Thoughts about 1983

I watched the 1983 Pine Tar Game the other day. I would have missed it -- but my brother decided to text me 17 times about U.L. Washington's toothpick and afro while I was trying to take a nap. So I got up and watched most of the game.

And the game that I knew and loved has definitely changed. Of course, I already knew that. But seriously, almost everybody could actually field the ball, people were good at bunting, and there weren't many really huge players. Geez, Craig Nettles used to be something of a power hitter, as I recall. He looked like he weighed a buck fifty. And the Yankees had Bert Campaneris (born in 1942) and a bunch of light hitters out there. The only exceptions were Don Baylor and Dave Winfield (both African Americans), who both could crush the ball in any era. Then there was Lou Pinella out in right field. I love Lou, but he was already on his way to growing that huge beer bellly by 1983.

Anyway, here's the main thing that you can't help but notice. I've mentioned it before; but this is the most dramatic change that has happened to baseball in the past 30 years. The 1983 Royals had U.L., Frank White, Hal McRae, Willie Aikens and Wille Wilson. All African Americans. They also had Amos Otis; I'm not sure what he is, but he always had a nice afro. (The Yankees had Baylor, Winfield, Oscar Gamble, Willie Randolph, and Ken Griffey, etc.) By way of contrast, the 2009 Royals had Coco Crisp. That's it. I think.

Obviously, latin players have taken the place of black players in today's game. It wasn't on purpose, but it's true. If you listen to people who claim to know about these things, it's because black kids don't grow up with baseball at all anymore. They play basketball. (More and more white kids don't grow up with baseball anymore either. They play video games.)

Without going too deep into the race factors, baseball is much worse off -- not because there are a lot more latin players these days, but because there are almost no black players anymore.

P.S. George Brett was the man. This is the second time I've watched a Royals game on Classic lately, and those old games really remind you why George is in the Hall of Fame. The Royals would have been a interesting team without him, but they wouldn't have been good enough to win a bunch of division championships.

P.P.S. I still love Billy Martin!