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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Microcosm of race in baseball









Fences has been a huge theme of baseball that keeps being referenced mainly by Troy but also by Bono and others. The video we’re watching in class documents the rise and demise of the Negro baseball league in America that was racially routed. I thought it would be interesting to see a miniature timeline of what major league teams look like back then and what they look like today.
The top picture is of the 1926 Pennant winning St. Louis Cardinals. As you can see the team is made up of all whites. Pretty typical. The middle picture was taken around the same time and is fielded by all blacks. The Negro League was installed to separate blacks from playing with whites even though many blacks were quoted as being more talented than many of the white players. The last picture shows the 1987 St. Louis Cardinals which is made up of predominately whites but blacks are equally able to join the team. Today the MLB is not only made up of whites and blacks but many of the league’s top athletes are from the Dominican Republic and other places. So, what do you think about this?





1 comment:

  1. The game's definitely changed in that way. The Sox have a manager that speaks Spanish to many of his players. There used to be a day when every shortstop in the MLB was white. Now almost every one is of Latino descent. But that's part of what makes baseball so great. It's changed with America.

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