Business…last week’s column entry was on the Jigga/Kelly tour, and here’s a joint on the BSN celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle. Also, my man Mark Anthony Neal serves up a big-league fastball this week in his column on AOL. Long time coming, ha, MAN?
It’s the middle of the night, and I woke up to find out the Red Sox are now World Series champions. That’s cool, I suppose. But it’s moments like this one that I wish Wiley was still around.
That’s Sensei Ralph Wiley. For the unfamiliar, Ralph wrote for Sports Illustrated for nine years and ESPN.com’s Page 2 for four more before unexpectedly passing away this summer. For more on his work, run a search for him on Google. To find out more about him as a man, click here (my contribution is seventh from the top).
Last week, I shared my joy with the Yankees’ defeat in the Series, and I hold on to that one. But while I have a lot of players on the Red Sox I really like–Pedro and his curl, Manuel, Papi, Pac-Man Pokey Reese–I can’t help but consider that Tom Yawkey is loving this, and that’s all bad.
Or is he? Lots of Negritude on this roster, even though most of them are native speakers of Espanol. I doubt Yawkey would bother with such a hair-splitting distinction, though.
Think Tom thought red and brown/black/anything-but-white matched? History scoffs at that possibility.
Yawkey is the former owner of the Sox, the man that helped to ensure that they would be the last team in the big leagues to integrate. And after integrating–more than a decade after Jackie Robinson’s debut–the Sox then took years before adding more than a small quota of black players.
And that’s the team I rooted for to beat the Yankees. Hatred put me in bed with devilish history.
Perhaps it’s been a long time since Yawkey, but that’s still not cool. When the Redskins won the title in ’87–and when it came to race, the ‘Skins were football’s Sox–they did it with Doug Williams, one of sports’ great ironies. However, I don’t recall being torn like I seem to be now. That may also be because I was seven years old, and Doug at quarterback was such an overpowering sight. History was easy to forget because the present was shone so brightly. Now that baseball’s racial makeup isn’t much different than that of the NHL, it’s really easy to jump in the time machine and think about how things used to be.
But to see all those brown faces leading the Sox to paydirt can’t help but make me wonder if what Ralph posited was correct–this wasn’t the curse of no Bambino.
(When you read the piece, you’ll see that Ralph only talks about Chicago’s curse and defers to ignorance about the Red Sox. What is known is the brief history I give above. So, call this a corollary to what Ralph wrote, one that he could appreciate. There’s also an unrelated corollary that could be written about Texas football using this same theory, but with a far more interesting twist named Switzer.)
In fact, much of the Sox’ problems could be attributed to the curse of Tom Yawkey, the thinning of their stock of potential players because of race and its companion absurdity. Bad field management had a big hand in things–shouts out to Grady Little, John McNamara, and others–but if they were willing to put more than a Negro or two on the roster for most of the twentieth century, this curse could have been lifted a long time ago.
But they didn’t, so it wasn’t.
Know your curses. For years, folks may have been blaming the wrong one.
Too bad the Sensei’s not here to say this. He’d be so much better with this than I am. At times like this, I miss his incredible mind and his unique talent for making readers consider these things without knowing what their internalizing, without knowing they’re being forced to put events like this in the perspective of a history about which it’s not comfortable discussing.
And it’s a shame you’re stuck with my inadequate imitation. My apologies.
***
Friday or Saturday, we’ll have a new update, I’m thinking. Pretty soon, the column will include bio information and all of that fun stuff (my editor’s idea, not an extension of this massive web of shameless self-promotion). And since my music machine’s still broken, this week’s recommendation is TI’s Trap Muzik. Underrated but still jumpin’ a year and a half after its release.
7 thoughts on “Is Tom Yawkey Singin' or Spinnin' in His Grave?”
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You are really gettin good as this, young fellow.
Barbara’s Husband
I thought that was a curl, but I didn’t want to believe it…denial. BRING BACK THE CURL! if only for my amusement.
keep up the good work.
Yeah, the Sox are the only team in baseball where an african-american player has never willingly signed a free-agent contract (im not sure whats up with pokey reese, he may be the lone exception). And for those that don’t know George Preston Marshall was the prick who owned MY ‘skins from the mid ’30s up until the mid ’60s, all the while making sure players of colour didn’t wear the burgundy and gold until the government stepped in and made him. Thats why a number of washingtonians are fans of our arch rival Dallas Cowboys (the story on how that rivalry started is very interesting, but save that for another time)
“In my little town, I never meant nothin’. I was just my father’s son.” –Paul Simon. Well, in my life, I was my parents’ son. If I accomplish nothing else and my time is remembered for that, I’m still two times ahead of the game. Good lookin’ out, Barbara’s husband.
And that’s what you’ll die as. And that’s good…every man should hope to marry well enough to be known as his wife’s husband. If you didn’t, you shoulda stepped your game up.
Growing up..I could count on one hand the number of black players on the Red Sox rosters until now (yes, in the South “Cuban,””Domincan” and “Puerto Rican” means you’re black-and bilingual) and here they go.
“Oil Can” Boyd, Jim Rice and Troy O’Leary-who I didn’t realize was a brother until the miracle known as ESPN showed me the light.
Oh yes, Pedro Martinez has got the best curl since Ice Cube on the “Amerikka’s Most Wanted” album cover.
But now the aforementioned and much-ballyhooed Apocalypse (no, not the Marvel Comics character from X-Men) is upon us. Reports show hell is cooling down at 100 degrees per minute. Complete freeze-over is expected by Wednesday. Also flying pigs were sighted south of the University of Southern Cal…oops..they were running away from getting shot at..
My bad, I’m kinda not at my best today…
Watching the MLB with my stepfather, I could not figure out why he always rooted against the Sox. Not that I am particularly a Sox head but how can you not love Pedro, Papi, Manny and the rest of the “idiots”. When I asked why he disliked the Sox, JB’s claims of racism reminded me of how much he hated white folks and that was the major whole in his theory. Well he didn’t actually say that. To paraphrase JB “Them goddam racist peckerwood motherfuckers” The moral of the story is that what a sweet bit of irony it is that these “racist peckerwood motherfuckers” like the Sox and Armada (Skins) not only have to get niggas to win, but niggas that are the personification of everything they don’t like about white folk. Think about it,is there any sterotype about a black man you can’t apply to Doug Williams or Dexter Manley. And that is why the Sox winning is that much more sweet. Those same “New England liberals” that have found some way to make peckerwoods, like Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, and Tom Brady superstars (deservingly or not) will forever have to mention baseball’s version of Eazy E, Pedro Martinez, in the same breath. I don’t think justice gets any sweeter than that.
I rarely take the time out to give simple propers without trying to add something of greater substance to these discussions. But this time I just had to say thanks for addressing two issues that annoy me more every time they are conveniently omitted from relevant conversation. The lesser in my opinion, is the exceedingly racist history of the BoSox. I have mixed feelings on their victory, only because of their ownership track record. Many of the lessons Yawkey learned about business and baseball were taught by former slave-owning families, and it showed. To be clear, I wanted Boston to win. I love to watch history being made, and lord knows I love an underdog. I also can appreciate the die-hard fanship of the New England area, because many “fans” in my locale seem to take their loyalty cues from the abundant fair weather. But it’s nice for someone else to acknowledge that this victory can be somewhat bittersweet. The second, more pressing issue is the article about the R (pronounced “aah-ruh”). I desperately needed someone to contrast the vile nature of his alleged crimes, and the fact that many of our people’s ability to forgive and forget is directly proportionate to the number of hits someone drops. People look at me crazy when I turn the radio when the R comes on, or when I explain why I won’t be attending the “Best” Tour. Innocent until proven guilty, always. But let’s be silly for a moment, and assume that the R’s brother isn’t as good of an impressionist as Robert would have the courts believe. Then, many of those same people making him richer with album sales and concert stubs would be protesting anyone with the same evidence against them (sans the singles, of course) moving into their neighborhood. That to me is hypocrisy. And Jigga, I love your work man. You’re a gifted wordsmith. But f*#k you too.