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Cubs' Baker stands by comments
July 7, 2003
CHICAGO -- Cubs manager Dusty Baker didn't back down Monday when asked about his recent comments that black and Latin players were better suited to play in the heat than white players.
"I meant what I said. . . . I try to be as honest as possible, and if that's how I feel, then that's how I feel." he told reporters before Monday's game, a 6-3 win by the Cubs over Florida.
On Saturday, in another pregame talk with reporters, Baker said: "We were brought over here for the heat. Isn't that history? Your skin color is more conducive to heat than it is to the lighter-skinned people. I don't see brothers running around burnt."
Those comments have since prompted debate on radio shows and in newspaper columns across the country.
"It doesn't really matter to me because that's what I said. I'm not going to take it back," Baker said. "What I said to you guys is what I said to my team. I told my other teammates this a long time ago, too. When we talk about how hot it is, I told them that's why my ancestors were brought over here, for that reason, and that's history.
"My mother was a black-American history teacher in Sacramento," he said. ". . . A lot of people don't know history, that's what it sounds like to me. If they take it as reverse racism . . . then they can take it wherever they want to take it."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Cubs' Baker stands by comments
July 7, 2003
CHICAGO -- Cubs manager Dusty Baker didn't back down Monday when asked about his recent comments that black and Latin players were better suited to play in the heat than white players.
"I meant what I said. . . . I try to be as honest as possible, and if that's how I feel, then that's how I feel." he told reporters before Monday's game, a 6-3 win by the Cubs over Florida.
On Saturday, in another pregame talk with reporters, Baker said: "We were brought over here for the heat. Isn't that history? Your skin color is more conducive to heat than it is to the lighter-skinned people. I don't see brothers running around burnt."
Those comments have since prompted debate on radio shows and in newspaper columns across the country.
"It doesn't really matter to me because that's what I said. I'm not going to take it back," Baker said. "What I said to you guys is what I said to my team. I told my other teammates this a long time ago, too. When we talk about how hot it is, I told them that's why my ancestors were brought over here, for that reason, and that's history.
"My mother was a black-American history teacher in Sacramento," he said. ". . . A lot of people don't know history, that's what it sounds like to me. If they take it as reverse racism . . . then they can take it wherever they want to take it."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
