August
9, 2005: Are you a Dominican or a Dominican’t?
By Ahchie
A storm that has been brewing was recently unleashed after a San Francisco Giants radio guy made ill-advised comments regarding Latin ballplayers. The radio guy spoke, during a rant about the Giants, about their “brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly.” Since then, Giants manager Felipe Alou has gone ballistic, Latin players have been paraded on ESPN’s Outside the Lines bemoaning their plight as being looked down upon by the media and others, and the claims are coming in that Latin players are perceived as dumb cheaters who have easy access to steroids. All of this coming from one person’s radio rant.
It
should be common knowledge that most radio personalities go on rants about
various things and often times spout out nonsense. It just so happened that
on this occasion the radio personality in question made inflammatory remarks.
Yes, what he said was ignorant and whatever else you want to call it, but
it seems that Alou and the others are being far too sensitive about this.
The reaction indicates that there is some insecurity bubbling under the surface,
but that insecurity has no reason to even be there. Latin players have clearly
made huge strides in the game and many of the dominant superstar players are
of Latin descent. They are regarded as being amongst the best the game has
to offer and they are well compensated for it money wise. Their tales of giving
back to their homeland after making it big are widely known. Vladimir Guerrero,
Miguel Tejada, Big Papi David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Albert Pujols are
just a few big names that only scratch the surface of the impact made by Latin
players. The impact is so big that The Cooler himself, Alex
Rodriguez, is ready to be identified as a Dominican now. Plus, according
to Dusty Baker, black and Latin players are better suited
to play in the heat than white players.
To further illustrate the impact of the Latino players, the BMTG’s research has revealed that the most common name in baseball is Rodriguez. See the table below for details.
Both Felipe and Moises Alou seem to be very quick to make everything a race issue. They claim that steroids are blamed on Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and they say that Latino players are thought of as dumb because of the language barrier. How many people actually think someone is dumb because English is either their second language or they don’t speak English at all? Maybe there are people out there who think like that, but it does not make sense that that would be the dominant opinion. Most people look at Latino players in a far more favorable light than Alou seems to think.
And
making the steroid issue a race thing is just wrong. Latino ballplayers are
just like any other group of players – most are smart enough to know
that steroids is a huge issue and that appropriate precautions need to be
taken to avoid inadvertently taking something that has a banned substance,
while a few are not. It is not a race thing – it is a human thing. If
steroids were all about race then Mark McGwire would not have been roasted
as much as he was after the steroid hearings. McGwire refused to answer questions
about the past and was grilled for it. Had McGwire been Dominican and been
criticized as heavily as he was, would Alou be saying that he is only being
criticized because of his race?
All
managers, and players for that matter, need to have a thick skin. Most managers
don’t listen to or read about what people outside the club are saying.
Boston manager Terry Francona is criticized relentlessly by a certain segment
of the fan base when the Red Sox lose. And then he is still criticized by
some even when they win. And this criticism comes at Francona not even a full
season after he took Boston to its first World Series
victory in 86 years in just his first year managing the club. And it has
nothing to do with his race – it is just the way it is. If Francona
were a Dominican and subject to the same amount of criticism as he is now,
would Alou be saying that he is only being criticized because of his race?
Rafael
Palmeiro is being lit up for his recent troubles. Is it because of his race?
Chances are extremely high that it is because of his vehement steroid denial
and finger pointing at the steroid hearing, followed by the subsequent suspension
for violating the policy, which has brought on the criticism. Palmeiro cannot
argue that he wasn’t aware of the policy. He cannot argue that he was
not aware that some supplements have ingredients that are banned. He cannot
argue that a language barrier prevented him from obeying the rules. Palmeiro’s
transgression has nothing to do with his race. And if Palmeiro is indeed stupid,
as some people have intimated, his stupidity would have nothing to do with
his race either.
Alou’s feelings are understandable, as he has been around a long time and has experienced racism first hand. Alou should understand, however, that one radio guy’s comments do not represent what everyone else is thinking.
Rodriguez most common baseball name
There are 14 players listed on ESPN as being in the majors with the last
name Rodriguez (the defunct Frankie Rodriguez is included in that list*).
There are 68 players listed on minorleaguebaseball.com with the last name
Rodriguez.
Other common names by comparison:
| Name | Minors** |
MLB** |
| Rodriguez | 68 |
14 |
| Garcia | 55 |
8 |
| Perez | 51 |
11 |
| Gonzalez | 50 |
12 |
| Martinez | 48 |
11 |
| Johnson | 43 |
17 |
| Smith | 40 |
9 |
| Hernandez | 38 |
10 |
| Lopez | 36 |
12 |
| Sanchez | 33 |
6 |
| Wilson | 26 |
10 |
| Ramirez | 25 |
6 |
| Rivera | 25 |
6 |
| Diaz | 24 |
5 |
| Jones | 22 |
9 |
| Pena | 22 |
5 |
| Valdez | 21 |
4 |
| Gutierrez | 20 |
1 |
| Anderson | 19 |
7 |
| Miller | 18 |
8 |
| Cruz | 18 |
7 |
| Thompson | 18 |
4 |
| Torres | 18 |
2 |
| Davis | 17 |
8 |
| Nunez | 17 |
6 |
| Guzman | 16 |
4 |
| Williams | 15 |
11 |
| Reyes | 14 |
5 |
| Phillips | 14 |
5 |
| White | 13 |
5 |
| Santana | 13 |
4 |
| Young | 12 |
7 |
| Harris | 12 |
3 |
| Hill | 11 |
8 |
| Ortiz | 11 |
5 |
| Jackson | 11 |
4 |
| Roberts | 11 |
4 |
| Thomas | 11 |
3 |
| Lewis | 10 |
3 |
| Walker | 9 |
6 |
| Fernandez | 9 |
4 |
| Santiago | 9 |
3 |
| Lee | 8 |
5 |
| Stewart | 8 |
3 |
| Peterson | 8 |
2 |
| Cabrera | 7 |
7 |
*Frankie Rodriguez is not to be confused with young Angels phenom Francisco Rodriguez. Frank Rodriguez is listed as being on Cincinnati, but hasn't pitched in the majors since 2001, and appears to be out of baseball. He has a career record of 20-39 and ERA of 5.53. That is the same Frankie Rodriguez that the BoSox traded to Minnesota in 1995. The Frank from Cincinnati is also referred to as Francisco.
**Minor league numbers from minorleaguebaseball.com. MLB numbers from ESPN.com. Some players are listed on both sites. Some players on ESPN have been out of the game for several years. Minor league players include players in the AAA Mexican League.
Assuming that both play professional baseball, Diesel Williams (15 minors/11 majors) has a much better chance of being a major leaguer than Diesel Garcia (55/8). It is highly unlikely that Diesel Gutierrez will make it to the show. The ideal would be to be Diesel Cabrera. (7/7)
Alou won't accept radio host's apology
Associated Press, August 7, 2005
SAN
FRANCISCO -- Giants manager Felipe Alou called a one-week suspension given
to a radio host for making racial remarks about the team's Latino players
"a slap on the hand" and said he wouldn't accept an apology from
Larry Krueger.
"He came to apologize to me? You have to be kidding me," Alou said Saturday, one day after the suspension. "There's no way to apologize for such a sin."
Alou said he wasn't in position to accept an apology on behalf of the "hundreds of millions" of people offended earlier this week when Krueger went on the Giants' flagship station, KNBR, and went off about the struggling club and its "brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly."
"All of these people have been offended by this idiot," Alou said. "I can't speak for hundreds of millions of people. This guy offended hundreds of millions of people."
KNBR program director Bob Agnew said all comments on the subject would come from Tony Salvadore, the station's senior vice president. Salvadore did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone seeking comment. KNBR owns approximately 1.5 percent of the team.
Krueger, who apologized on the air Thursday and offered to apologize to the team, will not be on the radio again until Aug. 15. In his comments after Wednesday night's game he also criticized Alou, saying "you have a manager in Felipe whose mind has turned to Cream of Wheat."
"It's a slap on the hand," Alou said, slapping his own hand for emphasis. "He could come back with something else in a week."
Alou also said he would no longer do his pregame radio spot with the station.
"My voice and the voices of others can't be coming out of the same wave," Alou said. "No way. I am a man of principle. I always have been and always will be."
The anger from the Giants organization and players did not die down a day after the controversy became public. Because Krueger is a talk-show host and not an announcer, the Giants have no control over his punishment.
Omar Vizquel compared the talk-show host's remarks to those made by former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker, who in a 1999 interview with Sports Illustrated bashed gays, minorities and foreigners.
The 70-year-old Alou, who faced racism as a black Dominican minor leaguer in the South nearly five decades ago, warned his Latino players to be "on guard" for racist remarks.
Moises Alou, the son of the manager and an outfielder for the Giants, called it an "ugly incident" and said unfair treatment of Latino players by the media was not new.
"It's been going on a long time," he said. "They blame steroids on Mexico and the Dominican Republic. I guarantee you can get steroids in the United States, too."
Moises Alou said much of the problem stems from the fact that Latino players are thought of as "dumb" because of the language barrier they face.
"Just because you don't speak English when you first come to this country, that doesn't mean you're stupid," he said.
The Giants, who have struggled most of the season, have won three straight games since Krueger made his comments. But Alou and the players dismiss any idea that the controversy has motivated them.
"I don't really think players care too much about what a guy says on the radio or what people write," first baseman J.T. Snow said. "Our job is to go on the field and play."
Station won't fire host after apology
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO -- A talk show host for the San Francisco Giants' longtime flagship radio station was suspended for a week without pay Friday for racial remarks he made about the team's Latino players -- though a high-ranking station executive said he would not be fired.
On the air late Wednesday after the Giants lost 3-2 to the Colorado Rockies, Larry Krueger of KNBR went off about the struggling club and its "brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly."
Later, he said, "You have a manager in Felipe [Alou] whose mind has
turned to Cream of Wheat."
Krueger apologized, but that meant little to the Giants.
"I haven't heard anything like that since John Rocker," Venezuelan shortstop Omar Vizquel said Friday, referring to the former Atlanta Braves pitcher's remarks in a 1999 interview with Sports Illustrated in which he bashed gays, minorities and foreigners. "I think an apology is not going to be enough for that type of comment. I've said things I've regretted, too, and I wish I could take them back. I would give a guy a second chance if I knew him better, but I don't know him."
The 70-year-old Alou, shocked and saddened Friday to hear about the comments in a city as diverse as San Francisco, called a meeting with all of the Latin players before the Giants opened a three-game series against the Houston Astros.
Alou vowed to make everyone aware in his native Dominican Republic -- taking it as high as the country's president, Leonel Fernandez, who attended a statue tribute for Hall of Famer Juan Marichal here in May.
"It really made me sad to know that 40, almost 50 years later I could hear comments like that," said Alou, who faced racism as a black Dominican minor-leaguer in the South nearly five decades ago. "Especially in San Francisco ... I never heard anything like that here. I heard it in the South and in some other cities, but not here. A man like me and the Latin guys out there, we have to be aware now that it's not over yet. It is coming back.
"I don't have harsh feelings. I'm sad to hear that. I'm really shocked to hear that in San Francisco, California -- I can't believe that. I've been coming to this city for 50 years, when I was either managing or playing for the other team. I cannot believe that here I could read or hear something like that. It's not my problem. It's some other people's problem to address," he said.
Tony Salvadore, KNBR's senior vice president, said the station went back and reviewed the transcript. KNBR owns approximately 1.5 percent of the team.
"Larry was wrong," Salvadore said. "It was clearly inappropriate."
Krueger's self-described rant also criticized Giants management.
"I just cannot watch this brand of baseball any longer," Krueger said. "A truly awful, pathetic, old team that only promises to be worse two years from now. It's just awful. It really is bad to watch. Brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly."
Said Salvadore: "The Caribbean ballplayer thing was clearly out of line," though he noted Krueger will not lose his job.
Krueger's verbal bashing of the Giants' players and Alou was still available in an audio download from KNBR's Web site Friday, but the word "Caribbean" had been edited out.
"It was offensive and we took it out," Salvadore said.
There was no apology for the attack on Alou.
The Cream of Wheat box -- and old advertisements for the product -- have traditionally shown a black man named Rastus wearing a chef's hat and serving a steaming bowl of the hot cereal to a group of white children.
"I think that Cream of Wheat thing was taken out of context," Salvadore said.
Krueger showed up at the ballpark Friday and said he apologized on the air Thursday and would do the same to Alou and the players if that's what they wanted.
"If they would like to hear it, I would definitely like to," Krueger said, declining to say anything more.
But the damage was already done.
Giants general manager Brian Sabean called it "deplorable" and said everyone is accountable for their actions and knowing the right way to phrase things.
"I'm swallowing hard," Sabean said. "I'm really trying to fathom how in this day and age it can even be said. This is not something we're going to take lightly. It's a very emotional subject. It's a blow below the belt. I know it deeply affected Felipe. I'm disappointed and disheartened we have to react to it. We stand by our manager and stand by his comments and feelings on the subject."
Many of the seven Latin players were discussing the issue in the clubhouse.
"It's a free country," Venezuelan third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo said. "You can say anything you want. True baseball fans don't say stuff like that. What can you do?"
Luis Torres, a native of Colombia who works for the club, received about 25 calls Friday from citizens concerned with the comments.