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“The world is black, the world is white. It turns during the day and then at night. A child is black, a child is white, together they grow up to see the light, to see the light. – Night of the three dogs, Black White
Instant repeat
Now that the All-Star Game and all of its festivities are over, the city of Atlanta must wonder what could have been. The three-day extravaganza generates $ 60 million or more in revenue for the host city, provides a few thousand jobs – even if they are only temporary jobs – and serves to promote and create businesses local. This is probably a permanent boon as tourists will often return on vacation to a city if they are enjoying themselves.
Rob Manfred and the MLB decided to move the game from Atlanta to Denver to protest against Georgia’s new electoral law, which many say suppresses the black vote and reeks of the Jim Crow laws that prevailed in the southern states in the 1950s and 1960s. The league was mostly applauded for taking a stand, though city politicians and from the state of Georgia were not very satisfied. Perhaps better options existed.
Atlanta has a predominantly black population, and the new law aims to potentially increase the Tory vote in that city, which could mean a state election victory for a Republican presidential candidate. However, the league’s knee-jerk reaction also deprived many low-income municipalities near Truist Park of the financial windfall associated with hosting the annual event.
As recently as 2017, just one metro Atlanta county still had a predominantly white population, and according to WalletHub, Georgia ranked 13th nationally in its ranking of the most and least diverse states. the ratio of black population to white population in Atlanta is 227,000 to 161,000. The average salary for the county, which includes many financially troubled areas, is around $ 65,000 per year.
On the other hand, Denver has a population of nearly 417,000 white residents compared to approximately 61,000 black citizens. The average salary in his communities is nearly $ 76,000.
Watching the Home Run Derby on Monday night, I was appalled because I realized that baseball seems to be a truly elitist white sport. It’s bad enough that the percentage of black players who made it to the opening day rosters was less than 10%, but as I watched home run after home run leave Coors Field, I didn’t see a thing. other than a sea of white in the stands.
Baseball took a stand and hurt a black community by doing so. This gave a chance to promote the game to non-white fans in a town that has called Henry Aaron its own for two decades. By moving the game to such a late date, many communities had already spent a lot of time and money on preparation, marketing, hospitality and dining options, etc.
I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that the league is guilty of reporting virtue, but how does it pay the community it has turned its back on? Who covers lost income, and worse yet, lost expenses? After all, the people who needed this influx of capital were hit the hardest.
Perhaps the MLB could have played the game within the intended framework while continuing to protest against the new electoral law. They could have adorned Truist Park with pro-Black messages, offered petitions for change to fans entering the stadium, designated poorer communities for discounted or free tickets, and used Negro League jerseys for the match instead of those. awful accoutrements the players wore in Denver.
Manfred could have played the entire first half of the season to promote bigger causes rather than taking his shiny white baseballs to one of America’s whitest cities. By doing something the MLB believed to represent a strong stand against social injustice, they instead hurt the very families they claimed to protect.
Baseball dropped the ball and the league never really fought for change. Instead, the commissioner and his cronies have made a cowardly move to leave a political hot spot that needs hope and amplified national awareness at a time when the majority of Georgian citizens feel more oppressed than never. Rise above, Mr. Manfred. Don’t just walk away.
And yes, the MLB did a nice one if not condescending obligatory gesture when they have agreed to provide until $ 150 million in donations to the Players Alliance. That is only $ 5 million per team, however, which barely damages the wallets of league owners, even those who suffered Biblical losses during the pandemic. In the end, baseball did what baseball always seems to do: increase its white fan base and suppress black consciousness while pretending to be socially relevant.
News and Notes from Cubs
Odds and turf
Extend our hero!
How about that!
The American League’s 5-2 victory was the eighth in a row for the junior circuit.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been named MVP of the game, and he is the the youngest player of all time receive this honor.
Guerrero’s 468-foot, 110.2-mph bomb was longest (58 feet) in an all-star game since Statcast started tracking in 2015. Bryant set the previous record of 410 feet in 2016.
The ugly uniforms the AL and NL players wore last night ruined the game for many fans. The MLB haberdashery folks designing special event yarns have really messed up the last few seasons.
Who can forget these atrocious Players Weekend 2019 get up?
Rockies shortstop Trevor Story said his Red Sox counterpart Xander Bogaerts was “So good it’s amazing.
As a reminder, if you say “Ooooh! »I will answer with “You’re amazing.”
Back to Coors Field was a matter of emotion for Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arrenado.
Phillies wide receiver JT Realmuto ended 40-year drought when he came home in last night’s game.
Pete Alonso wore his Home Run Derby champion collar in a bar after his victory, which seems perfectly appropriate for the bumping first baseman.
Heroes of the week of stars
- Trey Mancini – A hero for everyone, for any era in the sport, not just for baseball fans. Read sound remarkable story here.
- Kris bryant – He had to answer a lot of silly questions of Joe Buck and John Smoltz and his rolling his eyes when he knew the question of trade speculation was coming was priceless. Better yet, he said he felt like he was 10 because he was asked to play all over the diamond this year. Just extend guys, please and thank you.
- Liam Hendricks – The closest to the White Sox was armed with quite the hot mic!
Additional sleeves
Props to the MVP, which hit ASG’s 200th all-time home run.
They said it
- “There hasn’t been a large black fan base in Major League Baseball in the past 30 years. And if you’re a 13-year-old black boy in 7th grade and trying to decide what sport you’re going to play, you’ve got a ton of role models in the NBA and NFL and not so many in Major League Baseball. “ – Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, a non-profit organization that studies race and gender in sport in relation to general trends in society.
Wednesday song
Living for the city by Stevie Wonder. Powerful words that resonate sadly today.
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