Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 00:34:55 -0400 
From: King-Han Yao <ky0l+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Rickey Henderson v Nolan Ryan -- Stat-head call to arms!
	<19920416101849SASCHO@mvs.sas.com>

On 16-Apr-92 in Re: Rickey Henderson v Nola..
user SASCHO@mvs.sas.com writes:
>>Nolan Ryan is a white hero.  A true TWG.  He's humble, he's friendly
>>and skillful with the media, and his exploits have been portrayed,
>>over the past five years or so, in an extremely favorable light.
>>
>>Why?
>>
>>Part of the answer is because he's WHITE, whether you like it or not.
>>His face will sell more razors than Rickey's will.  Nolan's public
>>persona is that of a humble, hard-working, good-ole-boy white man.
>>
>>Rickey is portrayed as a malingerer, a whiner, and cocky.  Part of the
>>reason for this is his background is different than Ryan's.  He
>>learned to communicate in a black inner city, rather than white farm
>>country.  Like or not, the communication patterns are different in
>>those two areas, and to white bread America, Rickey's is more
>>intimidating, and more accusatory.
> 
>If race is an issue with the media and public, and with endorsements,
>as you suggest, why are Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan, 2 of the highest
>paid athletes when it comes to endorsements? 

Jordan is the best basketball player, and glamorous (i.e. makes the
highlight films) in the way he plays.  Jackson was a huge hit with the
public due to his two sport attributes, and wass also glamorous.  Find
me comparable whites, and I'll show you someone who makes more than
Jordan and Jackson.  

Some interesting economic proof of customer discrimination in sports:

A study was done by Kahn and Sherer that proved that in the NBA, if a
black and white player had equal skill, the white player would earn from
16 to 23 percent more.  Part of the reason for this, they hypothesize,
is discrimination among basketball fans.  They also found "that
replacing a black player with a white player of equal skill raised
attendance and revenues by amoungs roughly comparable to the 16-23
percent premium paid to whites!" (Ehrenberg and Smith). 
In another study, on starting pitchers, (I don't remember who did it, or
what the exact figures were, I just remember the gist of the article),
it was found that attendance was down considerable when the home team's
starting pitcher was a minority (i.e., black and hispanic) based on
comparable skills.
   

>I think Rickey is a jerk.
>He is also a GREAT ballplayer. Rob Dibble is a white jerk. Great pitcher
>Racism is a huge problem in our society (heck, the world), and I hate
>to see that. It is truly unfair and terrible. It makes matters worse
>when every time two people are compared that happen to be of different
>race, the inequities are attributed to racism. The issues in this
>argument are:
>          1) Who is a better ballplayer. Rickey is getting the
>             overwhelming majority of votes here.
>          2) Who is a better person. Not the original question, but it
>             evolved to this. Nolan is winning this one.
>If we were comparing Kirby Puckett and Jack Clark, what does Jack Clark
>have to attribute Puckett's popularity to? Better market? Racism?
>Assholes don't get endorsements because they have a bad public image
>(rightfully so). Guys with a good image get endorsemants and interviews,
>etc. Racism is a bad enough problem without it unnecessarily being
>thrown into an argument. I am 100% sure that Rickey Henderson has been
>a victim of racism in his life. I don't think this is one of those
>times.
> 
>Chuck


-------------
King Yao                       
Economics 
Class of '92                   
Carnegie Mellon