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MLB Players Race Issues

Sheff Serves Up The Race Card

Do Major League Baseball owners, GMs, and scouts tend to favor a specific type of race over another when in the draft room? Gary Sheffield says yes. Not only have Latin players replaced African-Americans as the largest minority group in the MLB since the 1980s, but the gap is rather large. In 2005, it was reported that 28.7% of the league was latino and only 8.5% were black [Sheffield says Latin players easier to control than blacks].  Sheff opines that this is due to organizations wishing to control its players.

Personally, I think that it is a tough duty to try to attack bigotry by being a bigot yourself.  If Sheffield wants to expose some sort of racism and help the cause of his own ethnicity, he should probably shy away from putting down another minority group in the same article.  Are Latin players easy to control?  Michael Barrett sure doesn’t think so.  Does Sheff know a lot of players that are home now can outplay a lot of the Latin players in the league?  Maybe, but that does not really prove his point.  I know someone who can do a better job than Rosie O’Donnell on The View…oh wait, she got fired.

Anyway, there is one small area that baseball agents can take away from the ESPN article.  And it has nothing to do with black baseball players.  I would still recommend representing future black prospects, because black players will forever be a part of the game in the future.  I think that a telling statistic is that a majority of the league is still made up of white players.  59.5% of the MLB is white, which I find surprising.  It seems like we hear about all of the imported players from China, Japan, South Korea, Dominican Republic, etc., but there is still a lot of space for white players.  Players will continue to be brought in from oversees, and the rate will probably expand, however white and black players should maintain a powerful position in America’s pastime.  So do not be afraid to represent such a player while the landscape changes a little bit!

-Darren Heitner 

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

6 replies on “Sheff Serves Up The Race Card”

I completely disagree with Sheffield’s theory and his comments on how Latin baseball players can be controlled is just moronic. Black players moving to basketball and football cannot be traced to racism on the part of GM’s. GM’s will select the player who can help them win championships and get rich, regardless of his skin color. It makes sense that if there are less blacks in the player pool then less will be drafted.

Sheff is a fool. His lack of self-control isn’t reflective in the majority of the 8.9 percent of major leaguers who are african-american.

If he is concerned about the numbers, he should focus his attention on how to promote the game to the youngsters to keep status quo. I’m from Detroit and a Tigers fan, but I can’t see myself cheering for Sheff anymore this season. His contribution to the problem far exceeds his contributions to the solution.

Remember, this is the guy who doesn’t have an agent. His agent probably couldn’t “control” him anyways.

Last week, Sheffield commented that he was going to reach out to Elijah Dukes,who was featured on last weeks nightmare athletes. Sheffield is not what Dukes needs; they both need the past generation of great black players to step up and influence how they want their legacy on the game to be felt. With the smoldering of Barry Bonds on the steroids issue, american black baseball needs positive role models; not crybabies.

Optimistically, guys like Curtis Granderson and Craig Monroe are also on the Tigers and are SIGNIFICANT contributors to the local community as well as their hometowns. By the end of the season, hopefully their positive impact can outweigh the negatives generated by players like Sheff.

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