[Sam Odom]

After watching Sunday's games I believe there is a conspiracy inside of MLB to keep young black men out of baseball or at least that is what 'they' were telling me.

[Wheell]

Maybe some garden variety racism where they get less favorable balls/strike calls (Thomas, Frank), but on the whole it probably has less to do with baseball than the overall environment as a whole.

[Sam Odom]

Wheell, it goes deeper than that or so I was told; Peter Gammons reported last night that scouts were afraid to go into the "inner city" to check-out young black players.

.

[abacus30]

I can't see the conspiracy. These teams are all about making money. Winning makes money and anybody that can help them win (black or white or in between), they will hire.

[bigboydan]

MLB is more international right now so of course the % of the number of black players are down Sam.

Back in the early and mid 90's the big craze in the NHL was euro players, and the reason for that was that there were very top notch players over there.

As far as that Peter Gammons report goes. If thats the case then why do coaches go into the inner city and recruit high school basketball players??? The reason is obvious really. The coaches/recruiters and even the scouts go where the talent is.

[Willie Bee]

For the record, when was the last time anyone was in an 'inner city' and saw a baseball game being played?

[Wheell]

white players do generate more revenue for the same stats, so there is a bias there. Shrug.

[bigboydan]

The scouts found Letroy Hawkings in the inner city Sam. He grew up in Gary, Indiana.

[Sam Odom]

dan, just repeating what Gammons said on ESPN during the gm last night

[bigboydan]

I hear ya Sam. I think he was just trying to dig up a story in order to broadcast last night.

[slacker00]

My opinion, is that it's the same reason there's no American white players in the NBA. It's just a goofy cultural phenomenon. There are plenty of minorities in the MLB, just not a ton of American minorities.

[Willie Bee]

Gammons was an idiot and bullsh¡t artist before his brain hemorrhaged, and I doubt that improved his thought process.

Slacker's got the right idea.

[Ganchrow]

Originally Posted by Willie Bee

For the record, when was the last time anyone was in an 'inner city' and saw a baseball game being played?

Plenty of stickball at least, here in inner NYC ...

[The HG]

Ok I will go into the inner city today and see what sports they are playing and I will report back what I find. I do NOT want to do this, but you can't trust the mainstream sports media on issues like this, and I get the sense no one else will do it, so I guess I will.

[Dark Horse]

My theory is that baseball is too slow for modern American culture, and fits better with the pace of life in Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc.

[hitbitritz]

from what i can tell, they are saying its a shame that all the blacks are playing other sports.

what bout the NBA? does anyone seem to care that it was once mostly white?

the bitching just doesn't end. it's a free country. the blacks can do what they want. if they want to play basketball or football - THEN LET THEM - WHO THE **** CARES.

[Wizard23]

Originally Posted by abacus30

I can't see the conspiracy. These teams are all about making money. Winning makes money and anybody that can help them win (black or white or in between), they will hire.

If only it was that simple lol. Winning and profit have absolutely nothing to do with each other! The marlins won the world series twice and the following year they had firesales because there was no money to pay any of the decent players. Meanwhile, you have a team like the redskins, who have never made the playoffs since there shylock owner bought the team, yet have turned a profit every year since! Something they failed to do when they were making the playoffs! There not turning a profit because of not spending..this guy is buying up players left and right, even coaches. Provided you have some skills and so long as you can be corrupted and able to follow the 'program', you will be on a team! Gambling is what has made the sports industries thrive and has lined the pockets of the athletes! Black, white, chinese, latino, it doesn't matter...there all corrupt in the sporting world!

[bedada]

The naacp and the liberal media will not be happy until blacks are equally represented in all sports. They don't realize how insulting it is to the black race. Teams and fans only care about winning.

[Wizard23]

Originally Posted by bedada

The naacp and the liberal media will not be happy until blacks are equally represented in all sports. They don't realize how insulting it is to the black race. Teams and fans only care about winning.

For the fans yes..winning is it...for the players its a whole different ball game...alot more politics behind the scenes than one could ever imagine! Afterall..there paycheck remains the same whether they win or lose Players aren't paid because of how much they won and how many championships they have! Winning for players means NOTHING!!!

[hitbitritz]

it's a free country. who cares. anyone can play whatever sport they want.

[Sam Odom]

On Monday members Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition organization sat down with members of Atlanta's front office, including GM John Schuerholz and assistant GM Frank Wren. Why Atlanta? Because the Braves were one of two big league teams not to have a single African-American player on their opening day roster.

http://www.aolsportsblog.com/2007/05...baseball-team/