MLB to 'draft' Negro Leaguers

[Baseball Guru]

Jimmie Lee Solomon sees professional baseball going more global each day, but as one of the game's top executives, Solomon is mindful of the game's past, which for nearly half of the 20th century did not include black ballplayers in the Major Leagues.

"You can't really go and plot out your future if you don't look around over your shoulder and see where you've come from," said Solomon, executive vice president of Major League Baseball.

Solomon and others took a look at that past, and they decided the sport needed to find yet another way to remember those surviving Negro League players who had been excluded from the Majors.

As part of its 2008 First-Year Player Draft next month, Major League Baseball will hold a ceremonial selection of players from the Negro Leagues. Participation in the draft is voluntary, but most of the 30 clubs are expected to take part as baseball continues its efforts to keep alive the history of the Negro Leagues.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080506&content_id=2649319&vkey=draft2008&fext=.jsp

[Milwaukee T]

???

What's the point? Just another example of trying to be pc going way out of control.

[Williamsburg2599]

What's the point? Just another example of trying to be pc going way out of control.

I don't see how this has anything to do with political correctness. There simply righting a wrong.

[jalbright]

Personally, if the Hall is to henceforth stay closed to Negro Leaguers (which seems to have a major aim of the 2006 Negro League inductions), this seems to me to be an empty gesture. If MLB wants to honor them in that way, they should discuss the other issue with Cooperstown first. The Hall is independent, true, but they desperately want to make MLB happy, and if MLB made it clear they wanted the doors to stay open, my bet is they'd be open. If they want to add this gesture at that point, it's a nice little gesture on top of some meaningful action. Without the meaningful action, though, it strikes me as pure window dressing.

[Moses Fleetwood-Walker]

"Sometimes, some of the past wrongs in our society are never really adequately addressed when you try to do it years hence," Solomon said. "But you've got to try; you've got to make peace with our history."

I couldnt agree more.

[disgrig]

I think John B. Holway summed it up best in Black Diamonds:

"But I also consider myself a historian, and I feel we should all unlearn any incorrect history we have absorbed and relearn the history that comes closer to the truth."

I don't think it's not about being "pc," it's about telling the truth. It's easier to have an honest coversation on the issue if people know the truth.

And I agree MLB could do more to open the doors of Cooperstown to the Negro Leaguers (and pre-Negro League stars), as well as make more money available for the pension fund that some former Negro League players have been granted in recent years.

[hellborn]

If the former Negro League players who are invited don't like the whole idea, they can surely choose to not attend. I think that this is a wonderful concept, and how cool that Dave Winfield was the originator and driving force behind it.
Nap Gulley was a Negro League player who at least used to live in my hometown and would make appearances around Chicago. I came across him signing autographs in a mall once, and happened to have my Chicago American Giants cap on...he seemed pretty shocked! We talked for quite a while, he signed a bunch of stuff for me, and I bought some books from his table. I don't know if he's still with us, but, if he is, I hope that he's involved in this tribute.

[whoisonit]

What's the point? Just another example of trying to be pc going way out of control.

How in world is there something wrong with doing this ?
I simply cannot fathom why such a nice gesture would be viewed negatively.
Every time MLB does something to honor the Negro Leaguers, it raises the awareness of these men who were in every way equal to the men in the white league.
It's not costing any money, they're not raising money from fans for 'paybacks' & no past or current player is being slighted.
So again, what's the problem fella ? Can you elaborate ?

[six4three]

I simply cannot fathom why such a nice gesture would be viewed negatively.

Been on the Internet long?

[hellborn]

...
Nap Gulley was a Negro League player who at least used to live in my hometown and would make appearances around Chicago. I came across him signing autographs in a mall once, and happened to have my Chicago American Giants cap on...he seemed pretty shocked! We talked for quite a while, he signed a bunch of stuff for me, and I bought some books from his table. I don't know if he's still with us, but, if he is, I hope that he's involved in this tribute.

I was poking around the net and found out that Mr. Gulley died back in '99.
I'm going to take the stuff I got from him out tonight and show it to my daughter.
Funny, I was playing NABA when I met him and told him he should come out and DH a game for my team, that he was probably still a better hitter than any of us...he sure thought it over for a while! I can still picture him smiling and saying, "Hmmmmm...?"

[whoisonit]

Been on the Internet long?

Really - what was I thinking !

[Milwaukee T]

Just an Opinion

MLB made a wrong for decades. There are a ton of ways to try and show appreciation to those players that are still with us. Bring them all to the draft and honour them. Have them there for each person to come and meet. Give them and the families a free trip and a pampered weekend. I think those would all be great ways to try and start to say thank you and sorry. To "draft" a Negro League player? That to me seems like an empty gesture.

I am glad thay they are trying to do something. It is just that this seems more like the least they could do rather than trying to do the most that they could do.

[whoisonit]

MLB made a wrong for decades. There are a ton of ways to try and show appreciation to those players that are still with us. Bring them all to the draft and honour them. Have them there for each person to come and meet. Give them and the families a free trip and a pampered weekend. I think those would all be great ways to try and start to say thank you and sorry. To "draft" a Negro League player? That to me seems like an empty gesture.

I am glad thay they are trying to do something. It is just that this seems more like the least they could do rather than trying to do the most that they could do.

I couldn't dissagree more strongly. It has nothing to do with saying "sorry".
This 'gesture' by MLB clearly is intended to focus attention and thus spur conversation and pehaps even more research into Black Ball. Then we may not have ignorant statements foisted upon us as I recently read in the history forum debasing the Negro Leagues as essentially seperate but much, much less than equal.
Again I ask you, why is that a bad thing ?

[Milwaukee T]

Just Better Ways

I am all for the study of all of the Negro Leagues and teams and players. I have tried to do a great deal of study of these, but it is so time consuming and costly to put a solid research item together. I think baseball should do the research or at least fund it for some other group. The more that is know about what was almost lost, the better all will be. If MLB were to make half as much of a production about the history as a whole as they do for all the production around 42 celebrations; to me it would create a much larger interest in the history.

I'm not saying that making this jesture by MLB on draft day is a bad thing. It just seems like an empty gesture. I simply put it up against the question of who will be prompted to look into the history based upon this? I would suggest that no one will. So what did they accomplish?

Do it. Have a little fun with it. Why not do something substantial though? Think of how many people are out there and have no clue as to what thier grand dads had done in the Negro Leagues. Maybe doing more would be better than this.

I'm not going to say not do this. I just wish they would go SO much further than this for all of those still with us. These men are almost gone. Thier children are reaching that point as well. I just wish there was a real event done by MLB to give a massive thank you.

[disgrig]

Draft Results

The Negro League draft results are at mlb.com if any is interested. Unfortunately, they're not that easy to locate. You have to look for them but here's the link:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080529&content_id=2795840&vkey=draft2008&fext=.jsp

The Washington Nationals drafted Mamie Johnson and the Cardinals drafted Prince Joe Henry.