Hank hammers Astros over lack of diversity
October 28th, 2005
Hank Aaron isn’t happy that the Houston Astros don’t have any African Americans on their team.
“It is very disturbing to see something like this,” Aaron said. “And you would think that this ballclub could find at least one or two African Americans, especially in this city. It’s very disturbing. I think they need to look at that very carefully. They need to talk to people in the scouting department and everybody else because this needs to be addressed.”
Now, I can understand being upset if a team is deliberately passing over more talented African Americans for inferior whites or Latinos. But didn’t the Astros just make it to the World Series? Apparently they have some pretty good players on their team, so I don’t think you can fault them for their player selection.
The question is: Would Hank say the same thing about an NBA team with no white players?
And the answer is…NO.
The problem is young black Americans just don’t play much baseball. In America, Baseball is becoming a sport for rich suburban white kids whose parents could afford private coaches and camps. Its not just the Astros. all of MLB has this trend. If this bothers Hank so much, he could invest his time and money into promoting youth baseball in the inner cities rather than whining about Houston. I know some former players are really invovled. But, I forget thier names.
Interestingly enough, the AJC reminded readers that Hank’s Braves only had one (Brian Jordan - who likely won’t be around next year).
I did notice that the Astros didn’t have any black people on their team. They’ve got several dominicans and a venezuelan, but I don’t they have any Mexicans. Surely they can find one or two Mexicans especially in Houston.
The Chinese-American population in the United States is roughly 1%. There is no way that 1% of Major League Baseball is Chinese-American. I’m deeply offended for my Chinese-American brothers. With a 25 man active roster, the way I figure it, MLB needs to make sure that at least 1 out of every 4 teams has a Chinese-American on its active roster.
AND WHERE ARE THE FEMALE BALLPLAYERS??!
: )
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
Alex,
“Interestingly enough, the AJC reminded readers that Hank’s Braves only had one (Brian Jordan - who likely won’t be around next year).”
Please tell me you are kidding. As a huge Braves fan, I am quite shocked that someone would think that Brian Jordan was the only African-American on the 2005 team. Let’s see…. Andruw Jones, Julio Franco, Brian Jordan, Wilson Betemit, Jorge Sosa, just off the top of my head.
Just thought you should know…..
Scott,
Alex is right. Jones, Franco, Betemit and Sosa are all Hispanic, not African American.
Wilson Betemit is from the Dominican Republic, as is Jorge Sosa and Julio Franco. Andruw Jones is from Curacao. As far as baseball is concerned, that doesn’t count. Jordan is from Baltimore. There a a lot of dark-skinned players - and a few on the Astros at that: Ezequiel Astacio, Jose Vizcaino, Willy Taveras - but the majority, including all of those I just mentioned on the Astros roster, are from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean locales. When you take out all of those players, it becomes pretty clear that there aren’t that many black players that were actually born in the United States. I’d be pretty confident in saying that the average baseball fan would have trouble if asked to quickly name 10 USA-born black baseball players off the top of their head.
Hmmm….. well, I stand corrected. Interesting point.
I never really thought about it that way. Whaddya know?
Who would Hank have the Astros cut? Who should they have hired and why? And finally, should someone be hired solely on the basis of skin color? The last time I checked, the had a word to describe that kind of behavior. I’ts called Racism. Ever heard of that Hank?
Good comments Joel. Guys like Aaron just want to throw a hand grenade and run. They rarely if ever provide the kind of specifics you suggest. I’d add to your list of questions for Mr. Aaron who exactly it is he thinks was passed over by this team because of their race? The absence of black players does not equal the presence of discrimination. Other facts must be gathered before such a determiniation can be made.