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On this date in area sports history…
On this date, 16 years ago, Dec. 12, 1992, Springfield High School graduate and former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brooks Lawrence gave his thoughts on former Reds owner Marge Schott’s racially charged comments made about Eric Davis and Dave Parker a month earlier.
Complete story on the jump:
Published in Springfield News-Sun, Dec. 13, 1992 edition
SCHOTT’S REMARKS DON’T IRRITATE BROOKS LAWRENCE
BY TIM BUCEY, Sports Editor
Brooks Lawrence has heard all the racial epithets before.
After all, he broke into baseball in the early 1950s, not long after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
Maybe that’s why revelations that Reds owner Marge Schott used derogatory racial remarks neither surprised nor upset him.
“Marge is from the old school. She says what she thinks,” said Lawrence, who is a voice of reason in this atmosphere of condemnation.
Not only does the former Springfielder, an outstanding athlete at Springfield High in the 1940s, not condemn Schott but he offers her solace.
Situation is overblown
“I think it’s out of whack,” said Lawrence, who pitched for the Reds in the 1950s, winning 13 straight games to start the 1956 season.
“I think Marge probably said those things but she wasn’t the only one. When I was coming along, the owners, players, everybody said it but not in situations where it could be printed.
“I just think the players ought to get back to playing baseball and let all this stuff blow away,” Lawrence advised.
“I was talking to Kenny (Griffey) this morning and he feels the same way.”
There have been calls from black leaders, such as Jesse Jackson, that Schott be dealt with appropriately by her peers. Banishment from the game, a suspension and a hefty fine have all been suggested.
Lawrence won’t offer his endorsement.
“Baseball is her family, baseball is her life. If you take baseball away from her, it would be the same as killing her,” he said.
As for those black leaders who jump up and condemn Schott, Lawrence pays them little mind. What do they know about the situation?
“I’m going to say this and I’m going to make people mad, but they don’t know a damn thing about it,” he said.
Lawrence thinks Jesse Jackson’s call for a baseball boycott is laughable.
Ever go to a major league baseball game and see how many blacks are in attendance?
Lawrence knows.
“Year I was in charge of season ticket sales we had 4,000 and you tell me how many were blacks?” asked Lawrence.
A hundred? “Lower.” Fifty? “Lower.” Twenty-five. “Lower.”
There were five black season ticket holders.
“I was wondering what Jesse Jackson was talking about when he said boycott the place,” said Lawrence.
Lawrence not only played the game but he also coached, scouted and held various capacities in the front office of the Reds.
Baseball’s minority hiring has been criticized. Few blacks have been elevated to managerial positions or to high-level front office jobs.
Few blacks sought jobs
Lawrence doesn’t necessarily condemn baseball for that.
“I was in that (Reds) office for 10 years. In those 10 years I’ll bet we had five black people come down who wanted a job, and when those five found out what the job paid, they didn’t come back,” he said.
Lawrence never worked for the Reds during Schott’s regime but said one employee in group sales made so little money that his children qualified for free breakfasts in the schools.
“There aren’t a bunch of blacks in baseball because most of them don’t want to do it,” he said.
And a person, white or black, who wants a high-level baseball post but hasn’t played the game has to work at low-paying jobs for years in order to work their way up.
“I guess I may be wrong. Probably I don’t understand,” said Lawrence.
Or maybe he understands perfectly.
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