Recently, the interim President of the NAACP, Dennis Hayes, fired off a letter to baseball commissioner Bud Selig. In his letter, Hayes suggested that baseball is not doing enough to coach and train young African-Americans to play the sport of baseball.  Okay, Dennis, hold it right there.

Let's first bring you a bit of historical perspective.  In the fifties and sixties, baseball ruled.  If a young, African-American athlete was going to go pro in a sport, the easiest and by far most lucrative was baseball. The NFL was not a big deal at that point.  The NBA was a small league, primarily of interest on the East coast.  The NFL, while popular in large urban areas like Chicago, New York, Washington and Baltimore, took a backseat to college football. Football and basketball players did not make the money that baseball players did (which wasn't a whole lot compared to today) and the contracts were not guaranteed.  There wasn't a whole lot of TV money for football and basketball in the fifties and sixties either.  So, if I was a young African-American athlete, and I was going to go pro, my best chance at a long career and a lucrative (by 1960's standards) contract would have been baseball.

The playing field changed in the 1970's.  The AFL/NFL merger gave many more opportunities to both black and white athletes. Same with the NBA/ABA merger.  The TV contracts for football became a lot better, thus giving the teams more income to pay players.  In the early 80's, Magic and Larry pulled the NBA out of the darkness and into the light and Michael Jordan sealed the deal in the 90's.  The NFL has become the most popular sport in America.  Baseball, while still popular, is not what it was in the 50's and 60's.

Young African-Americans began to gravitate toward the NFL and NBA in droves.  Why? First thing was the free college education.  Kids from the inner cities could only dream of being able to afford college, but a free ride at a large university was a chance at life.  Second, signing with a baseball team only afforded you the opportunity to play minor league baseball.  The wait to get to the bigs and make the millions the stars were making was at least ten years away.  In the NBA and the NFL, you'd be guaranteed a job your first year out of college, and if you had the skills and were drafted by a bad enough team, you'd be starting right away.  The NBA eventually took kids right out of high school.  So it is no wonder that African-American kids, anxious as anyone would be, would want to cash in on their skills and begin their pro career at the highest level immediately following high school or college.  That's a lot of the reason that African-Americans have stopped playing baseball.

In his letter, Mr. Hayes says he has "watched with amazement at how funding for baseball programs has found its way to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and other countries."  Oh, you mean in poor countries that have no educational system like we have here in the US and ZERO government funding?  Those under developed third world countries were poverty is far greater and more severe than it is at any level in the US?  You mean in countries where baseball is a national obsession and players like Sammy Sosa are considered national heroes?  Those countries?  Doesn't sound like a bad investment to me.

Gary Sheffield pointed out that the Hispanics will sign more cheaply and be more willing to do what is asked so they are not sent home.  And while there is some truth to this, the fact remains that many of the Latin players are just trying to get out of poverty and send money home to their families.  But even this does not preclude anyone, of any race, creed or color from playing major league baseball.  The simple, indisputable truth is if there were more young African-Americans that wanted to play baseball, MLB would not have to stock their rosters with Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, Japanese, Korean and Australian players.  But you have to fill the 750 slots in the majors and lots of places in the minors to fill, you have to do it somehow. 

The rosters of both the NBA and the NFL are dominated by young African-Americans who have chosen those sports over baseball?  Tell me, did Mr Hayes fire off a similar missive to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who rules over a sport where you can count the number of blacks on both hands?  No, of course not, because the NHL is an irrelevant league at present and there is no publicity to be garnered from such a letter.

Jimmie Lee Solomon, an executive vice president in the commissioner's office, called Hayes' letter "grandstanding" which it clearly is.  It is a cry for entitlements where none are to be issued.  African-Americans have every opportunity to play baseball in this country, yet they have chosen to pursue basketball and football.   Let's face it: If a kid wants to do something bad enough in this country and he's talented enough at it, a way will be found for him to do it.  To assert that MLB is somehow responsible for the lack of African-Americans playing the game is irresponsible and totally lacks credibility.

It is obvious that Dennis Hayes wants to make an impact in his new job. Some free advice Mr. Hayes:  Baseball is not your enemy.

Lightning Round

• Hey look!  It's the Chicago White Sox.
• The Sox play a day/night double dip with the Twinkies.   Gavin Floyd set to provide batting practice and room service in game two.  Think of Floyd's start not as a debut, but as an audition.
• Kenny Williams is tired of talking.  Not a good sign if your name is Dye. Or Podsednik.
• Joe Cowley with an interesting take on the 2007 Sox season from this morning's Sun-Times
• Ned Yost must be feeling the heat a little bit this morning.  First, his team drops it's fifth game in seven tries and third straight against the Pirates.  Then, Billy Hall goes down.  The Cubs keep winning. The Cardinals keep winning.  Ned and the Crew need to right the ship this weekend in Washington.
  
• Happy 61st birthday to "The Decider" who spent the eve of his birth taking in a baseball game at RFK.
  
• As we reported here three weeks ago, a group of locals has made an offer to buy the Nashville predators and keep them in Nashville.  It's the best option for Craig Leipold to save face and walk away a winner.  I just hope that assclown that used to own the Nashville Kats and moved them to georgia after he took control of the team is not a part of this group.
  
• From our friends at "The Big Lead":MLB has taken the four letter network to the woodshed because the four letter network got a bit too arrogant over all-star names.  Let's see how this plays out.
• Speaking of the four letter network, apparently they think you like soccer so much, you are going to watch a three hour pre-game for Beckham's debut with LA.  Soccer is below poker in popularity in this counrty, but at ESPN , if we own it, we will shove it down your throat and make you eat it.  Just like the spelling bee (which I would rather watch on an endless loop rather than watch a soccer game.)
• Marty Burns says Bucks GM Larry Harris has dug his heels in and refuses to part with the notion that maybe he can sign Yi.  That is if Yi will return his phone call.
• As NASCAR returns to Daytona, Michael Waltrip returns to the site that turned his season south in a hurry. 
  
• There are all-stars and then there are the 2007 Anti-All Stars. 
  
• A renegade football league tries to recycle college glory with retired and ousted coaches and re-tred players.  No, this is not a business plan for the XFL.
• Critics are less than fired up about ESPN's dramatization of the Bronx Zoo.  Who is playing Sweet Uncle Lou?
• Eva Longoria and Tony Parker get the clock ticking on what will most likely be a short marriage tomorrow in Paris.  The only reason I brought this up is that my daughter, Jordan is in Paris on a school trip.  She promised to bring me a piece of wedding cake if she can get it through customs.
• Mr. Rogers is blamed for making kids feel that they are entitled to everything.  Can you say "B.S.?" I knew you could. How about dad going soft and not taking off his belt once in a while has led kids to believe that they are entitled to everything.
• 69% of Americans think the government should help the poor as opposed to the 31% of us that think the poor should help themselves.
• Some idiot company is suing Google because bad things came up about their company during a Google search.  Isn't that like running your credit into the ground and then blaiming Equifax?
• A federal judge has ruled that the DC madame may peddle her call list to whomever she chooses.  Obviously, the judge is not on the list.  If Dick Chaney is, look for the judge to disappear quickly.
• Thanks to the tree huggers insistence on using corn gas, we are paying higher prices for milk, meat and now, beer.  And ethanol doesn't burn that much cleaner anyway.  Besides that, Al Gore drinks scotch.
  
• Speaking of Al Gore, with his son in rehab and he being a one issue candidate, Al Gore claims he's lost his love for politics.  Translation: "I'm too easy a target right now to ever get elected."
• Holy estrogen, Batman!
• A woman finishes second in a cake baking contest.  That's not noteworthy excet she was the only person entered.  I know of only one other person that could achieve this feat.  She knows who she is too.
• Some guy in England was arrested for having sex with a cow.  And, no, I don't mean a fat girl.
• Here's some wacky bowling for you to enjoy: