Race and Baseball in Detroit

24 February, 2008

Man, that would have been a great title for a thesis paper, maybe this will be that long... but anyways

I was thinking about the upcoming baseball season and one of the things that has stuck out the past couple of years is the amount of press coverage that has gone to the lack of African American in the MLB. I began to think, sadly at first, about how the tigers had in the recent past cut black stars like Dimitri Young and Craig Monroe. While both needed to be cut based upon on-field performance, both were fan favorites, and i can imagine it was not as easy as that to make the decision.

Detroit is a rare major city in America in that it is so predominately African American, in nearly every way (approximately 85% of the population). While there are other cities that have majority Black populations, none is like Detroit. For reference (all numbers are approximate):

*Pre Katrina New Orleans: 70%, now 60% *Houston: 25% *Chicago: 38% *New York: 25% *St. Louis: 51%

These numbers show how the city of Detroit is different. An important note is that the Detroit metro area is usually estimated at over 5 million, meaning that there are about 4 million white people in the disgustingly affluent suburbs. The most dramatic example is possible in the north eastern border of the city, where it meets the "Grosse Points." (For those not able to make a trip; as much as i hate to reference it, at times "8 Mile" goes a long way to showing the divide between city/suburbs in Detroit).

This divide is why race in Detroit baseball is so significant. In 1968, the year after the riots in Detroit, some of the worst race riots in American history, the Tigers won the World Series. While this did not do a whole lot of good, symbolically it showed more hope than anyone could imagine. Thousands of white fans cheering on hometown star Willie Horton (no, not that Willie Horton) had to be an amazing sight.

There has always been a premium on African American stars on Detroit athletic teams, much the same way Boston teams love their white stars (Larry Bird, anyone!) - Cecil Fielder, Lou Whittaker, Tony Clark, Dimitri Young; all have seemed to at one time be responsible for carrying the torch for African Americans in the franchise, at times seemingly by themselves. This was the realization that sparked this post.

While reading what amount to puff PR pieces on the tigers website about new additions to the team: *Jacque Jones *Dontrelle Willis

I realized something. For the first time that i can remember the Detroit Tigers have multiple, inarguable black stars on their roster. Gary Sheffield, Curtis Granderson, Dontrelle Willis, Jacque Jones are all stars, and Marcus Thames is, if nothing else, a Detroit fan favorite after hitting numerous homeruns in 2006 to help the tigers on their run to the World Series.

That's 5 players, none were on the Tigers radar as recently as 2005 (Granderson was in the farm system, but I don't recall hearing about him at all). Is this a conscious switch? Probably not. It probably has a lot more to do with the fact that they are all very good ball players who fill the roles needed by the club. But still it is wonderful to see. The tigers outfield at times (when Magglio Ordonez is sitting, which hopefully isn't too often) will be: Jones, Granderson, Sheffield, and this may come with Willis pitching and Thames getting at-bats as a DH.

This season would be exciting enough already, but this new look and feel for the team is exciting too. It's good to see the city of Detroit getting someone who looks like it's own representing it on the field.