Will non-white free agents shun the Sox?/ Ken Rosenthal is a moron

[Roy Hobbs]

For comparison's sake:  the Phillies have only 7 non-white players by rough count.  The Red Sox have 9.  However, since the Phillies have two black players (the Major League average), and the Red Sox have one, the Red Sox are the ones who are the focus.

[rondohondo]

This jackass contradicts himself , look at what he wrote earlier this season.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8180710/Minaya

The Red Sox are a better example of a melting pot, but they are not just a cultural melting pot. The Sox are a blend of players young and old, gifted and ordinary, wealthy and hungry. The pieces — from Manny Ramirez to Dustin Pedroia, Daisuke Matsuzaka to Jonathan Papelbon — could not be more disparate. But somehow, under the leadership of manager Terry Francona, they all pull toward a common goal.

If the Red Sox can make it work, any team can. True, the Mets might be better served by a strong, bilingual manager — the Angels' Mike Scioscia, Cubs' Lou Piniella and, yes, the Nationals' Manny Acta, a former Mets coach, come to mind. But it's not that the Mets are too Latin, a criticism occasionally leveled at Minaya, the game's first Hispanic GM No, the Mets simply have too many older, injury-prone parts — and too little fire.

 They trade many Ramirez (for obvious reasons) and Lugo gets hurt so they call up Lowry who is white and all of a sudden they go from a "melting pot" to "they're not going to be able to sign any minorities ever again because the city of Boston is perceived as a Racist town" . This fool has lost all credibility

[OriginalODb]

Honestly I noticed how "White" the Red Sox were awhile ago. Even if Lowell and Ellsbury are not caucasion, they look it and it does seem that everyone the Red Sox do bring up is white.

I really don't think its on purpose but I can't say I didn't notice it and that the perception of Boston by many other fans across the country is that we're still a little racist. (granted this mainly taken from messgae boards on deadspin and other sport sites.) With two weeks or so of needing stories on these teams it doesn't suprise me that this angle came up.

Again, no part of me thinks the front office takes color into account in any shape or form, but for us New Englanders, its an unfortunate coincidence

[Toine43]

What was Rosenthal trying to get at here? Basically, he went through all of Theo's moves and labeled each one as a "white player" move, meanwhile explaining why each of the moves made baseball sense.

Here's an example:

The Ramirez blockbuster was not about race; it was about money.

Then why does he bother bringing up race?


I've gone to dozens of professional sporting events in Boston, listened to countless hours of Boston sports talk radio, and I've never once heard the "racial comments" that Matthews Jr. claims he's heard. Well, there was the Dennis and Callahan incident, but you can't blame that on the fans. Anyway, the issue of racism in Boston has come up numerous times on this blog stemming from various articles and commentaries, and I have to say I just don't get it. Boston has an ugly history of racism, but the key word there is history. As I'm sure Rosenthal knows himself, and even hinted at the end of the article, the issue of racism in Boston sports is simply no longer relevant. So I'm not exactly sure why he wrote the article - maybe I'm not seeing something that others see, but I'm pretty sure that C.C. Sabathia doesn't care about Boston's "Caucasian roster." He just wants to make bank.

I think you make some valid points here for sure, but perhaps we fundamentally disagree on one thing.  I think that racism is always relevant for as long as people are spending energy avoiding the subject.  It is a curse on our nation and will remain so until there is free and open dialogue from everyone on what happened and what we can do today to continue the healing process. 

There is nothing wrong with the logic that because 'you' do not contribute to racism in any way (and may even shoot down jokes you hear at work or in a party) that you don't have to talk about it as a social ill or do anything about it.  I just feel like we are responsible for facing the past to create a better future, even if the worst offenses happened to our grandparents' generation. 

Just a thought, but back to the article, it sucks and is garbage and they could have tried some interviewing.  Seriously, pick up the phone and ask people what racism has been and is like today?  Ask how do we fix this?  What is the next step to integration?

unassuming conformists?

I agree completely with what your saying. I guess I didn't properly represent my views when I said racism is no longer relevant in Boston. You're right, it is, and you did a great job of explaining why it is. What I should have said was that racism wasn't relevant in Rosenthal's argument, and left it at that.

[sky101]

For comparison's sake:  the Phillies have only 7 non-white players by rough count.  The Red Sox have 9.  However, since the Phillies have two black players (the Major League average), and the Red Sox have one, the Red Sox are the ones who are the focus.

  just one? and david ortiz is what? i happen to be African Canadian and he looks a lot like me - so there philly and boston are tied! lol  - i feel ppl calling boston a racist city are tired!

[Finkelskyhook]

KevinGamble said:
I think you make some valid points here for sure, but perhaps we fundamentally disagree on one thing.  I think that racism is always relevant for as long as people are spending energy avoiding the subject.  It is a curse on our nation and will remain so until there is free and open dialogue from everyone on what happened and what we can do today to continue the healing process. 


Good grief!  Are you kidding?    Spending energy avoiding the subject?   .  If people spent half their energy ignoring the subject instead of obscessing and rehashing the same issue, we'd be a lot more productive and less racist society.  We have a national leader who's a master of leading with the subject and screaming racism every time somebody refutes what he says.  Even when the refute has nothing to do with race.  That in itself has re-energized the whole circular discussion that feeds the divisiveness.  It's exactly what the "leaders" who pound this subject to death want.  It's how they collect their paychecks.

I could care less the racial makeup of my team, my peers, my friends, or anything else.  Good, productive people should be everybody's criteria.   Sox management should feel the same way.  With a zillion consecutive sellouts and a championship team, the results speak for themselves.

Rosenthal should stand in line and try to buy a Sox ticket.  Good grief!