Of the 30 teams in all of Baseball, the Atlanta Braves are now 1 of 4 teams with an all African-American outfield.
That list includes the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies (based on projected starters), and the Los Angeles Dodgers <---not sure what Ethier is but he get's a pass?
Of those other teams, in their cities, there was ZERO negative banter about trading whomever to make the All African American club happen; probably because it didn't mean a thing to THAT city. It was just talent.
Most of the “non” talk is based on demographics than finances or political alliances.
Living in Philadelphia and Detroit is fairly similar in reference to racial demographics. The populations are pretty close to each other too, in reference to racial comparisons.
Living in Dodger country is a whole new experience with the influx of Latino and Spanish-speaking Americans, the issue of color is not much of a factor.
But having an African American outfield in the bible belt of The SOUTH,
the formerly segregated south,
the south that is only 50 years off of separate but equal,
the separate bathrooms, back of the bus, cross burning, sprayed with water hoses, white hooded gentleman’s club....THAT SOUTH; it is a little irritating to see and here the remarks coming from the locals about our new talent pool.
Yes racism is still alive and flourishing. It may not be as obvious as us once was but in parts south of Virginia and east of the Mississippi River, in these parts an African American man is still a “Nigga” [their words, not mine].
This is the dirty south.
And since we are in the dirty south, where the Good-Ole-Boy network is running rampant, political corruption starts at the pulpit and Grandma and Grandpa can still tell stories of how many “strange fruit” used to grow from their trees; the tolerance for this sort of thing is very short.
Racism is definitely more prominent here than in those other cities towards Blacks, the south is definitely showing its true colors with all of the negative comments about the Braves acquiring Justin Upton. This trade only added to the already stacked 1-2 punch of Jason Heyward and BJ Upton.
I am sure that this did not happen by design. But the uproar and fallout is steady and probably still forthcoming with reduced ticket sales from devoted “Die Hards” who prefer a lighter team.
I really don't care.
We now have three African Americans in the Motown of the South, this city should be elated, right?
Now that we have both Uptons and Heyward and they will be here for at least 3 years anchoring the outfield these fans should be ready to make World Series reservations shouldn't they?
Instead the majority of the comments are not coming in reference to possibly THE BEST outfield in baseball; instead it is how they don’t like the "look" of our team now.
You people need to shut up!
I am seriously tired of hearing this BS, especially when this sport is not even dominated by Caucasians OR African Americans; the Latino and Spanish speaking players have forever been better than the majority since they graced a major league field.
Talent is talent...get over yourself.
Regardless of ethnicity, the numbers of the players that we acquired will far better benefit the team than the numbers we traded away.
Personally, there hasn’t been this much of an uproar about our outfield since Dale Murphy left.
Again...another racially motivated argument.
It is extremely tough growing up in the south and having to live through the bigotry and negative environment but as a player, I could only imagine the slander and actions that Hank Aaron, Sam Jethroe (first black Braves player), Ken Griffey and others had to deal with in their playing days with the Braves.
But it is 2013 isn't it?
Why do we have to still experience the same negative reaction that these players went through 40-50-60 years ago?
And the biggest piece of irony pie that we have to suck up is, THIS IS THE BIBLE BELT! These are devout Christians screaming this negative and hateful stuff.
Black, white, Puerto Rican, Asian, white, Dominican, WHATEVER; you still have to hit that tiny white ball coming at you from 50-100 miles an hour (110 unless your are a mutant like Justin Verlander) with your thin piece of lumber specially weighed for your hands.
As a MAN in the south, I applaud Atlanta for what they did. That took courage.
As part African American and Native American, I am thrilled to see the Braves with such a talented roster, Black OR White and if I could afford it, I would be a season ticket holder just so I can experience this championship run for the next three years.
As an uncontrollable baseball fan, I am overwhelmingly embarrassed by the words of the people of Braves Nation who do not believe this is an upgrade.
As a citizen of Georgia, please accept my sincerest apologies for the other sensible people of the South. Although the outspoken are outnumbered, it is a great thing to see progress and sometimes progress has to be forced for people to notice it.
Maybe by using the game of baseball as the social voice, this next generation will ignore the voice of their fathers and their father’s father and move forward with an open mind, clear conscious and a broader view of society.
*photos courtesy of www.Mysanantonio.com, www.washingtontimes.com and www.mibba.com
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