In the wake of Houston hiring a new GM and giving Phil Garner a long term contract without interviewing minority applicants for either position, The Houston Chronicle’s John Lopez raises the question of the team’s ethnic makeup.
For all the Astros have done right under owner Drayton McLane, they rate among the worst teams in the game at keeping the diversity promise.
Keep in mind, too, that the Astros represent one of the most diverse cities in professional sports, a city whose Hispanic population alone is roughly the same as that of entire cities like San Antonio and Indianapolis.
Among the highest-ranking members of the Astros’ front office, not one is a person of color. Time and again the Astros have fallen short.
It has not been because of underlying racism within the organization. No one realizes the obligation more than McLane. And Smith points out the Astros have long tried to develop minority players, coaches and front-office staff.
Still, what fans and the commissioner notice are things like the honest recklessness the club has repeatedly shown when it comes to diversity and sensitivity to the fan base.
Things like allowing players like Bobby Abreu, Moises Alou and Richard Hidalgo to leave. Things like moving Daryle Ward and Brian Hunter, leaving the Astros without a single African-American player on the roster. Things like acting hastily in the case of Julio Lugo.
Things like hiring managers Terry Collins and Larry Dierker despite neither’s having experience. Yet when a candidate like Tony Peña came along, the reason offered for not hiring him was that he was inexperienced as a manager.
Another example: Years ago, a Hispanic sportswriter arrived late at the Astros’ training camp facility in Kissimmee, Fla. A mid-level Astros executive kidded, “What, are you on Mexican time?”
Bobby Abreu was plucked in the Expansion Draft. Moises Alou got even better money elsewhere–and while an Astro, he got into a fight with a Stairmaster. Richard Hidalgo was paid an ASTROnomical salary and was consistently inconsistent.
Darryle Ward and Brian Hunter, in plain English, suck.
Julio Lugo HAD to go.
Hey, didn’t they trade Geoff Blum? Are they anti-Semites, too? Watch your back, Ausmus.
the dumping of Julio Lugo showed intolerance towards spousal abusers — certainly a group that gets a raw deal.
Indeed, Abreau was taken by Tampa Bay in the expansion draft. But more to the point, he was exposed in said draft by Houston.
I mean, this is probably all coincidence and if the Astros make a serious effort to sign Carlos Beltran, you can’t really claim they’re making decisions based on race. On the other hand, when every other star on the team is white, minority candidates aren’t even considered for the manager or GM jobs, and they’re playing ball in a town with a non-white population the size of Houston’s, fans and journalists alike have a right to wonder aloud.