We used to look at each other and say, 'We play the same game with the same rules, the same bat, the same ball, the same field. What the hell does color have to do with it? You don't play with color. You play with talent.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Some colors reconcile themselves to one another, others just clash.
In baseball, democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rule book. And color, merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another's.
I always enjoyed playing ball, and it didn't matter to me whether I played with white kids or black. I never understood why an issue was made of who I played with, and I never felt comfortable, when I grew up, telling other people how to act.
I don't think baseball owes colored people anything. I don't think colored people owe baseball anything, either.
One of the many things I like about baseball is how it combines individual talent and teamsmanship.
If you could equate the amount of time and effort put in mentally and physically into succeeding on the baseball field and measured it by the dirt on your uniform, mine would have been black.
Everyone is different. Everyone has different teams they've played on, coaches they've played for.
Racism is if there are spectators or, outside the field of play, there are movements to discrimination, but, on the field of play, I deny that there is racism.
I think I know now, each team is different, each player is different. I don't believe everybody has got to be the same.
Baseball is a game of race, creed, and color. The race is to first base. The creed is the rules of the game. The color? Well, the home team wears white uniforms, and the visiting team wears gray.