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July 4, 2009
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The Red Sox were the last team in Major League Baseball to sign an African-American to its big-league roster, when Pumpsie Green got the call in 1959. The team and the city have come a long way in race relations since then, embracing non-white players like Luis Tiant and David Ortiz. But consider this: If the "click" David Ortiz reportedly heard in his wrist last night turns into something serious, the Red Sox could easily be featuring this lineup: Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jed Lowrie, Mike Lowell, Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew, Sean Casey.
Can you say milquetoast?
Yeah, I know Lowell is Cuban. And Ellsbury is part Indian. But would any reasonable person describe those two gentlemen as minorities? With the trade of Manny Ramirez and the injury to Julio Lugo, the Red Sox’ starting lineup features a dearth of minorities, and if Big Papi goes down (I know, strike me dead) then Boston’s lineup will seem eerily similar to the pre-Pumpsie days. Is that a big deal? It shouldn’t be, since no intelligent fan gives a crap about the color of a player’s skin. Still, it’s remarkable how close the Red Sox are to being White Guy Central again, at least when it comes to hitters.
Why should it matter what the color of their skin is? If they’re good players, they’re good players. Do you have a problem that the entire squad of the Celtics that participated in the NBA Finals were black? Do you have a problem that the Bruins are all pretty much white? So does this mean I should be offended that none of these teams have women on them?
And you neglected to mention Coco Crisp, Hediki Okajima, Alex Cora & Javier Lopez in your piece and you certainly must have forgotten that nice Irish boy from Southie….oh what’s his name? OH YEAH! Manny Delcarmen. Or are you saying they don’t count?
If you’re going to try to rehash the whole Boston is racist angle(which has been done a million times already - sometimes better and sometimes worse), atleast have an airtight case. Shame, shame, shame….shame on you.
Quite honestly, I think we’re reading too much into all of this. The Red Sox will put whoever gives them the best chance of winning into the lineup. I truly feel, and maybe I am naive, that baseball is such big business these days that there is no room for racism, to be honest it’s not even a question.
http://www.wickedpissadude.com
Cameron,
You got this all wrong, buddy. He was mentioning the current starting lineup. Coco would be the only other guy who makes a start in the lineup.
No racism is coming out of this article, whatsoever. He’s basically pointing out how similar the starting 9 would look right now compared to the 50’s teams.
Ease up, pal.
First off, I’m not your buddy - I’ll never be your buddy. So don’t ever call me that.
1958 is the past, enough the white guilt - you are forgiven. If they’re a great player and they’re white - oh well, let’em play! MOVE ON! Once again, would you have said anything about the Celtics being a team of all black guys? Compared to the 86-87 team? Or is it a nonissue because that’s a “black” sport?
So basically to make the author happy and to make sure all racial qutoas are filled, we should let Julio Lugo back in the line-up? HELL NO!
Cameron,
Did you even read this article? He’s obviously just mentioning the mere coincidence about the starting lineup? He’s not being racist. He’s not neglecting Oki, Crisp, Cora, or Lopez - just stating the coincidence. You’re making it out to be something it’s not.
I don’t care if my teams are all black, white, hispanic, chinese, whatever - it doesn’t matter. All I hope for is championships.
I did read it and it’s a case of white guilt and from the looks of comments on Big League Stew - I’m not alone.
I know you’re a Sox fan but the team and the city is a lot different now than in the 70’s. Plus you forgot to break down the ethnic makeup of Wally.
I know that the article is not even close to an indictment of the Red Sox or Boston as a racist city but I just wanted to take this opportunity to point out that Boston was actually the fourth city to welcome a black player to the big leagues. No, not Pumpsie Green, but Sam “the Jet” Jethroe. He was signed by the Boston Braves in 1950, before most teams were integrated.
I guess people tend to forget this because the angle of Boston as a racist city is too tempting to play. Well, that and the Braves left a couple years later.
Regardless, it certainly is an interesting coincidence and a solid article.