If Adam Jones Thinks Baseball is a White Man's Sport Then He Isn't Paying Attention

As I write this, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones is stepping into the batter's box against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Over the weekend while the Orioles were in Detroit, Jones spoke to USA Today in defense of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and then offered some choice words about his own sport:

We have already have two strikes against us already so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can't kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don't need us.

Baseball is a white man's sport.

Now when Jones stood at the plate he was facing David Price who last I checked is still African-American. Given how often the Orioles play the Red Sox you would think that Jones would have noticed an all African-American outfield - Chris Young in left, Jackie Bradley, Jr. in center and especially Mookie Betts in right who is a strong American League MVP candidate. As I write this, Betts just stroked a two-run double to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Betts has driven in an astounding 19 runs against Baltimore this season. Make that 4-0. Betts caught Steve Pearce sleeping and ran all the way home from second.

Yes, it's true that the number of African-Americans in MLB pales in comparison to the NFL and the NBA. But MLB players is rich in players from Latin American and the Far East. MLB is far more diverse than the NFL, NBA and, for that matter, the NHL. I realize that Jones, by virtue of being in Baltimore, is under pressure to speak out by the black community angry at the Baltimore PD for the death of Freddie Gray. But it is utterly disingenuous of Jones to suggest that baseball is a white man's sport as if it were pre-Jackie Robinson in 1946. If that is his suggestion then Adam Jones just isn't paying attention.

Yet this brings up an additional question. When Jones says baseball is a white man's sport does he view teammates like Matt Wieters or Mark Trumbo as nothing more than white men? Or what of Manny Machado or Jonathan Schoop who are of Dominican and Dutch heritage, respectively ? Or for that matter South Korean teammate Hyun Soo Kim? Does Adam Jones judge them as men or does he judge them by their skin color or where they were born?