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Wednesday, January 25, 2006 |
Sharon Robinson: Don't Retire Roberto Clemente's Number Across MLB
Sharon Robinson doesn't want Roberto Clemente's number retired across baseball:
"To my understanding, the purpose of retiring my father's number is that what he did changed all of baseball, not only for African-Americans but also for Latinos, so I think that purpose has been met," Robinson told the newspaper at a birthday celebration for her father in Times Square. "When you start retiring numbers across the board, for all different groups, you're kind of diluting the original purpose."Frank Robinson made similar comments in September, meaning for the first time in recorded history, I agree with the man.
Comments:
I'm not sure I agree with Sharon Robinson or Frank Robinson's position. It ignores how diverse minority groups are and the differences in the experiences of African-American and Latinos players. I guess the real question is, does Jackie Robinson represent for Latinos what he represents for African-Americans? And how, exactly, does retiring Roberto Clemente's number in any way diminish Jackie Robinson's status? Frank Robinson's quote goes to the whole slippery slope card ("If we retire Clemente's number, we'll have to retire the number of that French Polynesian who got his cup of coffee in 1974!") that creates a crisis where none exists.
I'm troubled by the implication of Sharon Robinson's statement, "When you start retiring numbers across the board, for all different groups, you're kind of diluting the original purpose." As if one group's identity politics are more important than others, and that the recognition of one covers all others. The Civil Rights era did not benefit all minorities equally, particularly Latinos. If that were the case, there never would have had to have been a Cesar Chavez.
I'm troubled by the implication of Sharon Robinson's statement, "When you start retiring numbers across the board, for all different groups, you're kind of diluting the original purpose." As if one group's identity politics are more important than others, and that the recognition of one covers all others. The Civil Rights era did not benefit all minorities equally, particularly Latinos. If that were the case, there never would have had to have been a Cesar Chavez.
# posted by 
: 1/25/2006 07:09:00 PM
: 1/25/2006 07:09:00 PM
I'll agree with you that ultimately identity politics devolves into tribalism, but that's not the point here. Sharon Robinson's comment skirts the issue a bit, which is that Clemente didn't quite have it as hard as Robinson. The Dodgers may have hidden Clemente from view, but at least it could be said that other teams were willing to put him on a 25-man roster. Jackie Robinson, if not for Branch Rickey, doesn't play in the majors at all, regardless of his qualifications.
The big difference is that Clementé did not break any barrier for Latin players in MLB. By the time of Clementé's rookie season in 1955, Latin players were well established in MLB.
Just to grab one team as an example that was aggressive in obtaining Latin talent, the 1955 Washington Senators regular lineup included Carlos Paula and Jose Valdivielso. Camilo Pascual and Pedro Ramós moved into the starting rotation during the season.
Doing a quick scan of major leaguers who got at least 400 ABs in 1954, I see Chico Carrasquel, Minnie Minoso, Bobby Avila and Vic Power (though baseball regarded Power as black rather than Latin).
Using Sean Lahman's database, I tally 80 players who were born in Latin countries and who debuted in major league ball before Clementé's 1955 season.
I don't doubht the inspirational significance of Clementé to Latin players and countries. But Clementé was not a groundbreaker for Latin players in the way that Robinson was for black players.
Just to grab one team as an example that was aggressive in obtaining Latin talent, the 1955 Washington Senators regular lineup included Carlos Paula and Jose Valdivielso. Camilo Pascual and Pedro Ramós moved into the starting rotation during the season.
Doing a quick scan of major leaguers who got at least 400 ABs in 1954, I see Chico Carrasquel, Minnie Minoso, Bobby Avila and Vic Power (though baseball regarded Power as black rather than Latin).
Using Sean Lahman's database, I tally 80 players who were born in Latin countries and who debuted in major league ball before Clementé's 1955 season.
I don't doubht the inspirational significance of Clementé to Latin players and countries. But Clementé was not a groundbreaker for Latin players in the way that Robinson was for black players.
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