Just Play Ball!
As baseball fans across the country debate whether records today should contain asterisks because of dubious rumors regarding steroid use, maybe it is time to address another topic regarding major league records that should have asterisks in the record books. Perhaps any record set in major league baseball occurring prior to 1946 should have an asterisk, because until that year minorities were prohibited from playing in the league. If we are going to call this the era of steroids, should we also refer to records set prior to 1946 as the era of discrimination? Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Matheson, Walter Johnson, Joe DiMaggio and many other greats played in a league that excluded minorities from participating in it. Should records set by these individuals contain an asterisk because the level of competition in which the records were set was limited to white players only? It doesn't seem appropriate that minorities who fought in world wars and defended our country were openly prohibited from competing in the national pastime.
It is great that the great players of the heralded Negro Leagues are being inducted in baseball's hall of fame and finally receiving their deserved attention. New baseball fans are being informed about the accomplishments of Josh Gibson, "Cool Papa" Bell, Monte Irvine and Satchell Paige. But why were they ever excluded from playing in the big leagues in the first place? If baseball today is considered tarnished due to alleged steroid use from today's record setters, it only seems fair to indicate that pre-1946 record setters played in a league that was only for white players. The Homestead Grays should have equal significance in baseball's history as the 1927 Yankees. The Grays played their home games at Forbes Field, the same ballpark used by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and drew crowds of equal size.
Despite the discrepancies, you have to give credit where credit is due. Major League Baseball corrected its racist ways and opened the league to all comers capable of competing at the highest level. Today corrective measures are now in place to eliminate or discipline players using illegal substances to enhance their performance.
When you think about it, organized baseball is a lot like everyday life. Nobody is perfect, and as long as you face what you have done wrong and take action to correct past misnomers, you move on and make every effort to elevate the game to a higher level.
There is always going to be something wrong or unfair, whether it is in attitudes, rules or violation of the provisions known as fair play. What is significant from these injustices is the recognition of the wrongdoing and the attempts made to correct errors of the past.
Baseball, like life, is going to have its problems. But as long as those situations are addressed, albeit usually in a plodding fashion, we, as a society, are advancing instead of regressing. And that is the way it should be. Play ball!
James is a freelance writer and a copywriter. Need words?