yes and no. yes...there are latin players and even asian players in the game today. latinos are very well represented on the astros. but since this is a thread about preston wilson, i'm assuming you mean, at least in part, African-Americans. in that case, your incorrect. the percentage of African-Americans in baseball has steadily decreased...down to 9% of all MLB. that's about 2 players on each team. not many. the article i've linked to below is from 2003...it's actually decreased since then: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2003/07/10/black_ballplayer/ PS -- oops...just saw that i should email this to you. i probably wouldn't do that, anyway.
I think everyone should read this before making statements about the Astros being a racist organization: http://juantornoe.blogs.com/hispanictrending/2005/07/as_venezuelas_b.html "Some observers of Latin American baseball believe Venezuela will become the next great exporter of talent to the United States, pointing to its size - - 26 million residents, compared with the Dominican Republic's 9 million -- and the country's infatuation with the game. "I'm certain that in five years Venezuela will overtake the Dominican Republic in producing major-league players," said Andres Reiner, the man many consider responsible for awakening this sleeping giant. Astros opened the door A longtime Astros scouting director who now advises general manager Tim Purpura, Reiner convinced then-Houston GM Bill Wood to open an academy in Venezuela in 1989, the first such facility in the country. Reiner disputed the common perception that Venezuela could produce only one good major-leaguer per decade, and he believed the local talent would flourish if given the kind of nurturing an academy can provide, with trained instructors, high-level competition and guidance in making the transition to the United States. Moreover, by the mid-'80s, Reiner had the vision to realize Venezuela's changing economic fortunes would steer more youngsters toward baseball as a means out of poverty. It wasn't always that way. Venezuela was known as the Latin version of Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, thanks to its large oil reserves and high standard of living. "Everybody was wealthy," Reiner said. "Maids were buying condos in Miami." Not only were public universities free, but the government offered scholarships for outstanding students to attend college abroad. When oil prices collapsed in the early '80s, so did the economy, resulting in burgeoning poverty and unemployment (now around 17 percent). Last year, the Venezuelan per-capita income was $4,400, and because wealth is distributed so unevenly, more than 80 percent of the population lived below the poverty line. In a way, the economic woes helped usher in the baseball prosperity. Recalled Reiner: "When I got started I would ask dads, 'Why won't you let your son play baseball?' They'd say, 'Are you crazy. That's not going to lead anywhere. He's going to go to college.' Now the dads seek me out and ask me, 'Can you check out my son?' " The Astros' academy's first class produced three major-leaguers, headlined by Abreu. Reiner later discovered Santana and Hidalgo, among the nearly 20 prospects he has signed for Houston who have made it to the bigs."
Fegwu: I am going by expectations. Preston has had an OPS of higher than .735 in 6 of his past 7 seasons. I expected something like last season, in the .790 range. He also had at least 23 homers in 6 of his last 7 seasons. Right now, he's on a pace for about 15. I'm judging Preston by expectations as well. When we signed him, I (and the Astros) expected a middle of the order bat who could deliver 25 homers and slug a decent percentage. He's failing on both of those counts. He's not terrible by any means. But he's not the middle of the order, 25-30 HR power bat that many of us envisioned when we signed him in January. And when he doesn't deliver on his power, many of his other deficiencies (strikeouts, double plays, contact hitting, poor defense) become that much more glaring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African_American_baseball_players If you have enough time to go through 199 pages, read this and tell me that Black people are underappreciated, or whatever word you want to use, in baseball. I bet the list of Caucasian basketball players is much shorter and must signify a racial problem in the NBA.
For all who didn't go through the entire thread.. he was talking about ALL minorities--not just black players. And he was quite level-headed and polite in his argument, so there's no need for the relentless bashing. Last, he asked that we get this back on topic since the thread is about Preston to the Yanks. On the Wilson subject.. I'd love to dump Wilson and get anything out of him. We all know we're not picking up his option. He's produced so-so after a terrible start...but he's still not at what a middle-of-the-order, corner-OF bat should be at. Esp. not for the $$ and years the option would be worth with his age where it is. BUT, unless we're sure about Luke.. or unless we have another big deal with the works (Tejada)...we would essentially be giving up on the season if we deal Preston. I mean, we'd be back to where we were before the Huff deal...with a mediocre middle of the lineup that depends too heavily on Lance and Ensberg (if he comes back healthy)... with Huff essentially replacing Wilson in the 5 hole.
It takes a big man/person to make a public apology. You've earned my respect with this last post. Just don't casually throw "ethnic cleansing" around anymore.
Okay, back to the lecture at hand. (I am quoting Snoop) Preston would probably love to go play in NY again. It's one thing to play for the Mets but it's a whole different ballgame (no pun intended) with the Yanks. My only thing is, you know he sees how A-Rod is being treated so do you think he would want to go play for those people? I bet he would rather be here where he is appreciated. Yes, I said it, where he is APPRECIATED.
That's irrelevant. The point is that african american participation is decreasing now. Fine, there were plenty of african americans in the past, but that's not so today. A lack of white players in the NBA isn't necessarily an issue. Most caucasians have equal access to facilities to play basketball. The same can't be said for urban America and baseball. Either way, enough derailing of this thread. Yes, if possible ship Preston off to New York. He was a rental player anyway and he wasn't giving us the impact we had hoped for in terms of power.
Countries in South America are just about as poor as you get. If anyone wants to play baseball then I'm sure they can figure something out. We used a stick and a tennis ball growing up in our crappy apartment complex.
Are you saying that basketball as a sport is inherently racist because of the "hip-hop culture" and "street-cred", so it's okay to exclude white players? Don't really see your point. Also, I never mentioned anything about superstar players, and neither did your post about baseball teams. I am very alarmed at the low number of white players in the NBA right now, why don't you consider my concerns valid? I don't appreciate your scoffing at my post.
Back to the crux of your post: "My arguments are rooted in the understanding that baseball is becoming more and more minority impacted". Do you have any figures to back this up? IIRC, the percentage of white baseball players has remained fairly consistent over the past few decades, with the recent trend being latin (and less-so, asian) numbers increasing while black numbers have decreased.
I am sorry, but that is total BS. I have to edit to add, what difference does all of this make? Who gives a rat's behind what color someone is. In the immortal words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. " That means more than just racism against minorities. Even what most people consider as positive such as having to have X number of minorities somewhere is doing the same thing as judging someone negatively for their color or creed. If this wish of Mr. King's is to happen, people need to look at people's actions, not their race. This includes judging white people because of their presence and not their talent. I think pulling the race card in baseball is absolutely stupid this century. Back in Jackie Robinson's day it was appropriate. Now, it's just ludicrous.
I would say that black players had harder access to playing baseball 20-30 years ago, and yet there were more black players in baseball at that time. It's not that America is taking away the oppotunities for black players to play baseball it's just that everyone wants to "Be Like Mike." Baseball is not cool in urban areas so those kids choose to play basketball or football.
While I appreciate your point that most of his posts were polite and I very much appreciate his last post you mention, you're not being fair in leaving out the fact that his first post was completely inappropriate and merited all the bashing it got. And, not only was in response to our only African-American potentially being traded, but the argument that "all minorities" are lacking in the Astros organization was dismantled pretty soundly. Who should we get for PW? A reliever *and* a bat (not a superstar bat, just a bat), or no deal.
I think we should be looking at bats and like you said not a superstar bat. We need to stop worrying about signing names rather than ability.
How did this thread get to be about race this started about P.Wilson being traded not about his race.
Originally Posted by Ra Ooh La La Just move Taveras now, and the Astro's "ethnic cleansing" will be complete . . . This team is unbelievably disgusting.
I don't know if this means anything but I did overhear Purpura in Starbucks mention that Phase I of "Operation Whitewash" had almost come to completion.
