Omar Minaya is BLACK!

[Guest Cherni]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2415806

 

 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The percentage of black pitchers in the major leagues last year was half of what it was in 1983.

 

The University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics said Thursday that 3 percent of pitchers, 1 percent of catchers and 11 percent of infielders last year were black, based on 40-man rosters listed in 2005 media guides. That compares with 26 percent of outfielders.

 

In 1983, 6.6 percent of pitchers were black, the study said.

 

The institute issues regular report cards for college and professional sports to evaluate hiring and on-field opportunities for women and racial minorities.

 

Major League Baseball received an overall C-plus in gender and racial diversity on and off the field -- the same grade it received last year. The sport's B-plus for racial diversity was slightly higher than the previous year, while baseball fell from a C to a D-plus for gender diversity.

 

Los Angeles Angels owner Arturo Moreno remained the only nonwhite controlling owner and is the only Latino owner in all of U.S. professional sports. Ken Williams, White Sox senior vice president and general manager, and Omar Minaya, general manager for the New York Mets, were baseball's only black GMs.

 

Study author Richard Lapchick said commissioner Bud Selig has helped create more opportunities for minorities -- despite a small decline this year in women employed at the commissioner's office.

 

"I think in general, where he has had the influence, baseball has done well," Lapchick said. "Where he hasn't had as much influence, at the team level, there's a lot of room for growth there."

 

Seven minorities were managers of major-league ballclubs last year, though that dropped to five after the Pirates let Lloyd McClendon go and Tony Pena left the Royals.

 

Baseball got its worst grade -- an F -- for low numbers of women in leadership positions. Forty percent of employees at a given level of administration had to be women to receive an A.

 

Females held just two positions at the chief executive officer/president level -- Jamie McCourt, vice chairman and president for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Pam Gardner, president of business operations for the Houston Astros.

 

The San Francisco Giants had a major league-leading six women at the vice president level, while the Astros had four and Boston Red Sox three, the study reported. No other team had more than two female vice presidents.

 

Twelve percent of VPs in the 2005 season were minorities, while 12 percent were women, the study said. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks were the only teams with more than one minority vice president.

 

Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said the commissioner's office had no comment.

 

 

EDIT: For those of you that don't know, Omar was born in the Dominican Republic and his parents are both Dominican.

Edited April 21, 2006 by Cherni

[Donutrun Jellies]

EDIT: For those of you that don't know, Omar was born in the Dominican Republic and his parents are both Dominican.

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Does where you were born dictate what color you are? Can you be "black" and "Dominican"? If not, where are "Black" people born? How does that work?

[Guest Cherni]

Does where you were born dictate what color you are?  Can you be "black" and "Dominican"?  If not, where are "Black" people born?  How does that work? 

 

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I've been discussing this with a few friends. A good friend of mine is married to a girl born in Puerto Rico. He asked her about it and she said "yes, he's black." From what she said there are black-latinos and plain old latinos. She said that Armando Benitez, is from the Dominican Republic is a "black dominican." I have never really thought about it before but I guess it makes sense?

[Donutrun Jellies]

It's one of those touchy things to discuss as folks get firey really quickly and the meat of the point gets lost in the accusations or suspicions of racism ... but it's interesting to see how folks blur "actual race" with "nationality of birth", "heritage of the family", and "what's cool at the moment". For this example, "Dominican" is not a "race" -- it's a "nationality" ... and at the moment, in baseball, it's cool to be Dominican. But Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for many Dominicans', too, not just "pure blacks".

 

I think we should do this kind of categorization like cats. Only a very few can claim to be "persian" or "siamese" ... the vast majority, like it or not, are simple "domestic long hairs" or "domestic short hairs". Yep, it's that way with people. The great amerian melting pot ... the vast majority of us are simply Americans -- domestic long hairs and domestic short hairs -- not worried about what color fur each other have or where our great great grandparents may have spent a night or two ...

 

And dang proud of it.