


	NPR's Morning Edition aired a report this morning (4/19) on
	Hispanic/Latin American players in MLB and how they have many of
	the same problems faced by black/negro/African American players
	when they first entered the league.  However, although baseball
	has adjusted to the presence of black players, many Hispanic
	players still labor under the stereotype of being "fireballs,
	hot blooded, flashy".  The report also emphasised that despite
	the rantings (my word) of Jessie Jackson about baseballs
	discrimination against black players in its upper echelons,
	baseball has actually done much better by black players than
	Hispanic players.

	Another interesting point was the language barrier problem.  The
	reporter elaborated on an interview with Ruben Sierra which he
	gave in Spanish to a Spanish speaking newspaper reporter with
	the fact that there are maybe 2 major baseball writers that
	speak Spanish, despite the fact that Spanish is one of (if not
	the) easiest languages to learn, so easy that the author Cormac
	McCarthy learned Spanish at age 50 in order to research his
	book, _All The Pretty Horses_.  Yet, few MLB organizations
	employ Spanish speaking personel, one of the exceptions being
	the Oakland A's.

	Another point:

	Nearly 90% of Latin American players have some African blood.
	Yet, most report that they'd never really felt black until
	playing ball in the US.

  
	Ironically enough, it is the early presence of Latin American
	baseball players in the Major Leagues that support the idea that
	baseball was integrated before the arrival of Jackie Robinson,
	as many "light black" or "brown", Latin Americans were
	incorporated into baseball. 

	/S