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Adrián González went on social media earlier this month and challenged his Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Kike Hernández to add an accent mark to the "a" on Hernández's jersey. And a tiny corner of the Latino digital world cheered. Some observers concluded that Latino ballplayers were finally demanding respect from their clubs and Major League Baseball by speaking out for their heritage. It was time to speak loudly and #PonleAcento (#PutAnAccent) on the jerseys of those players who had accents in their last names (like Seattle's Robinson Canó). For too long, baseball had a history of Americanizing Latino names and surnames. Nonetheless, the latest social media moves by González might not have been all that authentic. Behind this feel-good Spanish-language accent story, you may have missed the fact that the #PonleAcento campaign started off as an Opening Day marketing video by MLB to add more pasión (passion), inspiración (inspiration) and celebración (celebration) to the game. Before this, few players knew MLB allowed Latino ballplayers to add accents to their names. And as much as the #PonleAcento campaign seems like a small step toward recognizing the cultural heritage of nearly 30 percent of major leagues, it only distracts baseball fans from two more serious issues involving Latinos and baseball. Around the same time González was showing off the accent to his Instagram followers, Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Gómez went on ESPN Radio to say that Houston Chronicle columnist Brian T. Smith was out to "ridicule" Gómez by publishing the following quote from Gómez: "For the last year and this year, I not really do much for this team. The fans be angry. They be disappointed." And all of sudden, the 1970s "Chico Escuela" stereotype from "Saturday Night Live" of baseball being "berry, berry good to me" had reappeared in 2016. It wasn't the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last. Baseball is covered mostly by white male sportswriters and media voices. Miscommunications happen. Misunderstandings happen. At the same time, it's easy to ignore or discount what we don't know -- and that's no excuse. Just last year, for example, then-ESPN Radio personality Colin Cowherd was slammed for saying that baseball is not a complex sport because, as he put it, "a third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has not been known in my lifetime as having world-class academic abilities." Cowherd, who at that point had already announced he was leaving ESPN, was appropriately criticized for his comments by MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark. And remember when Red Sox slugger David Ortiz called out The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy in 2013 for suggesting that Big Papi was on steroids because he was Dominican? In this latest example of a Latino struggling with baseball media, Gómez seemed to take a page from Big Papi by speaking out and saying that Smith "not only [hurt] a Dominican, but every Latino who makes an effort [to learn] the language." Even though MLB now provides Spanish-speakers players with an interpreter, Gómez added: "As a baseball player, I like to express myself the way I want to, not that I say something and an interpreter makes it prettier. I would like it if a reporter sits and listens to me and then writes things -- but in a professional way, not in a way to make fun of me like he did." The Houston Chronicle soon apologized, citing "less than adequate" guidelines for editing direct quotes. Then there is this sobering reality: The league has no Latino manager after the Atlanta Braves fired Fredi González early this month. So far MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has only acknowledged a "really difficult issue for us." MLB has no problems signing Latinos to play baseball on the field, but when it comes to leading teams it has a problem? Sorry. Not good enough. Never mind baseball has a short memory. While I would think former Chicago White Sox skipper (and current ESPN baseball analyst) Ozzie Guillén still freaks out MLB owners, how many remember Felipe Alou was a 1994 Manager of the Year when he headed up the Montreal Expos? You remember that Expos team, right? The one many considered the best in baseball? The one that had a young Pedro Martínez, who in a 2015 Hall of Fame speech praised Alou for giving Martínez the chance to pitch? There are dozens and dozens of Latinos coaching in MLB and minor league dugouts. The managerial hiring practice has to change, there has to be a way. At least, a better way. No doubt, Latino baseball fans should celebrate accents on jerseys. They should. But then they should also remember that baseball still has problems, and no accent could ever hide that. Julio Ricardo Varela is the political editor for the Futuro Media Group (producers of Latino USA and In the Thick). He is also the founder of LatinoRebels.com. Julio started his professional writing career as a contributing reporter for The Boston Globe's sports department. Follow him on Twitter @julito77.
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