Civil Rights, Foster, and Petroskey

Earlier this week, Internet baseball writer Maury Brown took some shots at Major League Baseball for its handling of the Civil Rights Game, which takes place this Saturday in Memphis and will be accompanied by a discussion panel about baseball’s history of integration. Brown has questioned the composition of the panel, which features current general managers Omar Minaya and Kenny Williams, but doesn’t include the relatives of any former Negro Leagues players. More to the point, Brown feels that MLB is patting itself on the back for its efforts in diversifying the game, while ignoring its own shameful history of segregation.
I have to admit I’m disturbed by Brown’s pessimistic reaction. Can’t we let the panel take place before condemning it? How does Brown know exactly what will be discussed? Does he have a copy of the agenda? Also, I wonder how many immediate family members of Cool Papa Bell, Rube Foster, or Josh Gibson are even alive; sadly, very few relatives of Negro Leagues players come here to Cooperstown for the annual induction ceremonies. I'm not sure if there is much of a relatives pool to draw from in putting together a baseball-and-race panel.

I know this won't be a popular sentiment with some readers, but hey, when has that stopped me before? It's fine to be angry about baseball's past segregation, but at what point do we stop wallowing in bitterness? One of the joys of Buck O'Neill was listening to him speak without bitterness about his experiences in baseball. He acknowledged the wrong that baseball did, but didn't allow it to make him miserable. He had every right to be angry and resentful, but chose not to be. If O'Neill wasn’t bitter (at least not publicly), then why are some young white guys (now Internet writers) who never experienced Jim Crow first-hand so bitter about it?

I think it's far healthier to acknowledge the past sins, note the improvement, and then try to move forward with additional progress…

Former major league outfielder Roy Foster died last week. A relatively young man, he was only 62. Though certainly not a household name, Foster will always enliven memories of my youthful card collecting days. I’ll forever remember Roy Foster as a Texas Ranger—even though he never played a regular season game for the Rangers. I started collecting cards in 1972; that set features Foster as a Ranger. They had acquired him during the winter from the Indians, only to send him back to Cleveland before the start of the season. After playing in 73 games for the Indians in 1972, he never again appeared in a major league game.

Foster had one big season, his first, when he won The Sporting News’ American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1970. It was a strange selection, as The Sporting News bypassed the Yankees' Thurman Munson, who was the top rookie choice of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. I don’t think that TSN’s eligibility rules were any different from the BBWAA, but maybe they were swayed by Foster’s HR/RBI numbers (23 and 60, in less than a full season's worth of games); those kinds of statistics were given bigger play in 1970 than they are today. (By the way, Foster finished second on the Indians in home runs to Graig Nettles, giving him another tie-in to a former Yankee.)

After giving the Indians every indication they had found their left fielder for the next decade, Foster fell off the map. Never again a productive player, he was out of the game just two years later. So what happened? I asked Steve Treder of The Hardball Times if he knew. “I must admit I’ve always been as mystified as everyone else as to what happened to him. At the time, there were no reports of an injury issue; he just kind of quickly and quietly flamed out.”

Foster’s lack of all-around talent may have played a part. “It is true that he was a one-dimensional talent (all bat, no glove, no speed) who was almost certainly hitting over his head in 1970,” says Steve. “He wasn’t really that good. But even at the reduced rate of offense he was producing in 1970-71, he would seem to have been a useful commodity, as a platoon corner outfielder/DH type. But for whatever reason, he just disappeared from the majors.” As with so many players, Foster’s decline and fall remain a mystery…

Finally, I’m not surprised to hear about Dale Petroskey’s resignation under fire from the Hall of Fame, though I have to admit that I don’t know the specifics about his failures to exercise “judiciary responsibility.” I do know that morale at the Hall of Fame has been poor, and that may have been a factor in his ouster. Encouraging an upbeat and passionate attitude at 25 Main Street will be one of the new president’s primary tasks.