TV rights deals, jersey sales, etc. now have a global audience they once lacked (at least relatively speaking).

I don’t think the game is “more exciting” because of international players. However, I guess people who live in Korea or Australia or wherever find the game more interesting if a player from their own country is in the MLB. This sort of tribalism doesn’t thrill me, but it’s a reality.

I would come at the issue from the opposite direction. The game is not “better” or “more exciting” or whatever *because* of diversity. Rather, the fact that MLB is diverse, with players coming from many different parts of the world, is evidence of the sports global popularity, and of the teams’ more sophisticated worldwide scouting mechanisms.

In other words, for you, diversity is the cause. For me, it’s the effect.

I second that emotion …

I am neither happy nor unhappy about the Yankees being more “multi-cultural, multi-ethnic.” I want them to field the best team possible, and I don’t care what color, creed, culture, etc. those players are.

Manny…I still think Dunn is the way to go. seriously could see 90hrs between him and A-Rod, and his D at 1B not as bad as in the OF.

ESPN reporting the Angels now out of the Tex race…could Cash-man sneak back in??

I’ll take Manny.

Also, for what it’s worth, Mays was often criticized for his indifference to the Civil Rights movement.

I have no idea what the 1950s Yankees and Red Sox have to do with the modern day. In that era, black americans were denied opportunities. Now, that is no longer the case. Except for the Red Sox (who somehow have assembled a pretty homogenous team), most teams to have considerable diversity…one that reflects the racial composition of our nation. Do you think that is a bad thing? Is diversity only worthwhile when a certain group is represented to a desired level?

Yes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but denial is a river in Egypt.

So, did we sign Dunn yet?

To bring baseball back into this discussion, “embracing diversity” would simply mean being happy to have a more multi-cultural, multi-ethnic team. Just like our great city of New York. The lilly-white teams of the Sox and Yanks of the 50s are an embarrasment.

I am sorry, but when I read lines like “the sucess of one of their own”, it strikes me as being very divisive. I am sure you don’t mean for such a statement to be taken that way, but ultimately, I think that’s the message it sends. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[19] What does the notion of embracing diversity mean? Taken literally, I guess it means dividing people in as many ways possible. Personally, I like to embrace individuality. Instead of demanding that whole races of people feel one way or another, I prefer to advocate that each individual person have the same rights and opportunities as all others.

Unless you talk to Cashman, I am not sure how you can get an accurate answer to the question. It’s really an irrelevant question anyway because I’d be shocked if the Yankees let anything other than Sabathia’s superior talent be a driving force behind the signing. Furthermore, as [9] mentions, there can’t really be a PR boon associated with Sabathia because fewer black Americans are interested in baseball. So, unless you really mean it is a move that panders to media members who seem to think racial quotas are the answer to all the country’s problems, then yes, I don’t see the “boon”.

[11] James has not dismissed it. He has correctly noted that the decline in African Americans playing baseball is not something that has occurred because of institutional bias. Instead, there are numerous factors that have resulted in the decline. Those factors range from black athletes having more pro sports options to other races having more opportunities in baseball. Interestingly, in the 1970s, one could have argued that black players made up a disproportionate percentage of the league, while now, at just over 8%, the participation level more closely resembles the racial demographics of the nation. If anything, baseball “looks more like America” than any other sport.

[14] I couldn’t agree more. In my mind, this issue is a quality one, not a racial one. MLB should want every great athlete, regardless of color, to play baseball. As a result, it should do everything possible to attract the best athletes in this country and around the world. It shouldn’t be interested, however, in inflating its racial profile. It’s a shame that people can’t get past this kind of thinking.

[15] As a baseball fan, it saddens me that everyone in the world isn’t a fan of the game. Of course, I realize that you simply can not make people be interested.

I also bristle at the notion that Willie Mays is one of “their own”. As an American and a baseball fan, I like to think of Willie Mays as one of my own too. I didn’t realize that I should only revere players with the same skin color as my own. Similarly, I’d like to think that black Americans should be able to revere whomever they like, regardless of skin color or what sport they play. It almost seems condescending to me for someone to suggest what or whom another person should appreciate, not to mention an entire of race of people. It’s that kind of thinking, disguised as enlightenment, that fosters the prejudices and racial fears that we all would like to disappear.