Now that I’ve sobered up and posted bail, well on my way to a full recovery from being eliminated in a game seven, I need to respond to the Ken Rosenthal article.
The Red Sox look very white.
The trade of left fielder Manny Ramirez and loss of shortstop Julio Lugo to injury left the Sox with a predominantly Caucasian roster.
Why bring this up now, with the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series? Well, the free-agent market will open in about a month. The makeup of the Red Sox’s roster could be a concern for players they pursue, whether it’s this offseason or in the future.
Why bring it up now, indeed. In fact, why bring it up at all since it is a non-issue? Rosenthal, who called the Red Sox “a melting pot” in a May 2008 article, goes on to say “The Red Sox’s sudden abundance of white players, though, appears nothing more than a coincidence, a fluky snapshot in time.” Again, then what is the point of writing the article? In the middle of the ALCS, there was not a more baseball-worthy story to be written? Rosenthal goes back-and-forth throughout the article, making “observations” that sound a lot like accusations, then saying he doesn’t believe there is any racial motivation behind the decisions.
The Ramirez blockbuster was not about race; it was about money. Ramirez acted out when the Sox would not trade him or allow him to become a free agent. He pushed down the team’s traveling secretary, Jack McCormick, 64. His manager and teammates no longer could trust him to play every day.
Yet, fairly or not, Ramirez’s messy divorce with the Red Sox could raise suspicions that the team prefers a certain type of player — unassuming, conformist, white. The current makeup of the team’s roster might create similar notions, even as the
Red Sox say that nothing could be further from the truth.
Huh? It wasn’t about race, and he documents the events leading to the trade, then suggests that the trade might raise suspicions? It doesn’t make sense. Rosenthal also mentions Julio Lugo being replaced by Jed Lowrie as an example of the “too white” Red Sox. I guess I missed the part of this where Theo and John Henry hired David Duke to take out Lugo as part of his white supremacy plan.
By most accounts, Ken Rosenthal is viewed as a well-respected and knowledgeable baseball writer. This article brings his credibility in question. It was pointless, lacked any relevant support of his headline, and was poorly timed. Rosenthal is officially out of my will.
