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Over the past few weeks
I watched Ken Burns Baseball.
I skipped the premier run on PBS, because I wasn't willing
to commit to a series that long (and
I'm an all-or-nothing personality). Also, I was quite busy
here, saving the union from the spector of a "President Kerry." While I
enjoyed
it, somewhere around the 1960's it struck me that a better title would
be Ken Burns Civil Rights: Oppression of the American Negro.
While I acknowledge the injustice of barring Black Americans from
playing in the major leagues (through an owner's gentleman's
agreement),
that was resolved by Jackie Robinson in 1949. But, no.
Burns is entirely caught up in the American Liberal's concept of
original sin, from which there is no atoning for. Ever.
Even electing a mystery man with no past as president, because he's
black, has only led to more racial turmoil.
Ken Burns style, of course, is to employ a kind-of deus-ex-machina device.
In his Civil War
series, it was the disembodied voice reading poignant letters, or
historians like Shelby Foote and FDR apologist Doris Kearns Goodwin
chipping in with historical insights, with still pictures in the
backdrop. In Baseball, Goodwin (is
she sleeping with Burns?) quite nicely recalls growing up in Brooklyn,
and her
passion for the Dodgers. Baseball aficionado George Will is
there too. Negro League superstar Buck O'Neil was himself a
mainstay He has a kindly, sage visage, and is a very effective
story teller (I want to cite Uncle
Remus, but can't. Obviously).
So much time (I'm guessing about 30%) is spent on baseball's apartheid,
that unless
you played for a New York baseball club, or made a error whilst playing
for Boston, you may as well had never played. How can nearly a
full day's (22 hours) focus on the sport miss Cleveland's (Fear Strike Out) Jimmy Piersall?
Or knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm (whom I watch no-hit the hated
Yankees)? Nuh-uh. No time. The list goes on and on.
If you're are a young Black-kid watching
this series, you probably leave with a feeling of bitterness (as
did Jackie Robinson himself leave baseball). No wonder we can't
seem to move-on in this country. It's not allowed.
As an aside
- In my yoot, I despised Curt Flood for
challenging baseball's reserve clause, the system whereby a player was
owned by a club. Because it just made no sense to me that
government
could dictate to the owners how they run their business,
Especially in this, where as Flood points out, the public
perception was a battle of millionaire ball-players suing millionaire
owners for their freedom.
After watching Flood in this series, I grew to admire, and even like
him, without siding with him. This is not a bitter man, but a man. Who walked his talk. But
here's what made my jaw drop.
In 1994 the players went on strike (causing cancellation the World
Series!)
over baseball owner's attempt to impose a salary cap. It came
down
to a
federal judge to determine —
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if baseball’s leaders had undermined collective bargaining by trying to
abandon some of the fundamental ways in which they dealt with the
players. The owners’ militancy symbolized their frustrations with
player salaries, and with how frequently the union had outflanked
management in negotiations and public relations. |
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The judge ruled for the players The judge was
Sonia
Sotomayor.
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