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Pedro: Racist press bashes Sosa
Boston Herald ^ | Friday, June 6, 2003 | Michael Silverman

Posted on 06/06/2003 9:51:36 AM PDT by presidio9

Racial bias in the press has blown out of proportion the saga of Sammy Sosa and his corked bat, Pedro Martinez said yesterday in defense of his fellow Dominican.

``We may be Latin, a minority, but we are not dumb. We are not dumb, we see everything that happens,'' said an agitated Martinez during an extended venting session in the visitors' clubhouse at PNC Park before last night's Red Sox-Pirates game. The intense media coverage of the Sosa episode also touched another nerve with Martinez, who said he also has felt the sting of racial bias from the media.

When Martinez walked into the clubhouse, the TV was tuned to ESPN and much of the coverage was devoted to the fallout from the corked bat Sosa used in a game on Tuesday.

Martinez needed no prompting to begin expressing his concern at the vilification of Sosa. Martinez all but agreed with comments uttered by former major leaguer Jose Canseco, a Cuban-born slugger who has been suspected of steroid use. On ESPN Wednesday night, Canseco questioned that if Sosa were white and his bat were found to be corked, there would not be nearly the same level of hysteria.

When Martinez was asked what would have happened if this were to happen to Mark McGwire, he said, ``it would still be a big deal but not like this.''

Martinez said since X-rays of ``a hundred'' of Sosa's bats had turned up no further cork, he wanted to see a reverse smear campaign to repair Sosa's reputation.

``I want to see the same campaign to go on, to put him up, to justify the mistake, I want to see the same campaign,'' said Martinez. Asked about the chances of that happening, Martinez made a circle with his fingers and said, ``Zero, (expletive) zero.''

Martinez said he had watched all of the ESPN and Fox specials regarding Sosa. Those who expressed anti-Sosa comments earned scorn from Martinez.

``Those two (reporters on ESPN), you can read jealous, you can read envy, you can read anger,'' said Martinez. ``Even that guy at Fox, this guy said, `Hey, let's go, smile,' as if that's something that's supposed to be fun. (Expletive), I'm going to go and hunt the guy down.

``One guy turned so red, he looked like a lobster, a steamed lobster.''

When Sosa said on Wednesday that the media had ``got me up there like I'm a criminal,'' Martinez felt that Sosa, whose command of English is not as good as Martinez', could have benefited from speaking in his native Spanish on this issue.

``I know Sammy from my heart and I know Sammy as a person and Sammy does not express himself well and does not know how to communicate well enough,'' said Martinez. ``But I know him and I know he can speak, I know in my heart he wanted to say something else.

``They should have had someone to translate and have Sammy talk from his heart, how he feels. We are in America, I understand, we don't speak the language but we are doing the best we can to express ourselves. I am not defending him because it is illegal (using a corked bat). But I have never cheated but I have been (expletive) robbed.''

Martinez being ``robbed'' was a reference to him being denied the American League Cy Young Award last year - he finished a close second to Oakland's Barry Zito - and also finishing a close second in the 1999 AL Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Martinez said he did not believe that Zito or '99 MVP Ivan Rodriguez were undeserving of winning but he could not understand how he did not place in the top three on some voters' ballots and not appear at all on the ballots of two voters in 1999.

``I was robbed too and no one stood behind me,'' said Martinez. ``The Cy Young could have gone either way but some guys decided not to vote for me. Why did no one make a campaign for me?

``If I were Roger Clemens, would he have won the Cy Young last year?'' asked Martinez. ``I want someone to stand up for me.''

Martinez recalled that ESPN commentator Peter Gammons last fall was supporting Zito for the Cy Young.

Gammons, according to Martinez, said, ``I'm going with Zito because I'm tired of seeing the same face. We need a fresh face. Here's a guy (Zito) who plays guitar, he's cute, he's a white Caucasian. That's why he had his campaign against me for the Cy Young. The same thing for Sammy.''


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Illinois; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: sammysosa
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To: presidio9
Aligning yourself with Jose, blink blink, ("there is a conspiracy to keep Hispanics out of MLB") Canseco with not get you into the MENSA club.

At the time that Canseco claimed a "conspiracy" to keep latins out of baseball more than half of the guys on his Oakland squad had Hispanic surnames.

41 posted on 06/06/2003 10:28:35 AM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (Soccer Mom's flee the Rats for Bush in his flight suit: I call this the Moisture Factor. MF high!)
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To: rockinonritalin
Sammy is handling this like a seasoned Democrat. Admit only what is obvious. Deny everything else. Fight to the death in court. Play the race card. Claim the press is on a witch hunt. Have someone else take the blame.

And I think that's going to irritate more people than simply accepting the suspension and moving on.

42 posted on 06/06/2003 10:31:05 AM PDT by NittanyLion
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To: presidio9
Sports reporters thrive on bashing any and every sports star.

They do not discriminate on the basis of race. You see them bashing white guys constantly.
43 posted on 06/06/2003 10:31:42 AM PDT by Guillermo (Proud Infidel)
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To: presidio9
".... I have never cheated but I have been (expletive) robbed.''

``I was robbed too and no one stood behind me,'' said Martinez. ``The Cy Young could have gone either way but some guys decided not to vote for me. Why did no one make a campaign for me?

Would you like some (expletive) cheese to go with your (expletive) whine?

Geez, what a cry-baby!

44 posted on 06/06/2003 10:33:32 AM PDT by ActionNewsBill (Police state? What police state?)
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To: presidio9
Somebody should tell Pedro to put a cork in it.
45 posted on 06/06/2003 10:55:09 AM PDT by Semper Paratus
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To: big ern
"Aw, look at Big Ern work the crowd. What a showman."
46 posted on 06/06/2003 10:59:04 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al, Run!!!)
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To: presidio9
On ESPN Wednesday night, Canseco questioned that if Sosa were white and his bat were found to be corked, there would not be nearly the same level of hysteria.

I believe that if Mark McGwire had been found to have used a corked bat during his 70 home run season, there would have been even a bigger media frenzy and even more criticism as a result. Jose Canseco is a typical minority racemonger: if one of their own people gets caught doing something wrong, they cry "racism!".

47 posted on 06/06/2003 11:10:53 AM PDT by judgeandjury (The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the state.)
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To: judgeandjury
The thing about Jose Canseco is he's probably white and he's too stupid to realize it. "Hispanics" are a mixture of Spanish, Native American, and African American. The Indians in Cuba all died of smallpox, and did not interbreed with the Spanish. So unless Canseco is part black (and it does not look like that's the case to me) he's probably 100% Spanish.
48 posted on 06/06/2003 11:14:10 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al, Run!!!)
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To: presidio9
"since X-rays of ``a hundred'' of Sosa's bats had turned up no further cork,..."

It only takes one, dipwad!

49 posted on 06/06/2003 11:27:13 AM PDT by m18436572
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To: dagnabbit
There are going to be enough wine stoppers sailing onto the outfield to stock a Gallo bottler.

Most baseball fans get their wine from a box with a spout.

50 posted on 06/06/2003 11:27:54 AM PDT by Go Gordon
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To: presidio9
I'll chip in to send the both of these wining jerks back to where ever they come from.I despise baseball anyway.
51 posted on 06/06/2003 11:57:09 AM PDT by cksharks
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To: rockinonritalin
Sammy is handling this like a seasoned Democrat. Admit only what is obvious. Deny everything else. Fight to the death in court. Play the race card. Claim the press is on a witch hunt. Have someone else take the blame. All he needs to do now is an interview with Ann Curry.

Next thing you know he will get 8 million to write a book and a interview with Barbara Walters.
52 posted on 06/06/2003 12:41:25 PM PDT by Delphster
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To: presidio9
Boo friggin hoo!!! Geez, another million dollar bat boy falls from grace and the only thing his supporters can come up with is racism? Lets try something different....admit you are wrong and leave it at that!!!!!!!!
53 posted on 06/06/2003 12:59:28 PM PDT by Arpege92
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To: presidio9
Did'nt whitey write up the immigration laws that open the borders to just about anybody so that they can come here and play major league sports of any kind and become bazillionaires without so much as an eighth grade education? What about the "racists" in their home countries that expect them to play pro sports for peanuts, or to save their lives and the lives of their families, like in Cuba? (see; Canseco)
54 posted on 06/06/2003 2:41:24 PM PDT by roamincadillac
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To: Go Gordon
LOL !
55 posted on 06/06/2003 2:49:04 PM PDT by dagnabbit (Make mine 12 ounces from the Milwaukee vinyard please)
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To: presidio9; judgeandjury
It's a shame, Jose's twin brother is a nicer guy who just didn't have his brother's swing. Additionally, a close friend of mine attended High School with both Cansecos and can vouch personally for what a Class A A-Hole Jose is.

As far as the racial question is concerned, Jose Canseco is indeed white Cuban ("Hispanic/Latino" is NOT a race), while Sosa and Pedro are both Afro-Dominican (the Dominican Republic is over 90% black or mulatto).

56 posted on 06/06/2003 3:13:16 PM PDT by Clemenza (East side, West side, all around the town. Tripping the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York)
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To: cksharks
So you prefer the "ghetto" NBA or the National Felons League?

Pro-sports in general are filled with overpaid crybabies.

57 posted on 06/06/2003 3:14:27 PM PDT by Clemenza (East side, West side, all around the town. Tripping the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York)
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To: Clemenza
In private dealings with other Hispanics, white Hispanics in America are proud of their whiteness ("soy blanco") in a way that white non-Hispanics are not permitted to be. But in public, for many years, the same white Hispanics have been turning themselves into "persons of color," in order to harass white non-Hispanics.
58 posted on 06/06/2003 6:44:44 PM PDT by mrustow (no tag)
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To: mrustow
I always tell them to take a look in el espejo when those situations arise. Few Anglos, of course, think to do this, as they have been raised to think of all Hispanics as "people of color."

Reminds me of a story in high school. My best friend (born in America to Colombian parents) once answered a classmates statement on how "immigrants are ruining this country" by stating "not as bad as what your ancestors did to the Indians." I of course informed my friend that it was more likely that HIS ancestors slaughtered Indians rather than our Irish American classmate. He conceded my point.

59 posted on 06/06/2003 6:54:26 PM PDT by Clemenza (East side, West side, all around the town. Tripping the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York)
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To: presidio9
I'm sure this same racism against black-hispanics is what made him rich and famous.
Right.
60 posted on 06/06/2003 6:59:35 PM PDT by Jorge
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