Dusty Baker spends most of his 70s suppressing the racial profiling and inequality he endured as a young man. Remembering can “take the joy of my life away,” the 71-year-old Astros manager said. Baker doesn’t want to walk around mad. His heart has changed about things that once enraged him.
Now, Dusty worries more about his 21-year-old son, Darren, a young Black man in what his father describes as a worsening world. Dusty called it a “racial time-bomb.” On Thursday, Darren showed Dusty video of Jacob Blake’s shooting in Kenosha, Wis. Police officers shot the 29-year-old Blake seven times in the back.
“I was just appalled,” Baker said. “Boy, it’s getting worse and worse in the country. Something has to be done, and something has to stop. It’s senseless shootings, senseless killings. Kids are going to have nightmares. You’re supposed to feel safe in this country. You’re not supposed to feel threatened or afraid.”
“This is nothing new for me, especially a child of the ’60s. I’m more afraid for my children and my grandchildren than I am for me right now. They see you as some old man that’s harmless versus a young man that’s dangerous. That’s not the situation of how people should feel.”
Between Wednesday and Thursday, 10 Major League Baseball games were postponed as players protested police brutality and racial inequality. Playoff games in both the NBA and NHL were postponed. The WNBA and MLS postponed games. Some NFL and college football teams took days off of practice in protest. Baker called the actions “bold but necessary moves.”
The Astros, who had been off on Wednesday and Thursday, joined the protest by not playing against the A’s on Friday. Both teams had taken the field to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day and then walked off.
Players from other clubs have spoken at length the last three days to explain the origin of their protests and call for more action toward social injustices. Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts said he needed “to use my platform to get the ball rolling.” Mets infielder Dominic Smith’s tearful postgame interview on Wednesday gained international attention.
“I think the most difficult part is seeing people still don’t care,” Smith said between sobs. “For this to continuously happen, it shows just the hate in people’s heart. That just sucks. Being a Black man in America is not easy.”
Baker echoed Smith’s sentiments on Friday. He said it’s “not easy being a Black man, especially a successful Black man at the same time.”
The 71-year-old spoke for more than 15 minutes about his experiences as a Black man in baseball — both on and off the field. He evoked lyrics from Stevie Wonder, who sang “you can not cash in your face. Baker described being stopped by police while driving a nice car, being “called in” by the FBI on three occasions and being summoned to the commissioner’s office.
Explaining the plight can grow tiresome or feel insignificant, especially for a man who has done it endlessly to some deaf ears. Baker is now one of two Black managers in baseball. Across his 50-year stint in the sport, he’s been viewed as a prominent voice for racial equality and opportunities.
“But when you speak up for as long as I’ve spoken up, it’s like ‘OK, man, you’re crying spilled milk or you got a chip on your shoulder or you’re a racist or there’s some negative adjective they’re going to say about you,’” Baker said. “After a while, it’s not even worth talking about.”
“If people would listen and listen intently, then I’m willing to talk. For years, we’ve been having Jackie Robinson Day and it’s been kind of squashed under the rug and we don’t talk about it until next year. Or African-American history month, we make a big deal out of it and then you sweep it under the rug and you talk about it next year. Until people put their money where their mouth is, you’re really wasting my time.”
A group of Black baseball players is trying to accomplish that. The Players Alliance, a group of 100 current or former Black players who donated their salaries from Thursday and Friday’s games toward organizations that either combat racial inequality or aid Black families impacted by it. Astros outfielders George Springer and Michael Brantley are involved, according to the Alliance’s website.
“I love what the basketball players are doing, the hockey players,” Baker said. “They’re putting their money where their mouth is. I’m proud of these young people in America because they’re doing something about it.”
A’s second baseman Tony Kemp, a former Astros player, said Friday he planned to meet with former Astros teammates to detail how they may donate. The Alliance opened its donations to those around the league. According to Kemp, players can specify which charities or organizations their game checks go toward.
Kemp and the A’s did not play their game on Thursday against the Rangers in Arlington in protest.
“Hopefully a kid asked their parents what’s going on right now, why is there no baseball, and they have a real conversation with their kid of what’s going on in America,” said Kemp, who is Black. “And that’s where it starts. Because this generation is being able to speak up and the players are understanding how big their voices are right now. We have huge platforms so why not use them?”
chandler.rome@chron.com
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Dusty Baker worries about ‘racial time bomb’ - Houston Chronicle
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