Sorry, Gary

I think I owe Gary Sheffield an apology.

I criticized Gary for something I didn't understand.

Cursed media! I rushed to judgment on an isolated quote that was reported as news without any context.

To recap, Gary Sheffield said that Latin players were easier to control and that, consequently, the powers that be prefer them to Black-American players. I understood what Gary was saying about the villainous, surly Black athlete. But, otherwise, the quote seemed offensive toward Latin players. Or at the very least, not a nice thing to say and a sweeping generalization of Latin players.

Still, I am shocked to hear that some of Gary's Latin teammates absolutely agree with Gary. Pudge Rodriguez defended Gary, but Carlos Guillen was emphatic.

"He's right. I agree with him, big time. For example, me...Latin players, if they get released, go back to their country with nothing. Where are you going to work if you don't have baseball? You lose everything. You lose your life. You're done.

I've known a lot of players like that. They're doing nothing. They don't have good jobs.

(American players) are already here. They just go home. But I also agree because how many Japanese players are there? For each one there is an interpreter and someone to give them a massage.

How many Latin players are there? Thirty percent? But how many interpreters? You see any (masseurs) for Dominicans? No, you just have to play baseball.

They have control over us. Easy. I'm happy to say that."

Gary may be easy to ignore for some, but Latinos were the target of the statement. Of course, I'm listening closely to their response. And it just goes to show what reacting without full information gets you. I honestly did not assume that the immigration status of Latino MLB player would remain a primary concern once they got to the major leagues. I guess I just thought they quickly became permanent residents or citizens. I guess that is not the case. Certainly, the ability to stay in the United States is serious leverage. I did not realize Latino MLB players were so vulnerable.

And Guillen's comments made me think about something else. Specifically, him mentioning Latin players not having interpreters. It's always puzzled me why MLB has incorporated so many Latin players in the game, yet not insisted that they learn English so that they can be more effective marketers of the game. It never occurred to me that maybe MLB was deliberately not encouraging the Latin players to learn English or otherwise be effective communicators as a means of control. If you don't speak English, you have less options in America. Maybe that's by design as it concerns Latin players in the major leagues.

So I'm rethinking Gary's comments now. It seems he wasn't just talking noise.

Lo siento, Gary.