Where's Hitman?

Hitman, how come you haven't asked Joe Morgan to shut his piehole about this (from Morgan, courtesy of Daily Quicke):

"The most astute thing Joe Morgan has said all season lamented the lack of any African-Americans on the Astros and what that indicates about MLB."

I didn't realize that not having African-Americans on a roster indicated, whether implied or explicitly, something insidious about Major League Baseball. I always thought being on a major league roster was based on talent. I could be wrong about that, though. Certainly it could be argued that the Astros' getting their asses kicked this badly indicates a lack of talent, but there is no way to unilaterally state that a) this lack of talent could be filled by an African-American and b) that MLB has failed in its efforts to open the doors of opportunity to people of color on the playing field. Front office or managerial positions...well, that's another story.

It has become a well-studied fact that youth baseball is no longer attracting African-Americans at the same rate as it did as recently as the early 1980's. Now, basketball and football are the #1 and #2 sports of choice for black youths. While it might behoove the game of baseball to create new initiatives or refine existing ones in order improve recruitment among young blacks, these efforts will never trump the fact that talent and ability are the only ticket to the big leagues. As it stands today, Latin America is producing most of the game's talent and Major League Baseball should not go out of its way to mess with the success of its promotion and scouting of the game in these Spanish-speaking countries.

Joe Morgan was a hell of a player and a proud member of the second generation of African-Americans in the game. But he would be best served to leave the efforts of "leveling the playing field" to those more intellectually qualified to do so.