Day: June 7, 2007

Detroit Tigers outfielder Gary Sheffield apparently believes there are more Latin players, and fewer black players, in MLB, because Latinos are more “manageable” than blacks. Some sports writer suggested ed that it was a Don Imus moment. I disagree; I think it was an Al Campanis moment. Campanis was the Los Angeles Dodgers executive who infamously said on Nightline in 1987 that blacks did not have the “necessities” for managing a baseball team. I actually watched that episode of Nightline, in real time – those were the days – and Ted Koppel was gently trying to get Campanis to change his statement. It was a peculiar moment: Koppel, who admittedly knew little about baseball, breaks this big story on a show ostensibly honoring Jackie Robinson. Campanis was soon fired by the Dodgers, and MLB has made an effort to get teams to at least interview minority candidates. The strange thing about the Sheffield incident is that I hadn’t heard about it at all until I read it in the column.

That minor league manager’s meltdown, a big hit on You Tube, is part of a larger story on ABC News Monday night about hot-headed managers. The piece suggests that you not try these tactics at your own job, as tempting as it might be.

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark notes that “racial issues are front and center for many Americans as (San Francisco Giants outfielder) Barry Bonds chases the all-time home run record.” A recent survey found that 52 percent of fans hope Bonds doesn’t break the record, while 37 percent of fans want him to surpass Hank Aaron’s mark, set in 1974. “However, race plays a unique role. Black fans in the survey are more than twice as likely to want Bonds to break Aaron’s record (74 percent to 28 percent), and 37 percent of black fans think Bonds used steroids, compared to 76 percent of white fans.
“Blacks are nearly twice as likely to think Bonds has been treated unfairly (46 percent to 25 percent). Why? The survey found that 41 percent of black fans think this is due to the steroids issue, 25 percent think it’s because of his race, and 21 percent blame Bonds’ personality. For whites who think Bonds has been treated unfairly, 66 percent blame steroids. Virtually none blame race.”
The Sports Illustrated Box Seat survey yesterday asked: “Are you rooting for Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron’s Home Run record?” It was an ongoing online tally:
Yes 11.9% 53
No 68.2% 304
Don’t care 20% 89
It’s generally agreed that Barry Bonds is selfish, moody and uncommunicative. I posit that that may be why he’s more popular with some blacks; that he’s selfish, moody and uncommunicative, and doesn’t care what The Man says. In any case, I don’t recall such a disparity over a sports figure since the O.J. murder trial.
All this talk about whether the commissioner of baseball should/will show up at when Barry Bonds hits home run #756, then Bonds goes on a homer drought, and he’s stuck at 746, with one dinger in 51 at-bats. Will he actually break the record, or not?

I don’t really follow NHL hockey, but I was rooting for the Buffalo Sabres; that didn’t take. So now, I’m rooting for their old opponent, the Ottawa Senators. I’ll always pick a cold-weather team over a team named for a Disney movie, the Anaheim Ducks. Naturally, the Stanley Cup goes to California.