|
DON'T CALL ME NIGGER, WHITEY;
2003-07-24 13:34
DON'T CALL ME NIGGER, WHITEY; DON'T CALL ME WHITEY, NIGGER Barry Bonds caused a bit of a stir when he dissed Babe Ruth a few weeks ago. Of course, it's hard to take Bonds' arguement too seriously--try pitching dude---but I did find his anger revealing. Bonds grew up watching his father go through a difficult time with the media--which was in part because of his blackness, and I'm sure he was aware of how much racism Aaron encountered when he broke Ruth's record. Ruth represented something sacred to white America, and many African Americans are sick of it. He also represents an era when black players weren't allowed to play with white players, hence the resentment. It is ironic then, to consider some of the taunts that Ruth endured during his playing days. He was called a monkey and an ape, and according to R. Creamer's classic biography: Beyond the simian insults were rougher epithets built around the word nigger. He was called nigger, nigger this, nigger that, all the vituperative changes on the theme that Jackie Robinson was to endure thirty years later. Ruth was called nigger so often that many people assumed he was indeed partly black and that at some point in time he, or an immediate ancestor, had managed to cross the color line. Even players in the Negro baseball leagues that flourished then believed this and generally wished the Babe, whom they considered a secret brother, well in his conquest of white baseball. The subject of racism and sabermetrics has been a hot topic this week as well. Check out Mike C's great takes on the subject, as well as David Pinto's two-cents worth two. They link all the necessary articles to keep you up to date in Kansas City.
|
Hot from the Toaster
Search
Archives
2008 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2007 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2006 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2005 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2004 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2003 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 2002 12 11 Contact
Upcoming Schedule
Wed 7/23 v MIN 1:05 YES (Mussina v Perkins) Bronx Bloggers
Beat Bloggers
Minor Leagues
Players
Boston Bloggers
Beat Blog
Player Blog
Lords of the Realm
Around the League
AL East
Information Overload
Retrosheet
The Professionals
The Late Greats
Our Founder
Suggested Reading
Alex:
Cliff:
Other Writing
Alex:
Bronx Banter Interviews
Roger Angell
Excerpts
Juicing the Game by Howard Bryant Part 1 Part 2
Players
25-man Roster: Infielders:
Outfielders:
Catchers:
Starting Pitchers:
Relief Pitchers:
15-day DL:
Coaches:
40-man Roster:
Designated for Assignment:
Select Minor Leaguers: AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees: AA Trenton Thunder: A Tampa Yankees: Low-A Charleston RiverDogs: Low-A Staten Island Yankees: Rookie Gulf Coast Yankees: Key: The Recently Departed
2008 Yankees:
2008 Campers/mLers:
2007 Yankees:
2007 Campers and mLers:
Molina Trade:
Abreu Trade
Food Blogs
Syndication
 
About the Toaster
Baseball Toaster runs on some experimental software called Fairpole. It's still under development. For more information, please visit the Fairpole blog, or read the FAQ. |
Comment status: comments have been closed.