Sheffield: latinplayers easier to control

[Lance Alworth]

Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacks

ESPN.com news services

Updated: June 3, 2007, 4:17 PM ET

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The percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball is at an all-time low and Gary Sheffield says he has a theory why that's the case.

Gary Sheffield

Sheffield

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out. ... [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.

"Where I'm from, you can't control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that's a person that you're going to talk to with respect, you're going to talk to like a man.

"These are the things my race demands. So, if you're equally good as this Latin player, guess who's going to get sent home? I know a lot of players that are home now can outplay a lot of these guys."

According to a 2005 report by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, only 8.5 percent of major leaguers were African-American -- the lowest percentage since the report was initiated in the mid-1980s. By contrast, whites comprised 59.5 percent of the majors' player pool, Latinos 28.7 percent and Asians 2.5.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[Skipperron]

Ok I am waiting for the backlash against Sheffield, you know just like what happened to Rocker for his comments. I mean you know that he will be run out of sports also don't you.

Right. Don't count on it. They will applaud Sheffield's comments while they annihilated Rocker for his.

 

[Poacher]

Blacks are really big on demanding respect (or what they perceive as respect) from others but incredibly myopic when it comes to giving it to others. Booming loud "music" at all hours of the night, cursing in public, loud talking, taking up the entire sidewalk, etc, etc.... It makes you wonder exactly what their idea of respect is. My feeling is that they equate respect with fear.

 

[Bart]

Blacks are really big on demanding respect (or what they perceive as respect) from others but incredibly myopic when it comes to giving it to others. .... It makes you wonder exactly what their idea of respect is. My feeling is that they equate respect with fear.

Interesting observation. It would seem to be so.

 

[Merauder30]

No backlash of course not.. Omar Minaya said he has always been a fan of sheffield and decided not to comment on this.. WOW what a shocker, imagine if a white player said this? He would be suspended, all endorsements pulled off the table and he would be labelled a RACIST.. S o sick of this crap..

 

[Skipperron]

No backlash of course not.. Omar Minaya said he has always been a fan of sheffield and decided not to comment on this.. WOW what a shocker, imagine if a white player said this? He would be suspended, all endorsements pulled off the table and he would be labelled a RACIST.. S o sick of this crap..

Well, actually they would not have to pull any endorsements. Whites never get those deals. Endorsements are only for black players.

 

[Bart]

Dan Patrick played an audio clip of a Sheffield interview. Gary said that baseball is losing black fans because when they go to the ballpark they don't seeplayers that look like them. They want to see players whose faces look like theirs. Yet, hewasn't described as being prejudiced or bigoted or racist. No, he is odd,outspoken, controversial, wrong in his conclusions etc. Imagine a white baseball player saying the same things he did. Or for that matter a white football or basketball player. Edited by: Bart

 

[Alpha Male]

Skip Bayless said he was sick to death of blacks complaining about this issue; the number one reason for lack of blacks in MLB is that they are more interested in basketball and football. Jalen Rose's rebuttal was something to the effect that they can't afford the equipment and that there is less opportunity for blacks to play baseball.

In truth, there are hundreds of ballparks in inner cities and the cost of a few bats and balls is miniscule. The black mentality that someone owes them something is so prevalent and ingrained in our culture; it has become the media's mantra. I wonder if Skip bought this excuse? Does he really think that with all the handouts that the lower class receives that a bat, a ball, and a few gloves exceed their budgets? Blacks are notorious spenders: Rims; retro jerseys; Air Jordan's; etc. If anything, baseball equipment is a less extravagant budgetary concern.
Edited by: Alpha Male

 

[Lance Alworth]

Skip Bayless said he was sick to death of blacks complaining about this issue; the number one reason for lack of blacks in MLB is that they are more interested in basketball and football. Jalen Rose's rebuttal was something to the effect that they can't afford the equipment and that there is less opportunity for blacks to play baseball.

In truth, there are hundreds of ballparks in inner cities and the cost of a few bats and balls is miniscule. The black mentality that someone owes them something is so prevalent and ingrained in our culture; it has become the media's mantra. I wonder if Skip bought this excuse? Does he really think that with all the handouts that the lower class receives that a bat, a ball, and a few gloves exceed their budgets? Blacks are notorious spenders: Rims; retro jerseys; Air Jordan's; etc. If anything, baseball equipment is a less extravagant budgetary concern.

Yeah, I never understood this either. Also isn't baseball equipment a lot cheaper than football equipment? If that is the issue than how are all these blacks playing football then? The "equipment is too expensive" excuse is just another threadbare attempt at extorting white people out of their hard earned money in order to pay for sports programs in the inner citiesEdited by: Lance Alworth

 

[Alpha Male]

I guess Jalen forgot that MLB is spending their share to develop black talent in the inner cities while poor whites in Appalachia (America's forgotten son's) receive nothing.As far as I can see it, the only group of people who receive nothing yet still manage to play in the major's is American whites. Even Latin players have MLB academies that develop talent.

I don't see how blacks can still play the victim. I rarely watch ESPN, but a majority of sports commentators were black. The 4 commentators covering the NBA Finals were all black. Edited by: Alpha Male

 

[Solomon Kane]

Bayless has stood against the ESPN crowd on this issue, on Michelle Wie, and on Tiger Woods (as "greatest ever").

He's an alright guy--not a Caste Footballer, not by a long shot--but he is moving in the right direction.

 

[Bart]

On the same program examining Sheffield's comments, Patrick noted that every Latin American country has programs and baseball clinics established by MLB.Some having as many as five.

 

[Don Wassall]

I don't see how blacks can still play the victim. I rarely watch ESPN, but a majority of sports commentators were black. The 4 commentators covering the NBA Finals were all black.

Yeah, who knew that blacks, about one-eighth of the population, are so intelligent and articulate that they would come to dominate sports broadcasting jobs like they do football and basketball. And there's no affirmative action involved in either situation, nothing but color blind merit.

 

[Skipperron]

If blacks can't play baseball because they are poor, how did all the old Italian, Polish, and so forth players from the past make it. they came from the inner cities back in the 30's and 40's and 50's. They grew up playing stick ball and making baseballs out of whatever junk they could come up with, much like I did. We didn't always have great equipment or places to play but still played day in and day out. that is just an excuse for blacks. They don't like baseball because they cannot go straight to the pros but instead have to work at it in the minors for years and then still might not make it.

 

[Alpha Male]

I saw 5 ballparks with all black youth teams on my way into Pen on the Amtrak line. The train moves rather slowly between Yonkers and Pen and I had a good look: They had great uniforms; they had coaches and umpires; and standard equipment. If anything, their playing conditions, the upkeep of the ballparks and so forth, were superior to that of the rural farm leagues I used to play in.

 

[Freedom]

Who cares about the NBA finals except blacks? It is such a joke. The best players aren't even always in the NBA!

Everybody is so sympathetic to black Americans when they lose their jobs, but whites get the shaft. As if a black man never owned a slave or committed a crime against humanity.