EDIT: Nice comment with a good point on the complexity of this issue, among other things.
The argument that Gary Sheffield, and not incoming Hispanic ballplayers who don't speak English, is being controlled is an interesting one.
Sheff never quite leaves teams on his own terms. With the media, as seen in this case, they love when he speaks but turn around and hit him with his own words. If he's a dangerous moron, as Jeff Pearlman believes, he's one of the media's own creation. (To be fair, Pearlman acknowledges that).
However, he emerges from all of this, his tirades, his complaints about management, contracts and The Man, as someone who says what he feels, doesn't apologize for it and walks away, head held high. That's controlling things as much as one can.
It also doesn't hurt that his manager backs him. How's that feel, Alex Rodriguez? Oh wait, your biggest defender on the Yankees was probably Sheffield.
Even those who criticize Sheff have to acknowledge there's a dearth of black players, and somebody should be looking for culprits instead of the typical shrug of "Wow, look what's going on? Weird." And setting up baseball academies and employing teams of scouts in every country but not in inner cities should strike us as odd. The answer's not closing those avenues, but including neighborhoods right here at home.
Ozzie Guillen, a man who knows a thing or two about statements, says it simply a matter of Latin Americans playing more ball than anyone else. I'll go with that. He also proves Sheff's basic point, though, saying:
"It's not that they can control us; maybe when we come to this country, we're hungry," Guillen told the newspaper. "We're trying to survive. Those guys sign for $500,000 or $1 million and they're made. We have a couple of dollars. You can sign one African-American player for the price of 30 Latin players.
That's all he meant by controlling. That and the hidden, unspoken fact that teams don't want to sign guys they think are "troublemakers," which can often mean people that simply speak their minds. It's small consolation, but it happens in every line of work.
While Jemele Hill tries to split the difference, saying it's money, not control, she's only half right, and it's too bad Sheffield couldn't say this off the bat: Money is control. Just look at Ozzie's statement. He's more honest than he thinks.
And, also, this whole affair was borne from comments in a GQ magazine interview. They needed a hook. Sheff supplied it. They sell magazines, pundits sell their time and words, and everyone profits. Money, control, it's the very soul of this story. And it may well be that nobody's in control.
Labels: Baseball
There is some truth in what Gary Sheffield is saying. I am sure you have seen Real Sports on HBO and they have done a few stories about how competitive it is in Central and South America to get to the big leagues. A lot sacrifice a lot and are at the feet of Major League just so they can get a contract. I don't know if Sheffield knew this and didn't itterate it but even so, its not the complete truth for why there are fewer blacks in baseball. That above argument is more of a reason why there are more latinos in baseball.
There rarely is ever one reason for a particular result and this is no different. Sure MLB doesn't try as hard to get blacks to play baseball but the sports world is much different than it was 20 years ago. 20 years ago if you wanted to make the big money and had to choose between football, basketball, and baseball, you would choose baseball. Now, the paydays are about the same and most money isn't even made on the field but off the field and a football player or basketball player is more identifiable than a baseball player (just ask John Olereud).
Sheffield does have some truth in his comments but because he says them so blatently, I see why they could easily offend.