If the speculation about managerial and front-office changes from Anaheim to Baltimore and Seattle to Milwaukee proves out, the potential number of openings will put the old way of doing business in jeopardy. That is, if commissioner Bud Selig’s renewed interest in assuring equal opportunity is for real.
In a stern letter he sent to clubs last spring, Selig let his commitment to diversity be known, commanding that every general manager, manager, director of scouting and director of player development candidate and hire be made known to him first.
It remains a sorry state that some 52 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier on the field, baseball must still go to the whip to assure equal opportunity to all. Yet when former Yankees GM Bob Watson and former Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston can’t sniff out interviews, let alone jobs, then Selig should use his office as a bully pulpit.
