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Major League Baseball has made an effort to grow the sport among African-Americans http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-jose-abreu-jersey , and there are finally some small signs of progress. Meanwhile, ballparks from coast to coast host nights celebrating the LGBT community, another example of baseball’s attempts to promote diversity.Right now, all of that is being overshadowed after the discovery of some inflammatory old tweets from current players, social media posts that threaten to undermine some of the work MLB has invested in.“I think the main challenge is that a lot of times good deeds are not as interesting as misdeeds,” said Billy Bean, MLB’s vice president for social responsibility and inclusion. “We’ve worked so hard to not only introduce the sport in underserved areas and grow our Play Ball initiative, our Breakthrough Series — our RBI program is in its third decade. The number of kids that we’re putting uniforms on and introducing to the sport at a younger age — that definitely gets pushed to the wayside when (there is) something as controversial as a tweet that contains racist or misogynistic or homophobic language in it.”Whatever progress baseball has made promoting inclusion, it took a backseat recently. Years-old racist, misogynistic and homophobic tweets from Milwaukee reliever Josh Hader were found during the All-Star Game. Then Atlanta pitcher Sean Newcomb and Washington shortstop Trea Turner had their own offensive tweets unearthed. The tweets were from well before those players reached the major leagues, but they raised uncomfortable questions for a sport still trying to increase participation among African-Americans.“I strongly believe people are going to move forward Melky Cabrera Jersey ,” Oakland slugger Khris Davis said. “There’s never an easy answer. I think Major League Baseball’s doing a fine job promoting baseball to black players.”Davis’ father, Rodney, has done some work for the MLB Urban Youth Academy, and the younger Davis played for a travel team affiliated with the Academy. Programs like that received credit when MLB said the percentage of black players from the United States and Canada on opening day active rosters rose to 8.4 percent this year . That’s the highest level since at least 2012, but still well below the percentage from the mid-1980s. A report around the start of the season found the sport was showing improvement with racial and gender hiring practices.A team made up largely of black players from Washington’s Mamie Johnson Little League qualified for a regional tournament in Connecticut recently — a feel-good story for baseball in the aftermath of the offensive social media posts. The league began operation just a few years ago and has partnered with the Washington Nationals‘ youth academy.Keith Barnes, the league’s president, said he didn’t think the kids were paying too much attention to the controversy over racist tweets. He certainly doesn’t think it will affect their enjoyment of the sport.“I think most of the work has to be done at the grassroots level to bring kids to the sport,” Barnes said. “I don’t think it’s more on the major league level. It’s more imperative that the community drive kids to play the sport.”Still, young athletes look up to major leaguers, and incidents like these can be damaging. Even before the tweets surfaced, a well-known major league pitching coach was fired for comments he made to a team employee. Chris Bosio http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-jeff-keppinger-jersey , who was with the Detroit Tigers, later told USA Today he used the word “monkey” — but insisted he didn’t say it in a racial or demeaning context.Earlier this year, Jackie Robinson’s daughter said she thought black baseball players were more reluctant to speak publicly about racial issues because they constitute a lower percentage of rosters than in some other sports.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said to him, the biggest lesson from the Twitter revelations was that actions have consequences.“I don’t think it’s a cultural problem. I think there’s always something more that we can all do as individuals,” Roberts said. “We all, in uniform, have a platform and opportunity to build people up. I can’t speak for every individual but I know that I try to choose my words wisely and really try to lift people up, whatever their race or sexual orientation is.”Bean wants to make it clear that this issue isn’t just about the perils of social media.“We need to get to the core of why young men find humor in disparaging comments. I think that that is something that permeates through every household across the United States,” said Bean, who came out as gay in 1999, four years after the end of his major league playing career. “The idea of just telling them to hurry up and delete an account Joe Crede Jersey , that’s not finding a solution. That’s perpetuating a situation that we want to eliminate 100 percent throughout the sport.”Bean said it was a “terrible day for baseball” each time more offending tweets were revealed — and the message organizations send to their players and fans is important.“If this date in time is remembered for one of the most unfortunate weeks where it comes to baseball’s relationship with social media and that of our players, sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and try to find the best outcome moving forward,” Bean said. “If it can make everybody take a beat and realize just how damaging those words can be to the fans that look up to our players, then maybe it will be a learning experience that none of us will ever forget.” Tom Szczerbowski/Getty ImagesToronto Blue Jays slugger Kendrys Morales and pitcher Marco Estrada have each cleared waivers and are eligible to be traded to any team, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred.Players must be on a team's roster before Sept. 1 in order to be eligible for the postseason.Toronto (60-72) has long been out of contention, but it could now make an impact in the playoff race if it moves its veteran players.Morales is having yet another solid season, hitting .261/.342/.480 with 21 home runs, 14 doubles and 53 RBI in 109 games. The switch-hitter has been on an absolute tear recently, hitting .459 with eight home runs and 15 RBI in the last 14 days.He recently set a Blue Jays franchise record by going deep in seven consecutive games:That streak came to an end on Monday.Morales could bring pop to a contender, although he may be more of a platoon player. He is hitting .287 with 18 home runs against right-handers this season, while he is a .209 hitter with just threedingersagainst southpaws.The 35-year-old is best suited for the American League at this point in his career. While he played in the outfield early in his career http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-james-shields-jersey , he has been mainly limited to designated hitter in recent years. He has made occasional appearances at first and third this year.Morales is making $11 million this season and is owed $12 million next year, perSpotrac.Estrada, meanwhile, has seen his numbers rise in each passing season in Toronto. Although he posted a solid 3.13 ERA in 34 appearances in 2015 and was named an All-Star the following year, he is 7-10 with a 5.18 ERA and a 1.367 WHIP in 23 starts this season.The 35-year-old may be in need of a change of scenery, as he is 3-6 with a 5.49 ERA, a .274 average against and 15 home runs allowed in 12 starts (60.2 innings) at theRogers Centre in 2018.Estrada is making $13 million this season, perSpotrac, and is set to be a free agent this winter. Not only is he struggling and making a sizable amount of money, but he has also been bothered by aback injuryrecently.

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