I meant to write about this yesterday but I was too busy re-attaching my crotch because it fell off when I initially read this. Orlando Hudson can't really be convinced Jermaine Dye isn't playing strictly because of racism can he? Hudson's not that clueless is he? Let me point a few things out to him, and anybody else who might agree with him:1. Jermaine Dye has received at least three offers this offseason, two of which came from contenders in the Cubs and Brewers. The Nationals were the third team that's offered Dye a job. Dye turned down all three offers.
2. The money reportedly offered to Dye was around $3 million a season which for a 36 year old who can't play the field anymore and hit a walloping .179 and 7 home runs in the second half last season, is pretty fair compensation.
3. Jarrod Washburn and Braden Looper are out of work too. Washburn went 9-9 and was traded for at last years trade deadline. Braden Looper won 14 games last year. They also both happen to be white and (drum roll) OLD.
4. If Hudson is looking for a reason why Gary Sheffield is out of work, he only needs to look at his teammate Jim Thome. Thome is also a first ballot hall of famer, is also turning 40 this year, and is only working because he accepted a $1.5 million dollar deal which is HALF of what Dye was offered. Thome in case Hudson wasn't sure, is white.
5. Speaking of Jim Thome, he was also denied an offer from the White Sox this past offseason along with Jermaine Dye. Was he the victim of racism too? I'd like to think that wasn't the case. Also, is it really possible to claim Dye was not brought back by the White Sox because of racism when their general manager is black, and their manager is Venezuelan?
Hudson seems to be backing away from what he said according to this, but obviously he still feels racism is still a deciding factor in baseball decisions. That opinion is right up there along with Torii Hunter's "imposter's" theory regarding Latin American Black players in terms of unabashed ignorance.
If Hudson is looking for an -ism to explain Dye and Sheffield's predicament, ageism would be more accurate. Major League Baseball's days of throwing large dollars at guys 34 or older are long gone, especially in light of Testing for Performance Enhancing Drugs being implemented. Better still, Hudson can look at the contract of Alfonso Soriano. At 34, Soriano is clearly a player with diminished skills, yet his contract has him scheduled to be paid $18 million a season from now until 2014 when he will be 38 years old. Other General Managers see this, and it serves as quite the deterrent for them.
Can I say that racism has been eliminated from baseball, sports, or life? Absolutely not. Unfortunately for those of us living on planet earth, racism is still very much a part of our lives. What I can say for certain is that the days of the "Gentleman's Agreement" that prevented black players from playing 60-90 years ago, are thankfully long gone. Hudson and others can find evidence of this existing in Major League Baseball sponsored programs like R.B.I., and the annual Civil Rights Game that is played to honor the Civil Rights Movement, to embrace the history of Black players in Major League Baseball, and to generate interest for future black players in playing the game. Or better yet, Hudson and others can watch both white and black players wear #42 tomorrow to celebrate the legacy of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier 63 years ago. #42 being the ONLY number permanently retired throughout Major League Baseball.
Let's hope Hudson can permanently retire his antiquated and over-simplistic ideas that racial intolerance is the sole reason Dye and Sheffield are no longer playing, rather than dollars and cents/sense.
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