Comments on: Color by Numbers: World Series MVPs

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:32:31 +0000

[21] Don’t misunderstand me – whether Billy was a bigot or just a jerk is irrelevant if he treated players with any tinge of racism. Costas is not the kind to mine for a phony controversy, generally.

I’d like to give everyone involved the benefit of the doubt.

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:20:10 +0000

20) The interviewer was Costas. I’m sure Reggie was just “telling it like it was.” I don’t know if Billy had racism in his heart either but I wouldn’t doubt it. LOL. Not sure if it is right or wrong just what it was.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:18:18 +0000

[17] Terrific point. I think part of my reaction to this was thinking “Why is Reggie talking about this now? He’d said this stuff long ago.” Curious to know if the interviewer was digging for it.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:59:49 +0000

[18] This is sort of what I was after – Billy was a classic paranoid alcoholic nutjob. Did Billy say racist things? I don’t doubt it at all. Did Billy really have racism in his heart or let it guide his managing? Well, I can’t say, but I doubt it. Look – it’s wrong any way you slice it.

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:54:51 +0000

I always go back to Schulian’s quote about Billy, that he was a rat studying to be a mouse. There’s no doubt that he was a bigot but he was an angry, paranoid, sick man who probably was an equal opportunity hater. If you didn’t play his game, his way, he didn’t like you, period.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:49:26 +0000

[15] I also wonder if the question was posed to Reggie in a way that the questioner knew he would elicit a substantial response or if Reggie brought up the subject himself. Knowing the answer to that would color the commentary strongly in my opinion.

I agree with William, and having been subjected to racism and discrimination most of my life, I have strong opinions and feelings about the subject, but at the same time I try not to let it direct my own judgment, nor does it become the fundamental basis of conversation. It’s difficult to discuss or listen to, but I can’t pretend it never happens/happened.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:40:07 +0000

[15] Good points. I love Reggie, but he can be a bit much (how’s that for understatement). If this were coming from say, Roy White or Willie Randolph or Paul Blair, I would be more open. That’s not really fair, I realize.

By: William J.

William J. — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:33:34 +0000

I am also uneasy about piling on a dead man, but I am also not comfortable about telling someone who faced discrimination to give it a rest. In other words, although I won’t cover my ears on the topic, I probably will hold my nose.

By: rbj

rbj — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:27:15 +0000

Billy did come of age in a time when racism and anti-semitism were standard. I doubt he’d have been in the KKK, but various epithets were quite common. I’d put it down to him, like Ty Cobb, being a product of his time & place, without the ability to transcend it.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:26:17 +0000

[11] That’s not to say Billy *wasn’t* a racist. Who knows?

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:20:44 +0000

[11] And he did basically say it to Billy’s face. Reggie was and is legendarily sensitive and Billy was no doubt totally insensitive and probably enjoyed pricking Reggie’s sensibilities.

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:59:28 +0000

9) True. But Reggie said it plenty of times when Billy was still alive.

By: joejoejoe

joejoejoe — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:48:17 +0000

Do they still have the Doyle Brothers Baseball Academy? I used to see ads for it in Baseball Digest as a kid. I had reflexive dislike of Denny Doyle who held down 2B for the Red Sox when I was a little kid. Brian Doyle didn’t have the longevity of his older brother but all the glory belongs to the kid.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:38:20 +0000

It’s also a little too easy to call out a dead guy as a racist.

By: RagingTartabull

RagingTartabull — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:36:37 +0000

[7] I’m not defending anything Billy may have said or done, his transgressions are well known at this point, but saying “Billy Martin was a racist” is different from saying “Billy Martin made game decisions based on race.”

By: William J.

William J. — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:33:20 +0000

[6] I am not sure how I feel about it. I loved Billy, but the reality was he did a lot of bad things, may of which were systemic in the game. I think it’s important to not lose sight of how bad some things were in the good old days.

By: RagingTartabull

RagingTartabull — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:19:57 +0000

also, speaking of a former Yankee World Series MVP, am I the only one who thinks Reggie needs to give this a rest at this point?

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/28/reggie-jackson-accuses-billy-martin-of-being-a-racist-and-anti-semite?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

By: RagingTartabull

RagingTartabull — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:18:31 +0000

we actually have had a fair share of random Super Bowl MVP’s. Dexter Jackson, Larry Brown, and Desmond Howard come immediately to mind.

NBA I think is the toughest to find an unheralded MVP in, since the game so obviously hinges on the performance of star players.

By: Matt Blankman

Matt Blankman — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:39:07 +0000

[3] Timmy Smith, though it was nearly 25 years ago.

By: William J.

William J. — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:50:40 +0000

[2] Excellent point. When’s the last time you did a double take when hearing the MVP in the finals of one of those sports?