United States presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has a history with the sport of baseball, serving as as a captain of the Yale Bulldogs baseball team and leading the team in batting average the final year of his college career. So naturally, he has a high opinion of the sport. But the way he compared it to the sport of basketball has people a little bit concerned.
During a recent interview, Ron DeSantis described baseball as a sport for people “willing to work hard” whereas basketball players are “are just freaks of nature” – which many people interpreted as a racist dogwhistle.
“There’s so many different places that you need to have on a baseball team, and there’s different skills that are required,” DeSantis explained. “So some people can be a pitcher, some people can be a middle infielder, some people can be a catcher. And so I think there’s kind of a place for everyone on a baseball team if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to practice, and if you’re willing to hone your skills. I kind of thought it was always kind of a very democratic game – a very meritocratic game.”
Ron DeSantis said basketball athletes are “freaks of nature” while contrasting the sport with baseball which he described as a “meritocratic game” with “different skills that are required” to be on the team. pic.twitter.com/APnbsfAOBU
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 21, 2023
“Whereas I kind of viewed like basketball as like these guys are just freaks of nature – they’re just incredible athletes,” DeSantis said. “In baseball, you have some guys that they might not necessarily be the best athletes, but maybe they’ve got that slider that nobody can hit or they’ve got the skills that allow them to compete at the highest level.”
DeSantis was absolutely blasted for the opinion with many people pointing out that the comments sounded like a racist dogwhistle.
This is racism. For those who want me to soften it up, this is very clearly coded racial bias.
I’m not shocked given who it’s coming from.
this is a mindset that a lot of coaches subconsciously reinforce on their teams w/o recognizing it.
A thread on coaching https://t.co/Bej7JsLQdl
— Dr. Jorts, Ph.D. (@WayneLBlack1) June 21, 2023
Aaron Judge is 6’7” and 282 lbs.
Acuña Jr. hits a homerun b/t 450-480 ft every few days and celebrates by griddying across home-plate.
Ohtani throws a 100mph fastball one half of the inning and hits a 93 mph slider 450 ft the next half of the inning.pic.twitter.com/7cBnETD734 https://t.co/QrxZgv3pMO
— Classics & Virtues (@classicvirtues) June 21, 2023
When you plug the dog whistle into a Marshall stack. https://t.co/Qrp8lRY9Md
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 21, 2023
I think there's another reason why Ron doesn't like basketball, but white now I can't put my finger on it. https://t.co/bkmrC2jdVE
— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) June 21, 2023
https://twitter.com/normcharlatan/status/1671596445634314242?s=20
Every white parent who says, “Jimmy wanted to play basketball but he’s the wrong color.” https://t.co/Zy9b9PMy4s
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) June 21, 2023
Justifying Racism! https://t.co/tburUgp48X
— Badd Company (@BaddCompani) June 21, 2023
this is not a dogwhistle, it is an airhorn https://t.co/GXgYmZuQar
— Florida Chris (@chrislongview) June 22, 2023
DeSantis trafficking in that old school, antebellum racism here. https://t.co/YCFvc16d5Z
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) June 21, 2023
It’s safe to say DeSantis took some heat for his comments.
