Odds and Sods

Not content with botching Jackie Robinson Day, Major League Baseball will hold a ceremonial draft of Negro Leagues players still living before its amateur draft on June 6.

What purpose does this serve? Bringing in the living men sixty years later to take part in a fake ceremony is hardly a mea culpa. And why honor only the living ones?

Why not create a real pension fund for them? Or, why not make a tangible effort to promote baseball in poor African-American communities?

Not only is it cheap and cheesy, but it is a tasteless publicity ploy to draw attention to an otherwise not noteworthy draft.

This scheme smacks of the same genius who thought blaring Dane Cook adds constantly was a way to connect with the youth.