POSTED: Apr 1,
2007
NEVADA -- The dawn of
the 2007 Major League Baseball season is perhaps the best time to
reflect upon baseball's past and its hopes for the future. At no other
time of the season will fans' aspirations be as high without need for
qualification.
As teams gear up for
Opening Day, major league camps in both the Grapefruit and Cactus
Leagues have had the enviable positions to not only evaluate the 2007
starting line-ups but to get a look at what the future holds for 2008
and 2009.
And in that regard,
Spring Training has routinely become important not only to evaluate
present-day players but for the prognostication of what teams can
expect down the road.
Baseball is arguably
the sport most intertwined with its history and legacy along with its
impact on society. Its past demands that it be revisited, especially
when speaking about its future, as we explore here two notable and
historically unique minor league prospects.
It was in 1887 when
the first American Indian is believed to have competed in the major
leagues. James Madison Toy, of partial Indian ancestry played in the
American Association League in that year as well as in 1890. Toy
preceded Louis Sockalexis, the first officially acknowledged American
Indian who competed for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League
in 1897 until 1899.
Although Native
Americans entered the world of professional baseball 50 years prior to
African Americans, who competed in the Negro Leagues, until Jackie
Robinson broke the color barrier by signing his minor league contract
with Dodgers in 1945, there have been less than 50 Native Americans of
full Indian ancestry to compete in the Major Leagues since
1897.
image [Charles Albert
"Chief" Bender is the sole Native American elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame, although Jim Thorpe was perhaps the best-known
Native American player of the 20 th century as he excelled in multiple
sports.]
There are, however,
many well-known Hall of Famers who are of part Native American
ancestry such as Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell and Early Wynn. At long
last, the drought of notable Native American future hopefuls in MLB
may be over.
One of them can be
found in the New York Yankees organization and the other in the
organization of its rival, the Boston Red Sox. Right handed starting
pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, was landed by the Yankees in the 2006
draft, signed as a supplemental first-round pick and 41st overall.
Chamberlain is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
After competing for
two years for the University of Nebraska, having only started to play
baseball as a senior in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, Chamberlain
led his team to the 2005 College World Series going 10-2 for the
season with a 2.81 ERA.
image [Now 21,
Chamberlain has been clocked with a 98-mph fastball and has been
favorably compared by physique, delivery and his portfolio of pitches
to Cleveland Indians pitcher, C.C. Sabathia. Most important for the
Yankees, is not to rush Chamberlain to the Big Show too early, as he
has a history of weight and triceps tendonitis problems.]
He spent the winter in
the Hawaiian Winter League where his progress continued, followed by
an invite to Spring Training. Yet, it is his strong mental makeup
which is central to his battling any problems which may arise along
the way, according to the Yankees. Slated to start in A-ball at the
beginning of 2007, Chamberlain could end the season as high as AAA,
with a possible shot at making the Yankees rotation in
2008.
Another Native
American star in the making spent Spring Training in Red Sox Nation.
Jacoby Ellsbury, whose mother is of full Navajo descent and a member
of the Colorado River Tribe, has taken his partial Native American
heritage quite seriously.
Ellsbury, signed by Boston in the first round of the draft in 2005 as
the 23rd overall pick, is a left-handed outfielder who competed for
Oregon State University where he was the 2005 Pac-10 Co-Player of the
year and an All Academic Honorable Mention. Ellsbury was ranked as the
fastest base runner and 3rd best defensive outfielder of eligible
college players in Baseball America's Best Tools Survey for
2005.
Ellsbury's speed
coupled with power to all fields, according to the Red Sox, most
closely resembles Johnny Damon's playing style and the hope is that he
will at least spend part of the 2008 season at the major league level
while becoming a regular starter in 2009.
And a recent former
major leaguer, Bobby Madritsch, pitched for the Seattle Mariners in
2004 and 2005 and was traded to the Kansas City Royals for the 2006
season. Madritsch is of Lakota Sioux heritage. He recovered at age 28
from reconstructive shoulder surgery when the Mariners signed
him.
Unfortunately, he
re-injured his shoulder and tore his labrum in 2005 and the Royals
eventually released him. Now 31, Madritsch has not elected another
surgery but is still attempting a comeback in some organization with a
minor league contract for 2007. Thus far, only the Philadelphia
Phillies have shown any interest.
All three of these
players have one commonality in addition to their Native American
roots, however, and that is that they grew up off of the Indian
reservation, regardless of their heritage. Ellsbury had limited time
living at the Warms Springs reservation early in his childhood, where
his mother is a special education teacher, but he grew up in Madras,
Oregon.
Chamberlain grew up in
Lincoln, Nebraska and Madritsch, while born on an Indian reservation,
was taken away when he was but 2 months old and raised amongst the
rough neighborhoods of Chicago.
Key to their success,
however, is that all three men assimilated into American life, unlike
other Native American boys living on Indian reservations and thereby
increased their odds for success later in life. Still, unbeknownst to
most Americans, the reservations remain rife with poverty with a lack
of general services.
There exists a high
school dropout rate of over 40%, an unemployment rate of over 60% and
the poverty rate exceeds 25%. Healthcare and education are
under-funded while diabetes, obesity, alcohol and drug abuse are
pervasive problems.
And all of this
remaining depravity is present in spite of the fact that the Indian
Gaming Association touts that there are now Indian gaming casinos in
28 states which have proliferated over the past decade.
And the lack of
participation in sports on either the collegiate or professional
levels by Native Americans prevails. The overriding concept ingrained
in Native American culture is that standing out for individual
accomplishment is in direct conflict with the importance of
functioning as a group.
Enjoying success apart
from the tribe is not rewarded but rather scorned. As such, athletes
who leave and go on to have a modicum of success only return to the
reservation to face criticism and rejection by family and friends.
This is often too much to reconcile in the mind of an
adolescent.
Many Native American
athletes additionally suffer from a bad rap by college coaches or
professional scouts as well. Few coaches avail themselves to the
talent on the reservations.
Most are told, by the
scant few who have actually approached Native American communities,
that they will be let down by the Native American's inability to
successfully assimilate on the college or professional level.
Moreover, coaches worry about academic eligibility of these
prospective students.
Making the transition
from a sheltered life on a reservation to a college campus requires
basic life skills which are lacking without the proper guidance. And
feelings of guilt about achieving success have led Native American
athletes to deliberately sabotage his or her chances to thrive. They
would rather go back to a depraved life that is familiar to them and
be around family rather than vying for a better stake in
life.
Not dissimilar to the
lack of effort exhibited by MLB in its investment of players from the
African American community, it as well as the universities routinely
seek out players overseas rather than even approach potential which
exists on Indian reservations.
The idea is dismissed
out of hand. But unlike the youth of the African American community,
who generally long to escape a life of poverty and crime-ridden
neighborhoods, the Native American needs to be exposed to options in a
way which can work in concert with their culture and customs, yet
improve their lot in life.
Both Chamberlain and
Ellsbury find themselves in unique positions, given the level of
expectations for them on the big league level. And since they remain
members of their respective tribes, they have the opportunity to
foster a new dialog between MLB and the Native American community as
well as to implore scouts and college coaches to not give up on their
people.
Therefore, it is ever more important that these two players by virtue
of their climb to success at the major league level and beyond play a
key role in introducing a whole new source of untapped talent of
American boys, who just happen to live on a reservation.
"I think coaches might find out that the reservations contain
some extraordinary athletesŠ.It takes a special coach to bring them
along, give them the security they need," according to South
Dakota State Representative, Ron Volesky, a member of the Lakota Sioux
and a Harvard graduate. He too grew up primarily away from the
reservation.
But let us hope that the Native American population can give to those
of their own heritage, who have been successful, the necessary access
to its most important asset, its children, in that they have a chance
for a better life, whether it be in sports or some other
discipline.
Diane M. Grassi is a
freelance columnist, reporting and writing commentary on current
events of the day providing honest and often politically incorrect
assessments. From U.S. public policy to Major League Baseball, she is
an eclectic thinker, and demanding of her readers to reflect on their
own thinking patterns from an alternative perspective.
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