"Baseball is a White Mans Sport" - Adam Jones

[StephenCurry30]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2016/09/12/adam-jones-orioles-colin-kaepernick-white-mans-sport/90260326/

 

“We already have two strikes against us already,’’ Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can’t kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don’t need us.

 

“Baseball is a white man’s sport.’’

 

Indeed, African Americans comprise 68% of the player population in the NFL, and 74% in the NBA. That number is just 8% in baseball, with only 69 African-Americans on the opening-day rosters and disabled lists this season.

 

Baseball is far from a white mans game, and this is a stupid statement by Jones.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Youk Of The Nation

[Youk Of The Nation]

I am of two minds about this. I try to keep political subjects out of this forum, as most of you know, but this is clearly baseball related, given that these statements were made about baseball by a baseball player. I'm going to let this discussion play out, however, I ask that everyone try to remain civil, and also try to keep the discussion from moving away from baseball. SC30, that is why I edited your post.

[User Name]

I don't think Jones' statement means what SC30 thinks it means.

[Bellhorn04]

I don't think I have any problem with his statement.

[moonslav59]

Compared to the other 2 major sports, MLB is a "white man's game". I don't see any need to disagree or debate the issue. It is what it is for various logical reasons.

[Slasher9]

no problem with anyone voicing their opinion. but i think Mr. Jones would have been more correct had he said "baseball is not a black man's sport".

calling it a "white mans sport" he is:

A. Lumps in all Latinos as "white men"

II. completely ignores the ~30% Latino players that are on MLB rosters

[Spudboy]

How many Black men own MLB teams?

[mvp 78]

About 60% of the league is white, 30% latino (which would probably include latino guys that see themselves as black like Papi), 8% black and 2% asian. As a middle aged white guy, it's hard to really speak towards a black man's perspective on this. I can see where he's coming from, but can only imagine what would happen if a white guy complained that the nba was a black man's league.

 

The problem is that baseball is a sport that takes a lot of space and equipment to play. Instead of focusing on what the league looks like now racially, I think MLB should keep working on bringing the game back to the inner city.

[Slasher9]

How many Black men own MLB teams?

 

i cant think of any. why?

[a700hitter]

How many Black men own MLB teams?

The diversity at ownership level is no different in Football or Basketball.

 

Edit: Singling out baseball as a "White Man's" sport is ridiculous and absurd. It would be like a White Basketball player calling basketball a "Black Man's" sport because there are more black players.

Edited September 14, 2016 by a700hitter

[User Name]

The diversity at ownership level is no different in Football or Basketball.

 

Edit: Singling out baseball as a "White Man's" sport is ridiculous and absurd. It would be like a White Basketball player calling basketball a "Black Man's" sport.

 

But the diversity on a coaching/management level is.

[User Name]

About 60% of the league is white, 30% latino (which would probably include latino guys that see themselves as black like Papi), 8% black and 2% asian. As a middle aged white guy, it's hard to really speak towards a black man's perspective on this. I can see where he's coming from, but can only imagine what would happen if a white guy complained that the nba was a black man's league.

 

The problem is that baseball is a sport that takes a lot of space and equipment to play. Instead of focusing on what the league looks like now racially, I think MLB should keep working on bringing the game back to the inner city.

 

They're working hard at it, in all fairness.

[mvp 78]

[/b]

 

They're working hard at it, in all fairness.

 

In all fairness, that's why I wrote "keep working on."

[User Name]

I get that. I was just trying to drive that point home.

[a700hitter]

But the diversity on a coaching/management level is.

I found this. I realize that it is 3 years old, but I was surprised at some of the data.

 

http://i2.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/chalabi-sports-diversity-nba1.png?quality=90&strip=all&w=575

 

http://i2.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/chalabi-sports-diversity-nfl2.png?quality=90&strip=all&w=575

 

http://i2.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/chalabi-sports-diversity-mlb-2.png?quality=90&strip=all&w=575

 

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/diversity-in-the-nba-the-nfl-and-mlb/

[Spudboy]

i cant think of any. why?

 

You must be kidding. All of the teams are owned by white men.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I don't think there are as many obstacles to playing in the MLB for black men as there were decades ago. There may be some (I obviously have no direct experience), but I have to wonder if part of the paucity of black players is that more black kids growing up just don't want to play baseball? All the kids I went to high school with played, watched, and talked constantly about basketball. No one gave a crap about baseball.

 

Also, I have to laugh at the fact that the chart Ted posted didn't even bother to include the racial breakdown of the NHL.

[Thunder]

I don't see what is so bad about what Jones said. It's true.

[mvp 78]

Also, I have to laugh at the fact that the chart Ted posted didn't even bother to include the racial breakdown of the NHL.

 

Should it have included MLS too?

[Youk Of The Nation]

I actually don't know; is there even one Black, Latino, or Asian player in the NHL? Or is it all Slavs, Russians, Scandinavians, and Canucks?

[a700hitter]

I actually don't know; is there even one Black, Latino, or Asian player in the NHL? Or is it all Slavs, Russians, Scandinavians, and Canucks?

Not sure about the numbers, but there are definitely black hockey players in the NHL.

 

Edit: Quick search reveals that there are 30 or so blacks in NHL. I have no idea whether that is accurate.

Edited September 14, 2016 by a700hitter

[Slasher9]

You must be kidding. All of the teams are owned by white men.

apologies. i just didnt know if you were trying to state something else.

[Maxbialystock]

On the surface Adam Jones is absolutely right. African Americans dominate basketball and football way out of proportion to their percentage (15%?) of the American population. Maybe they are naturally better athletes or have more desire or both, but it's clear they do. It was maybe 50 years ago (or more) when Bill Russell, lining up for the 2d half jump ball of that year's NBA All-Star game, noticed that Jerry West was the only white guy on the court and said, "Jerry, you are the great white hope." Half a century ago.

 

 

Where I disagree with Jones is in the notion that whites--owners, managers, scouts, etc--are deliberately trying to keep African Americans out of baseball. More likely in my mind is that African Americans are making that choice for themselves First and foremost. the apprenticeship for MLB is really long and demanding. But the longest it takes a youngster to get into the NFL or the NBA is roughly age 22, which means four years of college. Up until a few years ago, high schoolers--some, not a lot--were going straight into the NBA, and today those guys are "one and dones." We go ape when someone that young--22--breaks into MLB.

 

And in the NBA and the NFL they earn good money early on, whereas MLB players often take until age 30 to get their first good contract. On top of all that, basketball courts proliferate all over the place, indoors and outdoors, which makes basketball a far more accessible sport for all kids, but especially inner city kids, than any other sport. Plus it's so much easier to have a pick-up game in basketball than the other two sports.

 

And let's not forget that over half of the American population today--I'm guessing 65%--is classified as white. For whatever reason, that 65% is vastly underrepresented in the NBA and NFL, not because of any prejudice, but because people of color are simply better. So, let's say you're a good all around white athlete as many in high school are, and you think you might be good enough to go pro. Which way will you go? Baseball takes longer, but maybe your chances are better of going pro, and you don't mind the apprenticehip requirement. Your bigger problem is that the internationalization of baseball makes MLB accessible to Latinos.

 

I look at our current team and just don''t see what Adam Jones is sore about. We have two African-Americans starting in the outfield and everyone is nuts about them--to say nothing of the likes of Ortiz, Bogaerts, Young, Price, Ramirez, Leon, Vazquez, etc. I mean, we got white guys too, but I'm darned if I can see any tilt in their direction. Price is our highest paid player (I think the 3d or 4th highest yearly salary in the history of MLB). Ramirez is second. Ortiz is third.

 

I am not saying we don't have racial issues in this country. I'm not even saying it's right or wrong for athletes to stand up for the national anthem. But what I am saying is that the only one keeping Adam Jones from speaking his mind or demonstrating his belief is Adam Jones.

[Bellhorn04]

Where I disagree with Jones is in the notion that whites--owners, managers, scouts, etc--are deliberately trying to keep African Americans out of baseball.

 

Did Jones actually say this?

[Maxbialystock]

Did Jones actually say this?

 

I think he said MLB is mostly white because "they want it that way." However, those might have been Howard Bryant's words because the wrote the article on Jones and earlier the book about MLB.

 

I relooked the espn article by Bryant, and he's the one who says MLB is white because the owners or whites want it that way. But he seems to imply that Adam Jones agrees with that view.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Maxbialystock

[User Name]

So Adam Jones didn't say that, is what you're saying.

[Maxbialystock]

So Adam Jones didn't say that, is what you're saying.

 

I honestly can't be sure. You can read the article yourself at espn. Jones says explicitly MLB is a white man's game. Beyond that is conjecture on my part because the Bryant article reads as though he trying to provoke agreement, from JOnes and others,with his notion that white owners want to keep MLB white.

[Northern Star]

How many Black men own MLB teams?

 

"Shaquille O'Neal is rich. The white man who signs Shaquille O'Neal's checks is wealthy"

 

Leaving the context of his comment aside, it's factually correct and has been for some time. Various parties have been fretting about the low number of black kids entering the sport for probably a decade or so by now.

[Northern Star]

 

Also, I have to laugh at the fact that the chart Ted posted didn't even bother to include the racial breakdown of the NHL.

 

I'm being serious when I ask...aren't there about six black men in hockey? Including the one my team just gave away to the Predators.

[Spudboy]

I really doubt that white men who own baseball are actively working to prevent Blacks from playing in MLB.

 

That may have been the case as recently as, say, the seventies. I'm not sure.

 

But the Yawkeys of baseball are pretty much gone.

 

I suspect that money is what it comes down to. If a player can make a team money than he gets a chance to play.

 

I'm sure that racism still exist in baseball, just as it does everywhere else. Who was that dumb old f*** from the Dodgers that said something like "yur coloreds can't

 

manage" blah blah blah? Those type are still in the game but have learned to keep their mouths shut so they can still make money.

 

There are socioeconomic reasons that there are not a lot of Blacks in baseball. I'm not sure that racism is a big factor at this point.