By Joe Guzzardi
07/08/2007
Who could have guessed it would happen so soon?VDARE.COM reader Tim Aaronson, that’s who.
In response to my column about American players being replaced on the field by foreign-born athletes “On Cinco de Mayo, Strike Three for American Baseball Players,” Aaronson wrote that soon the bidding for more visas for would intensify.
And now — a mere month after Aaronson’s letter — the New York Yankees have signed two players from the very unlikely location, from a baseball perspective, of China.[Yankees welcome newly-signed players from China By Larry Fine (Reuters) July 6, 2007 ]
The two new Yankees are Liu Kai, a left-handed pitcher and catcher Zhang Zhenwang.
Based on Yankee general manager Brian Cashman’s evaluation of the two 19-year-olds, they would be lucky to make the College World Series champion Oregon State Beavers.
According to Cashman, Kai has an extremely slow 84-mile an hour fastball — ¦a marshmallow for major league hitters.
And Zhenwang is ”a defensive catcher.” In other words, he can’t hit.
But never mind that. The Yankees have their eye on a new market in China. Imagine all those billions of Chinese wearing Yankee caps and t-shirts. As Cashman said about the signings: “It was a critical start to opening a new market for baseball.”
Kai and Zhenwang will soon have their visas. Their families will follow them to America shortly.
By the way, I wonder if Cashman knows what their politics are?
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