MINORITIES IN MAJORS : If Baseball Doesn’t Make More Progress, Protest Could Be Next, Says Edwards

The time for minority-hiring benefits to be reaped in major league baseball in the wake of the Al Campanis incident is about to end, according to sports activist Harry Edwards. And if it ends with no more than the current progress, the next step could be open protest.

Edwards, sociology professor at the University of California and a nationally known advocate for minority rights, said here Monday: “This off-season in baseball may be our last best chance.”

Shortly after Campanis, former general manager of the Dodgers, said on a network television program in April, 1987, that blacks may lack the necessities to hold management and administrative positions in major league baseball, Edwards was hired by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth as a special assistant in hiring policies. Since, Edwards has called the Campanis incident “an opportunity, not a crisis.”

Monday, speaking at a Western Regional meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Edwards called the “Campanis opportunity” a period begun by “the naivete and ignorance of an old man buttressed by a couple of shots of Jack Daniels.”

Edwards said that since Campanis, fired by the Dodgers in the aftermath of his statement, said what he did, there have been some strides in minority hiring in baseball.

“But not enough in access by blacks to high-profile positions in this window of opportunity,” he added.

Since Campanis, he said, there have been 21 changes of managers or general managers in the major leagues. For blacks, those 21 changes have resulted in one manager, Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles; no general managers.

“We are at a volatile point. There is very little satisfaction to be taken in the eyes of the public with this progress,” said Edwards, adding that a possible result of dissatisfaction in the minority community could lead to overt activity.

“Many of the stadiums in this country are public, or the parking lots around them,” he said. “And it could be the teams are going to find one night that they are not going to be able to use those stadiums. . . . There is no question that, in the not-too-distant future, in light of lots of things, including our current conservative regime (George Bush’s election), people may move toward protest rather than negotiation. Sports won’t escape this period. They are too high profile.”

Edwards said that situations such as the recent hiring of Doug Rader, rather than a minority, as Angel manager gives him great pause.

“If you’re asking if my stomach turns, you are absolutely right,” he said. “When I hear about it, I make a call to the team after it is over, look for a fall-back position, and, when that’s over, reach for a big glass of Pepto Bismol.”

Edwards said that Mike Port, Angel general manager, called before Rader’s hiring to ask for minority candidates.

“We discussed it, plus other vacancies the Angels might have, or positions they might create,” Edwards said. “Then, when I heard about the hiring, I was disappointed it wasn’t a minority candidate. In fact, no minority candidate was interviewed for the job.”

The Angels would dispute that no minority was interviewed. Port couldn’t be reached for comment, but another Angel official said Bobby Tolan, who is black, was interviewed “for about 4 hours.”

Edwards also had the following comments on a variety of topics:

His candidate for National League president, replacing Bart Giamatti, who will move up to the commissioner’s spot next year: “My first reaction is that Joe Morgan should be given every opportunity for that job because it might better fit his business and personal agenda than a manager or general manager position. I have told Bart Giamatti and Peter Ueberroth that.”

On the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s recent inclusion of a minority on its Final Four review committee: “It’s about time. The Final Four in recent years has looked like Ghana vs. Nigeria.”

On the next 10 years of football and basketball: “In the next 10 years, both sports will be all black. And baseball will be a minority majority (combining blacks and Latinos). So we cannot continue to have lily-white upper-middle class management, because there will just be too many conflicting race problems. You must have a front office cognizant of these race problems. That isn’t just good for quotas, it’s good for sports.”

On how well the media did with the reporting of the Campanis story: “I read everything and I have a clipping service. And I saw zero reports, that’s right, zero, where sports media looked at itself as part of the whole problem that led to the Campanis thing.”