III. Telling Baseball's Stories
Critical Race Theorists emphasize the importance of
storytelling for out-groups.[i] These stories counteract the dominant group's
own stories that reinforce the notion that their superior position is natural.[ii] Counter-storytelling disrupts the prevailing
mindset that whites belong on top and blacks on the bottom.[iii] "Stories, parables, chronicles, and
narratives are powerful means for destroying mind-set---the bundle of
presuppositions, received wisdoms, and shared understandings against a
background of which legal and political discourse takes place."[iv] Whichever of the narratives that prevails
constructs our social reality.[v]
Although Professor Delgado writes of legal and political
stories, there are certainly "presuppositions, received wisdoms, and
shared understandings" that permeate baseball lore:
Is Babe Ruth the greatest player of all time? Did the greatest players and teams play
before integration? What asterisks
should be in the record books? Can
advanced statistical analysis properly evaluate players across generations?
The answers to these questions
help to mold how fans and non-fans alike view baseball and its history. Currently, the prevailing, dominant group
story prevails. A counter-story needs to
be told. By reexamining supposed
objective statistics and the common integration narrative, a vastly different
view of baseball emerges.
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