and their 26-13 record on the artificial surface reflects that skill. But more important has been their 22-8 record in the division that has kept them on top.
Coming Attractions: The Cards end short road tip in Chicago vs the tough Division C leading 2016 Cubs before heading home to host the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1986 NY Mets and the 1997 Florida Marlins.
Injury Report: Third Baseman Terry Pendelton will miss the entire series against the Cubs but once he’s back the cards will be back to full strength.
1957 Milwaukee Braves 43-41 5 GB 2nd place
Milwaukee has kept pace with the Cardinals going 7-3 over the last 10 games and currently in a tie for the last wild card spot. Can they make a move and finally knock StL off the top of the heap?
Heroes: Hank Aaron is 3rd in batting 1st in hist and 3rd in RBI’s & 9th in HR in the league. Wes Covington may not be on the leader boards but his triple crown numbers (.306 avg 16 HR 47 RBI) are trouble for opposing pitchers. On the mound Don McMahon is the surest way to a Milwaukee win with 11 saves in 12 chances.
Zeros:Juan Pizarro (4-4 6.57 ERA .319 avg against 2.29 WHIP and 0-2 inn save chances) and Eddie Johnson (2-3 9.53 ERA .351 avg against 2.18 WHIP 2.18 & 1-2 in save chances) have been the anti McMahon this season. Frank Torre .219 avg is no better than Del Crandall but while Crandall has 11 HR 35 RBI & 3 triples Torre’s .3 HR 12, RBI & 11 walks mean that the table isn’t getting set.
Wild Cards: Milwaukee’s OPS is 2nd in the league behind Brooklyn in both slugging and OPS. The latter is really something when you consider that they are 2nd to last in OBP. They also don’t like turf very much with a .167 winning percentage on artificial surfaces.
Coming Attractions: It’s 3 at home vs the 2005 Houston Astros and three more against their wild card rival 1962 Giants before heading off to a short two city trip, first to Cincy to play the 1975 Reds and then to the Nations Capital for a shot at the 2019 Nationals.
Injury Report: All hands are all deck for the Braves
1997 Florida Marlins 42-42 3rd 6 GB
Florida is at .500 within striking distance of 1st and just a game away from a wild card stop. But .500 isn’t going to be enough to get to the post season. Will they rise, will they fall or will they stay where they are?
Heroes: Moises Alou 2nd in OBP, OPS and Batting (regularly trading places with McGee for 1st. Teammate Gary Sheffield leads the league with his .442 OPB and is 3rd in walks. 1st in hist and 3rd in RBI’s & 9th in HR in the league. Kevin Brown’s 8-8 with a 4.57 might not impress but he’s been an innings eater with 136 (5th) and has not been a Strikeout machine 4th in the league (135) & 5th in K’s rate (8.93).
Zeros:Rob Nen may lead the team with 8 saves but is also 7th in the league with 4 blown. that .297 avg against & 5.31 ERA likely has something to do with it. At the plate Devon White (.222 6 HR 27 RBI) Jim Eisenreich (.226 1 HR 23 RBI 18 runs) and Luis Castillo (.231 0 HR 17 RBI 25 Runs) are all failing to produce
Wild Cards: There’s no place like home for Florida who are a full 10 games over .500 when playing in the Sunshine state. But the real wild card on this team is reliever Felix Heredia. His 6.18 ERA is the worst on the team but put him in a save situation and he’s a perfect 5 saves in five chances.
Coming Attractions: Florida gets a chance to pad that home record with four series at home welcoming the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers the 1986 New York Mets and the 2013 Arizona Cardinals before hitting the road again.
Injury Report: With Luis Castillo off the DL Florida finds itself back at full strength for their 12 game homestand.
2019 Washington Nationals 34-50 4th place 14 GB
After threatening to reach .500 the nationals have gone 2-8 to sink to the bottom of Division B. Can they match the 2nd half that put them in this great teams league against tough competition?
Heroes: Patrick Corbin remains a strikeout machine leading the league with 151 & 2nd in k’s per 9 innings to go with a 7-4 record 4 Nationals Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto Trea Turner and Matt Adams are in double digits in HR and while Howie Kendrick is one shy but his 100 hits 54 RBI & team leading .309 avg makes up for it.
Zeros:Max Scherzer is still 3-8 with a 5.44 ERA and a .304 avg against, but might be on this list for the last time. Those ERA and avg against figures are the best he’s posted since opening week. He’s 2-1 in his last 3 decision has struck out 9 or more in his last 5 and leads the league in k’s per 9 innings and that ERA and avg against. Unfortunately that can’t be said for Anibal Sanchez his is 2-8 with a 6.46 ERA in 18 starts Or reliever Daniel Hudson who in 48 appearances is 6-8 with 3 blown saves in 4 chances.
Wild Cards: Despite their record this teams is dangerous. Their 98 HR is only one behind Milwaukee good for 4th in the league as is their slugging pct .425 (also 4th) and their pitchers have stuck out 732 batters 2nd in the majors (3 of the top 4 stops in K’s per 9 innings are held by Nationals starters) but their ERA of 5.05 is dead last and the 88 HR they’ve given up is also 4th in the league and their WHIP of 1.47 3rd. However until they learn to hit right handed pitching (14-40 vs righties) they aren’t going anywhere.
Coming Attractions: It’s the 1962 San Francisco Giants at home followed by the 1975 Cincinnati Reds before a quick trip to Arizona for 3 vs the 2013 Diamondbacks, then back home for series against the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the 2016 Chicago Cubs
Injury Report:Danial Hudson will miss the series vs the giants but should be back before the end of the series against the reds.
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