Why Campanis Comments Were So Disturbing

We have now read the commentaries and eulogies surrounding the recent passing of Al Campanis. Almost all talk about how much he did for black and Hispanic ballplayers and how he didn’t have a racist bone in his body. But isn’t this exactly the point?

If it had been Marge Schott who made the comments that Campanis made on “Nightline,” they could have been dismissed as the idle thoughts of a nut. But instead we had Al Campanis--a friend of the black ballplayer--who made the comments that blacks may have lacked the necessities to be major league managers.

I have no doubts that Al didn’t think himself a racist and was probably appalled by Archie Bunker-like comments made by others. Al’s thinking was, instead, very mainstream and shared by most others in the positions of power in major league baseball (how else do you explain the paucity of minority managers and general managers in all pro sports).

I don’t think Al was evil, but his thinking--which runs rampant throughout society--is the reason why the playing field isn’t level. It is a sad situation but one that should be used constructively and not swept under the rug and dismissed as “disorientation.”

RICHARD HORMEL, Los Angeles