I am having increasing difficulty figuring out what progressives and Democrats are trying to convey when they all a politician “racist.” As far as I can tell the current definition amounts to “Republican.”
DeSantis was recently asked by a CBN interviewer about his love of baseball, which he extolled as a “meritocratic” game because athletes of different sizes and skill levels can perform at a competitive level professionally, unlike basketball.”I think that there’s kind of a place for everybody in a baseball team if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to practice… I kind of thought it was always a very democratic game, a very meritocratic game.” He added, “Whereas I kind of viewed basketball as like ‘these guys are just freaks of nature.’ They’re just incredible athletes. In baseball, you know, you have some guys that might not necessarily be the best athletes, but maybe they’ve got you know that slider that nobody can hit, or they have the skills that allow them to compete at the highest level.”
I would take issue with DeSantis’s suggestion that basketball players are superior athletes to baseball players: as Bob Costas memorably replied to a similar claim by another sportscaster, check out Michael Jordan’s record when he tried to play in the minor leagues, where he never got higher than AA and washed out after a single (pathetic) season.
But never mind: the main thrust of his comments is irrefutable and true. The average height of an NBA player is nearly 6-feet-7-inches, nearly a foot taller than the average American man. Players under six feet are extremely rare. Major League Baseball players, in contrast, average about 6-feet-1-inch tall, with some superstars well under that level, like Houston’s Jose Altuve and the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts. There are some freaks in the mix (2022 MVP Aaron Judge, for example) but unlike in the NBA, they are an exception, not the rule.
Oh-oh. “The truth” is also racist in Woke World. “This is racism. For those who want me to soften it up, this is very clearly coded racial bias,” tweeted Wayne Black, assistant professor of Sports Administration at the University of Cincinnati, about DeSantis’s opinion. The Root, admittedly a full-time race-baiting website, attacked DeSantis’ “freaks of nature” statement as a “disgustingly racist trope.” A freak is defined as “a person, animal, or plant with an unusual physical abnormality.” Being nearly seven feet tall is very unusual everywhere but on an NBA court. Most of the players can be fairly, if not kindly, described as “freaks of nature.”
USA Today columnist Mike Freeman declared DeSantis guilty of pushing “racist tropes” in an “attempt to appeal to the worst instincts of some of his followers.” “DeSantis was essentially talking about two leagues, and how the mostly Black one, the NBA, is full of freaky athletes with fast-twitch muscles and apparently not as democratic or meritocratic or whatever-cratic as baseball players,” Freeman wrote. “Then, according to DeSantis, there’s baseball, or the MLB, the mostly white sport, full of OK athletes but gosh darn, do they work hard, and form democracies and meritocratic-ocracies-republics. They’re not freaks at all. They’re real Americans.”
Wow, Mike, as long as you’re making up things that DeSantis didn’t say, mean or imply, why not go all the way and accuse him of sending coded messages to Mars? Baseball is a majority white sport, but less so than in the general U.S. population: Of the 945 players on Major League Opening Day rosters and inactive lists in 2023, 40.34% are “of color” (Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American), which is more than two percent higher than in 2022 (38%) and 2021 (37.6%). One would think that the fact that baseball is by far the most diverse of the professional sports would make it worthy or praise from the Left, but moving the goalposts (I know, a football metaphor) is the real game here. Hispanics are considered “white” or not by black race-baiters depending on which definition makes it easier to call Republicans racist. The attack on DeSantis is a #11 on the ethics Alarms Race-Baiting Scale: “Presumed or Contrived Racism: Accusations of racism based on no other factors but the races of the individuals involved, or accusations that are entirely fanciful and motivated by a desire to discredit or malign.”
If progressives were consistent, they would be praising baseball and DeSantis for singing its praises. They are not consistent in matters involving race however. They have no integrity whatsoever. Baseball is by far the most diverse and inclusive sport, but when a Republican Presidential contender says so, he’s a racist, and baseball suddenly becomes the “mostly white sport.” (The real mostly white sport is hockey, with the NHL being—wait for it!—93% white.) The NFL is 70% black, a quarter white (I know, Mike, the fewer whites the better, right?), and Asians and Hispanics combined make up a half of 1%. Diversity! The NBA’s demographic break-down: 73.2 % black players, 16.8 % white, 3.1% Hispanic players of any race, and 0.4 percent Asian players.
(And they are mostly freaks of nature.)
Ethics Alarms 
RAYcism…in…Baseball…?
I would have to agree that, in general, basketball players (and soccer players, and hockey players) are superior athletes as compared to baseball players. Those games usually involve constant cardiovascular activity while in play. The physical exertion required is superior to baseball.
However, having said that, baseball has its own challenges.
It has been said that the most difficult task in any sport is to hit a breaking ball in baseball. It requires a degree of hand-eye coordination that you will not find in basketball, football, soccer, hockey, or even golf. You can be in top physical shape like Jordan, but if you can’t hit a curveball, you won’t go far in baseball.
Not everyone can be a Bo Jackson.
However, I would say the most meritocratic sport is football. It has a place for short guys and skinny guys (kickers and punters), fat guys (linemen), fast guys in all sizes (wide receivers and safety), quick guys (running backs and kick returners), stocky guys (tight ends and cornerbacks), and narcissists (quarterback). Outside of Sumo wrestling, football is the only avenue for your typical 320-pound male.
And, yes, “freaks of nature” is a fair description. It is my understanding that a majority of pro basketball players have pituitary issues. When an advantage in sports comes from having a physical quality on the far end of the bell curve (jockeys being on the other end), “freaks” could be fair, albeit archaic.
-Jut
I grew up watching the local college lacrosse team. One guy was 5’4″ and 135 pounds. Another was 6’3″ and 235. Both were All-Americans. And they played the same position! I’d call that a pretty good range. No fat guys, although some of the goalies were a little chunky.
Hitting a 95 mph fastball is no picnic either..
Your comment reminded me of Lee Marvin’s wonderful monologue in “Ship of Fools” as the drunken ex-ballplayer trying to explain to a German dwarf what trying to hit a curve ball was like.
Then…
Bill Tenny (Marvin) : “You don’t know what its like to be out there and the crowd’s yellin’ for you to deliver. And they start talkin’. Pitchers they talk. “You can’t hit a curve ball on the outside corner.” And from then on out, that’s all you see is curve balls on the outside corner. So, you’ve had your big chance. And you have muffed it. Now, I can still hear my old man yellin’ at me from the stands, even though he wasn’t there,”Big wheel, you are a bum! You are a bum just like me.”
Glocken (Michael Dunn): “You know, I think you’re being a bit harsh on yourself, Herr Tenny.”
Bill Tenny : “A bum.”
Glocken : “You know, I travel a lot. My folks give me some money, not much, but some. They are more comfortable when I’m not around, but you know what I find? I find the most amusing things about people are their guilts that they drum up for themselves. For instance, I estimate that there must be at least 873 million people in the world who don’t even know what a curve ball on the outside corner is. So, I think it a bit excessive for you think that you have muffed your whole life just because you couldn’t hit it! Paddle or no paddle.”
Then Marvin’s eyes grow slitty, and Dunn looks alarmed and afraid…
Bill Tenny (ominously): “You know what I think?”
Glocken (wary): “No.”
Bill Tenny : “I think… you’re… a sawed-off… intellectual. [Pause] Drink up, Shorty.”
The Dems and MSM (but I’m repeating myself) are desperate to take out DeSantis because he would have best chance to best Biden or whomever is the D candidate running in ‘24, at least as of now. Alternatively, they are making him into Trump 2.0 because depicting Trump as racist, bigot, etc. helped them in their resistance campaign
The Democrats and the state owned media hacks are going to call any and every republican candidate racist for the rest of eternity. They will also call them homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, climate-denying, science hating, grandma killing, misogynistic, theocratic, fascist, nazi loving violators of democratic norms. They don’t need actual reasons, logic, or evidence. It’s just an established fact that anyone who disagrees with the left for any reason whatsoever or to any degree, only does so because they are hateful, evil people. If they weren’t hateful and evil, they would agree with everyone and everything on the left and they wouldn’t be republicans.
This is normal. All hail the state.
I am disappointed he made the whole meritocracy comment. That tells me he is a racist and a sexist and a . . .
Here is how he should have answered it: “Baseball is a great sport because if its uniquely American traditions. I mean, Jackie Robinson helped shatter racial barriers in this country when other sports refused to do so. It has been a favored pastime for over 100 years because it is an activity open to everyone. You don’t need super human height or strength or speed to be good at it and your enjoyment comes from simply being part of the game. Other sports require physical skills or abilities to excel – track and field requires speed and endurance. Football? Top physical strength. Basketball lends itself to height and endurance. Swimming? Hell, I sink faster than a big if rocks. Baseball, though, offers an average sized guy like me the opportunity to play the game ane do relatively well because what I lack in athleticism can be offset by other, more gifted people who can pick up the slack foe my innate inability to tie my own shoes or walk a straight line without running face-first into a wall. Besides, there is nothing sweeter than sound of a ball being crushed off the end of a Louisville Slugger.”
A bit of self-deprecation always goes a long way with the electorate.
jvb
I’ve always wondered why they never increased the distance from the floor to the rim as the players became more freakishly tall.
As far as I know, men and women use the same size baskets. However the basketballs are apparently slightly different.
However, thinking about it, we know that women are seldom able to dunk a basketball. It occurs to me that it is unlikely to simply be the height differential because there are a number of relatively tall women playing the game who just don’t dunk. I am thinking there is a physiological difference, i.e. men simply evolved able to jump higher than women, which probably makes sense.
Most like, changing the height of the rim just for men’s leagues would lead to a lot of confusion.
They still use the term “racist” to attack anyone with whom they disagree or want to cause harm because it’s always worked. However, overuse and for the most petty and obvious reasons have greatly diminished its impact. I don’t believe there are too many remaining that don’t just dismiss such accusation as irrelevant and meaningless . That said, I believe it’ll take them a long time to realize this, if ever.