RETURN TO WHITENESS

Nomar. Pedro. Orlando Cabrera. Renterria. Soon Julio Lugo. The Red Sox were the last team to break the color line (Pumpsie Green, early sixties) and it was widely understood that the Yawkeys ran a less than racially friendly organization that mirrored the less than racially friendly nature of the city. Now we are seeing a return to the whiteness of the past in the make-up of the Red Sox. When they take the field, the only position player who is a minority is Jacoby Ellsbury, a American Indian. No African Americans, no Latins of color on the field. Outside of Dice-K, the rotation sounds like the board of a yacht club--not just all white but all wasp: Beckett, Bucholz, Lester, Wakefield. The bullpen has two Latins, Lopez and (for now) Del Carmen and of course there is Ortiz. But for comparisons sake look at the Yankees. In additon to an Ameican Indian (damon), they have Posada, Rodriguez and Molina at catcher (that's right they have as many Latins at catcher as the Sox have on their entire team), Cano, Betemit, Jeter, Cabrera, Abreu, Nady, AROD, Rivera, Veras, Marte, Ponson.

When Manny talked about the Sox arganization slandering great players when they wanted to get rid of them, it is worht noting that all of the players he mentioned (or meant) were players of color--which is why Boston currently has the pastiest team in baseball. Is this the way they folks in Boston like it?