Cranston and Smale are freelance sports writers who wrote this article for USA Today through the Associated Press. Smale is an author of many books on sports history and Cranston is also a sports writer. The article addresses the firing of Al Avila from the Detroit Tigers and draws attention to a closely associated office – that of manager. Three managers in Major League Baseball (MLB) are Latino, St. Louis Cardinals Oliver Marmol, Boston Red Sox Alex Cora, and Washington Nationals Dave Martinez. Cranston and Smale take a look at representation of Latinos in the offices, noting studies like those done annually of diversity hiring in MLB. Through showing how representation in higher offices wanes – citing that the other years in MLB that had started with four Latino managers were 2004 and 2011, all three tied for highest.
In writing this article, Cranston and Smale draw attention to the importance of diversity in management and the reflection of player identities at all levels of the sport. It also gives recognition to those that are there. This article reflects the representation at management level as it stands currently, and shows that managerial staff is not reflective of the players’ diversity.
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida in May released its annual study of diversity hiring in MLB. The report said of 975 big league players on April 1, that 278 of them (28.5%) were Hispanic or Latino. That has been at least 25% each year since 1998. The four Latino managers at the beginning of the season matched the most — like the three previous seasons, as well as 2004 and 2011.
Cranston, Mike & Smale, David. “No Latino GMs in MLB after Avila firing, only 3 managers.” USA Today. August 11, 2022.
Mike Cranston. n.d. “No Latino GMs in MLB after Avila Firing, Only 3 Managers.” USA TODAY. Accessed December 13, 2022. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2022/08/11/no-latino-gms-in-mlb-after-avila-firing-only-3-managers/50590153/.