Aaron, who is black ...

Sirs, Madames,

Could have gone with a variation on "last Negro leaguer in the majors," maybe?

YHS, etc

 

Some time ago, we had a big debate over the merits and perils of 'clean AP copy,' as opposed to more creative stylized writing.

This is the perfect example of how 'clean' copy can fail. Is it accurate? Yes. Is it grammatical? Yes. Does it spare the writer from having to actually, you know, WRITE, instead of merely typing? Yes.

But in all fairness to the writer in this case, it does sound like something an overeager editor might add, perhaps someone who hasn't spent a lot of time in sports.

 

I'm not sure if he was the last one to MAKE the majors -- some Negro League teams continued to function up until 1960 -- but he was the last Negro Leaguer still active when he retired in 1976. It was one of the little trivia mini-factoids they used to throw into broadcasts.

 

Minnie Miñoso was the last Negro league player to play in a Major League game when he appeared in two games for the Chicago White Sox in 1980.

 

Start? There was still a ton of African American talent when Griffey entered the league in 1989, but the percentage has been steadily declining ever since. If anything, Griffey symbolizes the END of the MLB African American era, not the hope for a resurgence.

As for the thread topic, seems like an overreaction to me. Yes, everybody should know Aaron is black, but nothing wrong with the writer including those three words to clarify the significance for the few dimwit readers.

 

When I worked at AP in Detroit, we had to enter the same phrase into stories about Rosa Parks.

Remember, AP writes to the lowest common demoninator. There are some idiots out there.

 

Count me in the "much ado about nothing" camp. Nothing at all wrong with clarity. The copy should indicate why a quoted person's words are being used to make a point. Could it have been done more gently? Sure.

I'm more troubled by the phrase "that he could bring excitement back to baseball," which is in equal need of a qualifer. As if the only excitement in baseball is created by black players. Would've gone over better as that he could bring excitement back to baseball for the black community.

 

Can you imagine if someone said that more Gordon Heywards would be much, much better for the NBA?

 

The story was about Jason Heyward, anyone interested enough in Heyward to read the article would know that Aaron is black.

 

"Who was Rod Carew?"

 

Dude, it's Sandy Koufax.