Chris Acosta on the restricted list

Off the top of my head I can think of plenty of U.S.-born white players who have had makeup issues. Jon Denney, Austin Bailey, Jon Egan, a number of guys I'm not sure I can mention publicly.

It's got nothing to do with being Dominican. Nothing.

I really don't believe it's a make-up thing with Acosta. I also believe that there is a difference between guys like Jon Denny & other American born athletes and the Caribbean guys. They're really polar opposites.  Most (not all) of US athletes probably had softer upbringings (compared to most latin guys), with parents having some means, to be on travel/showcase teams, ect. If I had to bet, I would think more US kids have more of a make-up problem than the latin kids. There was nothing racist that was said about Chris. 

There were insinuations made about Acosta's work ethic, maturity, even his testosterone (?), based solely on the fact that he's Dominican. Intentional or not, it absolutely reads as racist. Literally the definition of racism is the belief that members of different races have characteristics specific to that race.

I understand that you're trying to characterize the distinctions as being based on socioeconomic status and upbringing rather than race. But you know just about nothing about Acosta's background or his upbringing, and you're basing just about all of this on precarious stereotypes. At best, it's just a slightly different form of prejudice. Best practice would be to not make assumptions about someone's personality based on any sort of weak generalization.

As a balm to some of the vibes on this issue, I again implore everyone to see the wonderful film "Sugar" about what it's really like for impoverished Latin players to make the culture leap of living with a host family in a conservative farm town while playing minor league ball. My favorite scene was toward the end when players from different countries introduced themselves and played in a casual game and all accepted each other as brothers.

If this is what a whole lot of you consider to be a racist statement I fail to see it completely. Read "Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero" by David Maraniss if you don't understand what I mean by "Latin Pride". When latin players get a big bonus or are major leaguer's they are often considered demi gods in their local communities. The crowds part way for them to walk through. Yes, it is a huge frigging culture shock for these guys who often go from their family making $100-$200 a month in manual labor in the DR to a millionaire overnight and the entire island idolizes them. They are immediate rock stars. And if you don't think that can give a 17 year old a big head and prideful you will never get it. And then even a guy like Roberto Clemente comes to the states and people think he's lazy as a player because he's latin. Or stupid because he's not fluent in English...etc. Yes, things get lost in translation and just culturally there are things which can cause arguments. Like all players, everyone wants to be treated with respect and these guys are used to being treated like superstars on the island. An innocent comment can be interpreted by a latin kid as an insult. Culture may well be a factor in this.

It wasn't meant racist at all. I was commenting on the potential situational factors which might cause a poor kid from the DR to have some sort of issues when he comes to the states. I have no idea what it is really but I was commenting on potential factors. YES, being from a poor country like the DR does present some factors like being highly likely to have grown up poor and suddenly being a millionaire who is treated like a rock star. It's a bigger transition than for a guy like Groome, who himself apparently has some issues. Can a healthy young man have more testosterone and be more volatile than a mature man? YES,of course. For all I know he simply misses his family or girl friend badly and wanted to go home. But maybe I shouldn't say that because 14 of you will think it's racist. Or I'm a troll.

Honestly, you guys often look to find the worse in people. Try to find fault. It's very distasteful sometimes. I've said my own wife is from Ecuador and 2 of my kids are hispanic, fluent spanish speaking kids. I've spent months in South America living as an exchange student. I am not criticizing Acosta or even finding fault with him. I'm trying to find ways to help him and communicating issues which might be contributing to his situation.

Yes, we can generalize the difference in culture and socioeconomic as a potential issue. No one is stating anything definite or racist. It is obvious demographics. I just looked it up and my estimate was about right. The average wage in the DR for a common worker is around 86 to 172 US dollars a month, or $5 – $10 a work day (if on a five day a week schedule), or just a little less than I estimated earlier. Many of you completely misinterpreted what I said. When the average income per worker in the DR is 20-100 times less than it is in the US, the likelihood of Acosta growing up relatively poor is huge compared to growing up in a US household.

It's just statistics. You guys should know all about it. Yet again, I deserve an apology but I won't be holding my breath waiting for it.

Regarding testosterone, young people have more than old people according to all the data and it had nothing to do with him happening to be from the DR.

There were the "black power" and "black is beautiful" movements in the 60's and 70's, which were in many ways comparable to the current "black lives matter" movement. There is the "gay pride" movement. "Latinos' also sometimes feel disrespected and prejudiced against and there are positive movements for "latin pride" in the Americas and David Maraniss describes it at length in the Clemente book. It is feeling respect for yourself and the latin american community, especially when you think it is being oppressed, which is by the way something Roberto Clemente felt very strongly about if you know his history at all. There really is nothing funny about it. It just shows how ignorant some of your posts are when you respond the way you do.

It's not an argument. It's a discussion of the potential issues a young guy with a big signing bonus from the DR, or a related poor demographic latin country, might encounter which are specific to his potential challenges which are probably different from the most USA based players. I was not disparaging the kid at all. He may well have some legitimacy to whatever is causing him to go back home, and it may be nothing more than just wanting to go back to his family for a while to get himself together. Missing his family or girl friend badly. Maybe he's in love. Who knows what it is.

So now here comes the throw down forum over yet another BS series of comments from the supposed intelligensia of this forum. Why not just admit that maybe YOU WERE WRONG for once and move on.

Generally. it's just us southerners in general..

See, you and I do agree on some things.