Congress should investigate recruitment of immigrants over African Americans for baseball

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 07/04/2007

Twins star centerfielder Torii Hunter has been selected to the 78th Major League Baseball All-Star game held July 10 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. It’s the second time for Hunter, a five-time Gold Glove winner. He’s having a brilliant season. He will be accompanied by teammates Yohan Santana and Justin Morneau.

Hunter has been outspoken about Major League Baseball turning their backs on the glaring issue of how few Black players there are in the big leagues. Hunter told me last week that “Seven years ago I talked to officials of Major League Baseball about how few Black players there were and wanted to see what their plan was to correct it, and they told me it’s not a priority for them.”

On June 8, Hunter told FOX Sports Radio, “You can go to Latin America and get that same talent as a Black player in Compton [California], and if he’s in Compton [and] he gets drafted in the first round, he’s going to get $2 million. If he doesn’t pan out, you’re out of $2 million; but if you go to the Dominican [Republic], Cuba, or whatever, and you can get a guy for $2,000 and he doesn’t pan out, your only down $2,000.”

“I do agree that, you know, 10 years from now you’ll see no Blacks, at all,” Hunter added.

Today only 8.4 percent of Major League Baseball players are Black; that’s the lowest level in at least two decades, according to an annual report by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

As reported by ESPN.com, 29.4 percent of players last season in Major League Baseball were Latino. That’s an issue of economics that borders on discriminating against American-born Black baseball players. Congress should take a serious look into this issue and consider calling some MLB executives to the carpet for hearings.

Numbers do not lie: After all, Major League Baseball teams get major protection from the feds with the anti-trust exemption. MLB is the number one employer of athletes in the United States, and so few of these employees today are Black. It can’t be a talent issue; it has to be economics. Many of the athletes passed over in the inner cities across the U.S. lose hope and, as we know, all to often wind up in jail.

This issue, if Hunter and Gary Sheffield of Detroit are correct —and I believe they know the real — is far greater than steroids. Steroid use is a personal decision made by athletes trying to get an edge so they can make more money now — with serious health risks later. Depriving American-born Black baseball players an opportunity to play at the major-league level when they are on an equal talent level with some Latinos from other countries is not good business — it’s criminal.

I can remember back in the spring of 1993 when I was working for KFAN Radio and broadcasting University of Minnesota Gophers baseball games. I asked Terry Ryan, at that time a head Twins scout, about some of the issues that MLB scouts face finding Black players. Ryan told me that some MLB scouts really fear going into the inner cities, like Compton, Chicago, Detroit, and New York City to scout high school players because some scouts — most of whom are White — are concerned for their own personal safety. Now Ryan is the Twins general manager. In 2006, Ryan was selected as Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year.

St. Paul native and former Minnesota Gophers and Twins great Dave Winfield has a new book called Dropping the Ball that deals with the root problem facing Major League Baseball: the lack of Black players at the big league level. It’s an eye opener.

 

Fitz Notes & Quotes

Center Greg Olden of Ohio State was the first player selected in last week’s NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s expected to help Portland challenge for the playoffs the next 10-15 years. Drafting centers number one can be risky business. Portland has done it before with mixed results. In 1972 they drafted La Rue Martin, who turned out be a bust. In 1974 they drafted Bill Walton, who led them to their only NBA title. And in 1978 they drafted Mychal Thompson from the University of Minnesota.

The biggest bust ever drafted at center had to be Michael Olowokandi, taken by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1998.

Next Monday, July 9, The Monitors Foundation will hold there Seventh Annual Golf Tournament at Minnesota Valley Country Club in Bloomington. All moneys raised are for the benefit of sending Black students to college. For details, call 612-338-6068-or 952-942 8234.