Gary Sheffield is an idiot!

[ChaosLex]

I'm no fan of the Yankees, but Joe Torre has always seemed like a decent gentleman to me.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2935737

[rooter]

This isn't a shock - Sheffield has one of the biggest victim complexes of any 'celebrity' out there. The reality is he strikes me as being the actual racist, in most cases.

[Gurgi]

With his own son being mix-race for him to act this way is strange. And Sheffield isnt that dark a black man anyway. He must have some milk in the coffee back there some place.

[ChaosLex]

The reality is he strikes me as being the actual racist, in most cases.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Pot Meet Kettle.

[MemorialStadKid]

I'm no fan of the Yankees, but Joe Torre has always seemed like a decent gentleman to me.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2935737

There is a great line in the movie JFK uttered by Kevin Costner... I paraphrase:

"I always wondered that why a female witness in court must have bad eyesight if she is a prostitute?"

In the sense that just because WE or society may not like what someone does or their personality, it doesn't make them a liar or wrong in their assessment of a situation.

Do I like Sheff? I can't say because I have never met the man in person. He is one hell of a baseball player, pure and simple.

But why is it whenever anyone brings up race, people automatically side on the person who is accused of being racist? What if Sheff is correct?

Has anyone thought of that?

Torre is a media darling, but does that mean he DOESN'T favor white players over black ones?

There are a lot of men out there who are "gentlemen" and it doesn't mean that they aren't bigots. You can be the nicest guy in the world, but still have racist attitudes towards black people. Come on guys, lets be a little bit more down to earth here.

MSK

[rolliefingers]

With his own son being mix-race for him to act this way is strange. And Sheffield isnt that dark a black man anyway. He must have some milk in the coffee back there some place.

What the hell is this supposed to mean??

[drarray]

But why is it whenever anyone brings up race, people automatically side on the person who is accused of being racist? What if Sheff is correct?

Has anyone thought of that?

Torre is a media darling, but does that mean he DOESN'T favor white players over black ones?

Um, the opposite is true more often than not. This is societal PC problem. Why not ask Mariono Rivera is Torre is a racist or Bernie Williams? Shef is nuts and wants attention even if it means dragging Torre and the Yanks through the mudd. He has some serious problems.

[drarray]

What the hell is this supposed to mean??

He is saying tha Shef is most likely (and I am not saying this) of mixed race. He then says that Jeter is not black, yet they have similar complections. It is strange.

[Elbren]

Um, the opposite is true more often than not. This is societal PC problem. Why not ask Mariono Rivera is Torre is a racist or Bernie Williams? Shef is nuts and wants attention even if it means dragging Torre and the Yanks through the mudd. He has some serious problems.

I have to agree with this. We're talking about a team over the years with guys the likes of Rivera, B. Williams, Jorge Posada, Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, Ruben Sierra, Alfonso Soriano, Orlando Hernandez, Doc Gooden and their golden boy / team captain, Derek Jeter.

I like him as a player, but he was some serious issues with white people. The whole "The world is out to get me" attitude is wearing thin. Why people keep putting a mic in front of him is beyond me.

[MemorialStadKid]

I have to agree with this. We're talking about a team over the years with guys the likes of Rivera, B. Williams, Jorge Posada, Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, Ruben Sierra, Alfonso Soriano, Orlando Hernandez, Doc Gooden and their golden boy / team captain, Derek Jeter.

I like him as a player, but he was some serious issues with white people. The whole "The world is out to get me" attitude is wearing thin. Why people keep putting a mic in front of him is beyond me.

The problem with discussing racial issues is that most folks never are honest about their feelings and beliefs.

For example, lets say you work at a job that has a pretty decent racial and ethnic mix. I used to work in a place that was about 40% black, 20% Asian, and 10% latino, and 30% white. Most of the white guys were nice, but most told me flat out that they didn't have any black friends in their personal life and had close friends who hated black people. They even admitted to having some prejudices themselves.

Now, these guys worked everyday with a mix of races and it didn't mean that racism didn't exist, just that they had a job to do and they did it. The same applies to baseball too.

Just because the Yankees have a racial mix of players doesn't mean that there aren't racists in the management, administration or in other sectors of the organization. Torre could be a very bigoted person in his personal life, and that doesn't take away from his accomplishments.

Ty Cobb was one of the most racist people to have ever lived, does it take away from his accomplishments?

This seems like a situation where people hate Sheff, and therefore his observation must be faulty because people don't like him.

My point is that he may be right about Torre. Why is that so hard to accept?

MSK

[drarray]

For example, lets say you work at a job that has a pretty decent racial and ethnic mix. I used to work in a place that was about 40% black, 20% Asian, and 10% latino, and 30% white. Most of the white guys were nice, but most told me flat out that they didn't have any black friends in their personal life and had close friends who hated black people. They even admitted to having some prejudices themselves.

Now, these guys worked everyday with a mix of races and it didn't mean that racism didn't exist, just that they had a job to do and they did it. The same applies to baseball too.

Do the same "test" with Blacks, asains, and latinos in your work place and then get back to us.

[MemorialStadKid]

Do the same "test" with Blacks, asains, and latinos in your work place and then get back to us.

I have.

The same generally applies. I wasn't saying whites were the only ones, it was just an example.

This was just to illustrate that people can have a multi-racial environment and still have racist views.

Please be more intelligent than to try to flame a race war online.

MSK

[drarray]

Please be more intelligent than to try to flame a race war online.

MSK

I'm not. I just inteligently try to add some propective to your comments. I think I have been rather sucessful.

[ledzepp8]

Um, the opposite is true more often than not. This is societal PC problem. Why not ask Mariono Rivera is Torre is a racist or Bernie Williams? Shef is nuts and wants attention even if it means dragging Torre and the Yanks through the mudd. He has some serious problems.

But what attention does he want? It's not like it's sour grapes...his team is one of the best in baseball and in first place.

I don't like Sheffield either and think it's pretty crappy how no one ever mentions the fact that he admitted to steroid use in the Balco case, but I don't see what kind of motive he has to make this stuff up. Also that's not to say that I necessarily believe him either.

[geschinger]

But what attention does he want? It's not like it's sour grapes...his team is one of the best in baseball and in first place.

I think he misses NY. Even though the Tigers are winning I don't think it is anything more than him being a guy who is hurt and resentful that the Yankees discarded him and is lashing out.