MLB Will Select Surviving Negro Leaguers at Next Month's Draft - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Baseball held their first televised draft last year which, since it features players known mostly to their families and agents, didn't become an event on the level of the NFL's selection process. This year's draft is fast approaching and the boys at One MLB Plaza have come up with an idea to draw more eyes their way on June 5th.

They're going to hold a ceremonial draft of surviving players from the Negro Leagues before the actual draft gets underway. All 30 teams are invited to take part but it is voluntary so teams like the Red Sox and Yankees, who weren't so keen on the idea the first time around, shouldn't feel pressured to change their philosophies. MLB VP Jimmie Lee Solomon explained the thought process behind the "draft."

"We felt this could be a very appropriate way to pay tribute to their legacy, to their place in history and to give them a day in the sun. Sometimes, some of the past wrongs in our society are never really adequately addressed when you try to do it years hence. But you've got to try; you've got to make peace with our history."

Here's a thought, if you're going to pay tribute to them, how about doing it during the televised portion of the draft, rather than streaming it on your web site. Surely that would introduce more people to the few remaining players banned from playing baseball in the major leagues because of their skin color.

Each team will compensate their player with a stipend, which seems nice on the surface, but if baseball were truly concerned about these players wouldn't they have come up with some financial renumeration when more could have benefitted from it? Not that they're required to, mind you, but if it's a good idea for a handful, it would be a great idea for the masses.

I don't begrudge these men their moment in the sun nor do I think it's ever a bad thing when people admit that they're part of a system that made massive, awful mistakes in the past. It just smells like more of a publicity stunt than a real attempt to recognize these men. Invest in youth baseball programs in urban communities, create a fund that helps all players or their survivors instead of 30 or something that amounts to more than a photo op before teams spend tens of millions on high schoolers.

I wonder if this doesn't set the stage for another draft to rectify past disgraces in baseball. Will we one day see teams drafting steroid-free ballplayers as a way of recognizing their achievements which were dwarfed by the likes of Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire because baseball refused to do the right thing?