Talk:Delmon Young Suspended 50 Games/@comment-MetsJetsDevils-2006051164803

Mr. Anonymous Fanatic, You cite the Clemens example as a bad example, but in truth there are only 3 differences. 1) Clemens is white. 2) Clemens threw the bat at a player, not an ump, 3) Piazza avoided the bat. The difference between throwing your bat AT someone but missing and throwing your bat TOWARD someone and making contact is 50 games?  I&quot;d say that is a more than appropriate example.

As for your woefull ignorance about race issues in baseball, I am really proud that you can name 6 african american ballplayers. Some of my best friends are black!! The fact is I was posting an article from a Seattle Newspaper that was probably a year old. But because you accuse me of not doing my research, I have found an article from Pittsburgh from just a few days ago.

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Pitcher Ian Snell is the only African-American on the Pirates His story is increasingly unusual, if only because of his background. Snell&quot;s mother is African-American, and he considers himself -- with vocal pride -- to count among the few black players in Major League Baseball.

And the only one in the Pirates&quot; clubhouse.

"Look around," he said with a smile the other day in Washington. "It&quot;s just me."

There were 69 African-Americans on opening-day rosters in the majors last month, which represented 9.2 percent of all 750 players. That is down sharply from 17 percent three years ago and 27 percent 30 years ago.

From the team that fielded what was described as the first "all-black lineup" Sept. 1, 1971, one comprised of five African-Americans and four dark-skinned Latin Americans. Although MLB four years ago opened a baseball academy in Compton, Calif., a community dominated by African-Americans, it remains the only facility of its kind.

By comparison, every team in the majors owns and operates academies throughout Latin America -- the Pirates have them in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic -- that offer baseball instruction, schooling, equipment, even food and essentials, all aimed at developing talent there.