All Articles Tagged "MLB"
Shawty Swing My Way! Baseball Cuties We Love
posh24.com
Baseball season is right around the corner and with that comes a new group of cuties we need to keep our eyes on: baseball players! See, everyone is so fixated on the NFL and NBA players that we tend to forget about MLB boos. Well, I’ve been looking and researching on who the hottest players are and compiled a short list of who we should give a second – and maybe, third – glance. I’ve got my eye on one in particular! Feel free to add a name or two because we need all of our bases (lol) covered!
Late Night Eye Candy: Matt Kemp
I’m not a baseball fan whatsoever, so last time (and first time) I heard anything about Matt Kemp, he was the arm candy for Rihanna. The stylish couple were together for almost a year, and in that time, we thought Matt was cute, but not all that.
But GEEZ! Were we wrong! Homeboy is fine as all out doors in this photoshoot for Flaunt magazine, literally flaunting his fit body and beautiful eyes. Allegedly he’s having an MVP-esque season in the MLB, and is getting paid nearly $7 million this season for his work. But honestly, if he worked at Starbucks slinging frappuccinos and looked this good, I’d probably be down. Feel free to drool…You’re welcome.
Far From the Negro Leagues
(USA Today) — New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson isn’t telling Major League Baseball anything it doesn’t already know. Baseball appears to lack appeal and access to some blacks, whether they are participants or fans. And Granderson wasn’t necessarily trying to stir the pot when he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Count the number of African-American fans.” On a recent trip to Texas, Granderson said it was difficult to push the count to double digits. ”At first, it starts off as a joke (with teammates),” Granderson said. “As the game moves on, you’ll get to 10, or maybe 15. Depends on where you are, too. Places like Chicago or New York, other places it’s easy. (In Texas), it’s hard. So after a while it becomes, ‘Told you so.’ ”
What Ever Happened to African-American Baseball Players?
By Alexis Garrett Stodghill
After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball, African-Americans continued to excel in the field for many years — but are dwindling in numbers today. What was once America’s greatest pastime spawned Hall of Famers like Roy Campanella, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, plus many other great African-American legends. But despite this rich history, black youth today are focused more on the glitzy trappings of football and basketball. Their synergies with hip-hop have led young African-Americans away from baseball, known for its more conservative crowd. This decline in interest has contributed to the fact that there are fewer black American baseball players than ever. The Boston Globe reports:
We’re always a bit surprised when a young baseball prospect turns out to be African-American.
“It hurts, it really does, to see the decline of the sport,’’ says San Diego Padres second baseman Orlando Hudson, one of the dwindling number of African-American major league players. “To think that our baseball ancestors put up such great numbers and stood for so much and how much they went through in this great game.’’
Once upon a time, baseball was the city game, for all races. There was always a field or lot somewhere. Playing baseball was a standard way of life. It can easily be argued that, in the first 50 or 60 years of the 20th century, baseball was, by far, the most popular sport for African-Americans.
And now?
“I’ve had kids come up to me and ask why I’m playing that white man’s game,’’ sighs Hudson.
Hudson works to reverse this trend through his program Around the Mound, which promotes baseball to inner city youth. But the competition to gain interest in baseball’s slow-paced game is rough. Training for baseball emphasizes slow growth over the exciting expression of raw talent witnessed in the NBA. African-American kids are enchanted by the prospect of breaking into basketball right out of high school using innate skills. And very few baseball luminaries receive the massive contracts offered to the brightest of the NFL. By comparison the understated life of a baseball player seems unappealing.
But playing baseball over more flashy sports has it’s advantages. According to Hudson, “We make the most money,” and the sport is far less damaging to the body. The overall quality of life for the players is better, as they receive daily perks like better food in their club houses. Ironically, baseball is less glamorous, but is considered the preferred deal both financially and personally by professional athletes. It would be a shame for black American players to miss out.
Worse than African-American athletes turning down a better way of life would be seeing our pioneering legacy in baseball die. Black Americans made inroads into the sport so that players who are Dominican or Asian would not have to face the same racial barriers we did. Following in the footsteps of African-American greats who battled their way to the mound is an opportunity our youth are entitled to enjoy. Baseball is not “the white man’s game.” We paid the price to make it ours, too.
Diversity In MLB Begins With Youth Participation
(Black Politics On the Web) – The 78-year-old man who’s spent much of his life coaching baseball and grooming big league prospects listened intently, slowly shaking his head as the smile on his face gave way to a sad expression. The number of black players in the majors declined last season, and Billy Reed fears things could get a lot worse before they get better.
Diversity In MLB Begins With Youth Participation
(Black Politics On the Web) – The 78-year-old man who’s spent much of his life coaching baseball and grooming big league prospects listened intently, slowly shaking his head as the smile on his face gave way to a sad expression. The number of black players in the majors declined last season, and Billy Reed fears things could get a lot worse before they get better.
Willie Mays, Billie Jean King, Harry Belafonte Honored By MLB
(Black News) — Willie Mays says it was all worth it. The Hall of Fame outfielder was honored with one of Major League Baseball’s Beacon awards on Saturday as part of its annual Civil Rights weekend. Mays recalled at a luncheon that he experienced prejudice when he broke into the big leagues, and he had a standard response. “You have no idea what I had to go through,” said Mays, now 79. “You have no idea what they would call me. But the more they called me, the farther the ball went.
The Business of Baseball: MLB Shuns Black Free Agents?
(ESPN) – Using out-of-work outfielder Jermaine Dye as the basis of his point, Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson suggested that baseball’s free-agent market turns its back on aging black players.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Hudson said he can’t understand why Dye, a free agent who hit 164 home runs for the Chicago White Sox from 2004 through last season, did not catch on with another team in the offseason.
“You see guys like Jermaine Dye without a job,” Hudson told Yahoo. “Guy with [good numbers] and can’t get a job. Pretty much sums it up right there, no? You’ve got some guys who miss a year who can come back and get $5 [million], $6 million, and a guy like Jermaine Dye can’t get a job. A guy like Gary Sheffield, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, can’t get a job.”
