I was reading an article by Joe Posnanski, one of my favorite sports columnists. Within, he was discussing Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball. He was listing off the last teams to integrate - the Yankees in 1955, the Phillies in 1957, the Tigers in 1958, and the Red Sox in 1959. Posnanski then denigrates the Sox and their "Hall of Fame" owner (his quotation marks, not mine) for shamefully being the last team, and yet says nothing about the Tigers or Phillies. I mean, yes, it sucks that they waited so long to integrate their teams, but what difference does a year make? Why should the Sox and owner Tom Yawkey be so criticized, and yet the Tigers and Phillies receive no such ill will? Is it just because the Sox were last to the table? They joined the revolution 12 years after the Dodgers, but the Tigers and Phillies also lasted more than a decade before integrating. Why does he pick on the Red Sox?? And why do we, as a society, point to the last one to do something profound as the worst, the MOST shameful, as if there's a barometer that measures the shame quotient. We place an emphasis on distinction, even if it's a negative one. I don't know why that is.
Just a thought today...
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