In Black America; Former Tennis Professional Arthur Ashe and The 57th Annual Baseball All-Star Game

very easily connected. I'm John Hansen, join me this week on in Black America as we focus on Alpha Ashe and the 57th All-Star Game. Basically, during the All-Strees, and I work on weight-trying to build a lot more physical strength because I think that's something that helps compensate for your lack of ability to do certain things. And you know, every winner is the same. The 57th Baseball All-Star Game and tennis pro Alpha Ashe this week on in Black America. This is In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society.

I think within the Black culture there is the ethos of our culture. I think mandates that blacks who have influence, no matter what their particular areas of emphasis happen to be, should strive to be role model for those who are coming up behind us. And certainly the Black Church teaches that very strongly. I know I got quite a bit of my influence in wanting to reach out and do all that I could after I became somebody from the Black Church. Alpha Ashe, former tennis professional. Sports is an area in which the Black American has captured the respect and admiration of fans both at home and abroad.

Amateur Black athletes and professional have restarted them in virtually every major sports engaged in by Americans. One Black athlete who has gained the respect and admiration from the fans is Alpha Ashe. Former tennis professional, Mr. Ashe is a former Wimbledon tennis champion and coach of the United States, Davis Cup team. Alpha Ashe has been a positive role model all of his professional career. I'm John Hanson this week, former tennis professional Alpha Ashe and the 57th annual baseball All-Star Game in Black America. Anytime that you are able to play with guys that you play against all year, crazy people like Dave Parker. It's a lot of fun, it's enjoyable, gives the fans a break from the regular routine of the regular season and it gives the guys a pleasant break too. We have a lot of fun when we come down here. Ozzie Smith, shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Black

Stars have become too numerous to mention. Andrew Foster in 1905 reportedly pitched 51 victories in 55 exhibition games against White Major and minor league teams. Josh Gibson played professional baseball from the 1920s to the 1940s and hang Aaron built at the 715th home run of his career on April 8th, 1974, breaking Bay Roos longstanding record. This year's 57th baseball All-Star Game was played in Houston, Texas. It marks the second time the Houston Astros have hosted the mid-summer classic. It also marks the fourth time that the All-Star Game has been played indoors. This year's top vote-gitter was Darrell Strawberry of the New York Mets. Mr. Strawberry received 1,619,511 ballads. This year's All-Star Game included 8 Black players in the starting lineups, four from

both the National and American leagues. I spoke with Tony Gwynn, left-fielder for the San Diego Padres. This was his third All-Star selection. His mungveleaders and runs, hits, and on-base percentage. He finished fourth last year in the National League batting with 317 average and led the majors for the second straight year in multiple hit games with 63. I questioned Tony on his selection to this year's All-Star team. I'm thrilled. Anytime you get a chance to come to the All-Star Game, it's a big thrill. When you're voted in by the fans to start, this is my third year starting in playing left field. It's always a big honor, but this year I'm looking to contribute, looking to try to do something to help our side win because first two years I really haven't done the things that I'm capable of doing, so hopefully I get a chance to show the National League I can play a little bit. Is it something you dream about, or you just go about your business and doing your job

every day, and if you're selected to the All-Star team, well and good? Yeah, that's the guess I'll take it. My job is to go out and help the San Diego Padres win, and if by doing that, you get recognized and you're selected to play in the All-Star Game, it's a big thrill, especially when you feel like you really deserve to be here. Like I do this year, I feel like I deserve to be here. Last year I started and really wasn't having the kind of season I think I wanted to, and I really didn't feel like I belonged there. I played the game, but in my own mind I didn't think I deserved to be there, but this year I'm doing a lot of things better than I have ever, and I really feel proud about the things I've done so far, but I realize that we're only at the halfway point. We still got 80-some games left to go, and you want to keep building on what you've done, and you don't want to sit back and say, okay, well, I'm happy with what I'm done, whatever I do the rest of the season. You know, there's no big deal, but you have to go out there and work hard, and I think by working hard, good things usually happen.

Are you satisfied with the progress you've made so far? Yeah, this year, especially, because I've been proven in a lot of areas that's really been, like an Achilles heel for me, defensively, I've improved, base running, I really improved, and hitting, I think I've become a better hitter because I'm able to hit handle pitches that I wasn't able to handle a couple of years ago, and I think it's made me a better overall player, but like I said, you can't be satisfied with what you've done, you have to keep working hard, and keep trying to improve, regardless of whatever kind of season you're having, if you're having the best season of your life, you still have to go out and work hard and try to improve, and I think a lot of people in this game get satisfied a little bit too quick, you know, and once they've done something, they've accomplished a goal, like, you know, coming to the all-star game or going to the playoffs or something, they seem to be satisfied with that, but I'm the kind of person that I'm never going to be satisfied in the round or what I do, if I hit 400, I'm not going to be satisfied with that, I'm going to go out and try to be better, and when you do that, I think you're constantly improving, and that's my goal.

I just want to be the best player I can be, I don't want to be compared to other hitters or other players, I just want to go out and be the best player Tony Gwynn could be. The team to the national league, the sun was split between indoors and outdoors. Do you particularly like to play outdoors as the answer to turf is difficult for you or what? Well, in a city like Houston, I think everybody would much rather play inside because of the weather, but I'm one of the players who really, I don't like playing on turf too much. I don't like playing inside too much. I like the natural grass, the open stadiums, but in a city like Houston, you got to really appreciate the astradome because you're coming into a place where you know it's going to be 72 degrees, you know, which way the ball is going to bounce, you know, and it makes it a lot easier. So I think a lot of players are happy we're playing inside this year. Has the major leagues been what you expected? Yeah, it has. You know, it's everything I had expected, you know, I knew that the competition here is so much better. Is that at a different level than anywhere else you ever play? And coming here and being successful almost right away, it's been a big boost for me

because I didn't come up here expecting to do the things I've done. But you know, since I've done these things, you know, you can't sit on that. You can't say, hey, I want a batting title in 84, there's nothing else to accomplish. And, you know, there's so much you can accomplish in this game if you just go out and work hard and try to improve yourself and, you know, each year is a different adventure. You know, you come out and, you know, and being that I'm the player that I am, everybody knows me as a hitter. So whenever I go up to the plate, this reputation just follows me wherever I go, you know, Tony Gwins coming up to the plate, oh, he can hit. We got to be careful with this guy and being able to make the adjustments is a hitter because once you've had success, you don't see the same things you've seen before. And once you've had that kind of success, you've got to be able to make the adjustments in order because they're going to be making adjustments. And it's a constant game of making adjustments back and forth and back and forth. And if you can maintain the level that you are as quick as you can make the adjustments, if you can maintain that, then you should be pretty successful at this game.

Are you looking forward to a bang against Rodney Clements this evening? Yeah, it's going to be really a lot of fun, you know. We've seen him on TV and we know he's struck out 20 guys in a game and we know he throws hard, but it's a challenge. Whenever you step up to the plate, it's always a challenge regardless of who's pitching. But tonight, you don't see many guys who throw 95 in a slider. It falls off the table and a good change up and it's going to be a big challenge. But, you know, I have my game plan. I'm going to stick to my game plan. I'm going to go up there and not try to over swing, just try to put my bat on the ball because if I hit it square, it should go somewhere. So I'm going to go with my game plan and hopefully it'll work out. I'm quite sure baseball is an important part of your life. But are there other avenues you're as dedicated to as baseball? Uh, my family, you know, other than my family in baseball, that's about it because, you know, in order, like I said, in order to be successful at this game, you really got to work hard and you really almost have to dedicate a lot of your time to becoming the best player you can be. And at times, you know, trying to be the best player you can be and trying to spend time

with your family, they don't, they don't go together sometimes. My family gets upset at me for spending so much time but, uh, at baseball, but, like I said, if you want to, if you want to improve in this game and you want to stay around at this game, you've got to work hard and I feel like I've worked hard, but I'm not quite where I want to be. So I've got to continue to work hard, but, uh, uh, there are other avenues I'd like to get into sooner or later, but right now I'm just trying to establish myself as a good baseball player and then after that, I'll worry about it when it happens. You consider yourself a role model, a lot of baseball players when I'm just here playing baseball and it's just a job, but a lot of young people look up to you all as trying to emulate. Do you see yourself in that vein? Yeah, I, I see myself as a role model and like you said, a lot of players don't want to job, you know, they just want to play baseball, but regardless of what kind of player you are, somebody looks up to you because you have on a uniform and you, you play in a stadium where, you know, 50,000 people come out to watch you. So you have to, you have to do things that sometimes you don't want to do, you know,

there are times where you can't go to a bar after a game and have a beer because, you know, children are about in the lobbies of the hotels. You have to set a good example for children because they're the ones who, who look up to you and really respect the things that you can do and like I said, it's a job that a lot of people don't want, but you know, there are a lot of guys on this team, on American League side and this whole league who really, you know, accept that job and try to do it, try to live their life the best way they can so that they can be a good example for children. Tony Guin left fielded with the San Diego Padres. I also spoke with Ozzie Smith, shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals. Ozzie Smith has always been known for his brilliant defensive play. He was unanimously selected as the MVP in the 17th National League Championship Series. In 1982, Ozzie set a World Series record for the most putouts by a shortstop with 22. Any time that you were able to play with guys that you play against all year, crazy people

like Dave Parker. It's, it's a lot of fun. It's enjoyable. It gives the fans a break from the regular routine of, you know, the regular season and it gives the guys a pleasant break too. And we have a lot of fun when we come down here. What are some of the things that you worked on this past off season? Well, I've always worked real hard. I wasn't able to work as hard with weights and stuff as I usually do because I hurt my shoulder last year. But basically during the off season, I work on weights trying to build a lot more physical strength because I think that's something that helps compensate for your lack of ability to do certain things and, you know, every winter is the same. You know, you continue to work and make yourself better. I wasn't born six, three, a hundred, ninety, five hundred, two hundred pounds. So I have to work real hard at trying to build physical strength and that's what I've done most of my career and over the last couple of years, things have really started to fall into place for me. You're involved in the live aid effort. Why was that particular venue important to you? Well, you know, anytime, not only live aid, but anything that's going to help some people

who are in need, I've always tried to give something back. You know, I came from a background where, you know, the people around me and the area that I lived in were kind of poor, you know, and it's all about helping people who are in need. Also, you have Operation Grand Slam where you involve some time with juvenile children. Can you tell a little about that? Well, basically what it is, is where I treat a friend of mine or offensive player and I handle the defensive end of it. We go and visit kids who are incarcerated, kids who are really in need, kids that feel that society have given up on and we sit down and wrap to them and let them know that there are people outside who care about how they approach life and so forth and so on and it's not just about baseball, it's about life in general. You look at yourself as a role model for the kids, youngsters, not so baseball players but youngsters in general. Yeah, I think, you know, we're all idolized by the young kids in our society and they're our leaders up tomorrow, you know, so, you know, it's just one of those things that I

think that comes along with what we do and I try and uphold that responsibility best I can. I know you're not particularly satisfied with the overall team efforts of the Cardinals but your particular form is halfway through the season. Well, you know, I work real hard. I got a little tired there at the end of the first half and my last four or five games wasn't real good but for the most part, most of the first half was good. I got off to a good start with just something I hadn't done in previous years and when you get off to a good start and your average settles out at a decent spot so you're not always fighting from 185 trying to get to 200 at the start breaking and, you know, I've gotten a little bit stronger as I've gone along and things have started falling to place. Will you ever do it backwards, flip again? Well, I don't know, I think that, you know, my arm is sound now, you know, I don't have any problem with that anymore but, you know, if so, in the very near future, if we get into a playoff or a World Series, you may see it again. Was it a detrimental effect on you in losing the World Series on the last year of being

up at three games? No, it wasn't detrimental because, you know, the one thing about it, it's a game and we would have loved to have won and actually we should have but, you know, we did the same thing to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1982, you know, so what goes around, what goes around comes around and it just wasn't our turn this year and we did a phenomenal job getting to the World Series and actually being one game away from winning at all and that came from a team that was expected to finish last in their division. So we accomplished a lot last year and it was unfortunate we weren't able to win at all but I think that we proved to people that, you know, if you have faith in your belief, you can achieve anything you want to achieve. Asi Smith shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals. I also spoke with Tim Reigns, I'll filter with the Montreal Expos. This was Tim's six All-Star selection. He is among the leaders in runs, stolen bases and on-base percentage. Tim Reigns ranks as the Major League's all-time leader in stolen base percentage with a point eight, nine, seven average.

In 1983, he became the fifth player in Major League history and the first since Ty Cobb in 1915 to steal 70 bases and drive in 70 runs. Well, I guess pretty much the same. You know, I've been in the last five and this is my six year, six years in the league and I feel that it's just important as the other five, you know. I think when you can be voted or even selected by the managers to be in this game, it means that you've gotten off to a good start. I think that's what all baseball players try to achieve in training, just getting off to a good start and hoping that you can do well for your ball club. Has Tim Reigns matured into a Major League Baseball player as a, you don't get a flustery that you did in the past? Well, I think so, I think I've mellowed out a lot more, I'm not. You know, I'm not all over the home pounds as much, I feel like I can take things a lot

more easier than I did in the past, starting to realize the things that I can do on the field and things that I can't. And I just know myself a lot more, I think I'm matured out the player and make sure a lot more mellow. Any particular secret on base stealing here in the national league? No, really, we just have a lot of guys with good speak in our league. We've got, you know, usually you have two or three guys on a ball club and still 40 or 50 bases every year and I think the national league is becoming a league that depends on a lot of speed and not so much power anymore and it's no real secret about stealing base. I think for one, the guys with the speed on the ones who are going to steal the base, then you have some guys that have, you know, not an excellent speed but there's no house. So there's a number of things that can be talked to a guy that's just a steal base but if they don't have speed, I guess it really won't work. Everyone's talking about Roger Clemmons this evening, are you looking forward to batting

against him? Or it's just another picture in baseball? I think it's another picture, you know, we face guys like Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez who throws hard just, you know, it's just his heart and I think by being a national league, we're used to seeing those hard throwing pictures and it's just another picture to us. Maybe the American league just wasn't ready for, you know, a hard throwing picture and that's what we're concerned, you know, we rather have those guys throwing hard fast walls and the hard sliders because we're more used to it. Will the national league mistake continue tonight? Yes, you know, it's this tradition for us to win and we don't want to stop that tradition. I don't think they won, I think one of the last 13s games and I think last time they won was like an 82 or 83 and I guess the guys on this club don't want to be on the club to get beat by the American league and we're hoping that today is going to be another win for us.

Tim Reigns, outfielder with the Montreal Expos. Tennis is one sport that blacks have not had access to until recent years. One black who has made a name for himself in tennis is Arthur Ashe. Both on and off the court, Arthur Ashe has been a triumphant figure. He is a former Wilmington Tennis Champion and coach of the United States Davis Cup team. His 1975 Wilmington win was one of the most notable victories along with his 1968 U.S. Open win. In 1968 and 1975, Arthur Ashe was ranked number one in the world. He is the holder of a degree in business administration from UCLA and was twice named in all American and in 1965 in CAA Champion in Tennis. I think within the black culture there is the ethos of our culture. I think mandates that blacks who have influence no matter what their particular areas of emphasis happen to be, should strive to be role models for those who are coming up behind

us. Certainly the black church teaches that very strongly. I know I got quite a bit of my influence in wanting to reach out and do all that I could after I became somebody from the black church and yes, I do think that's a moral responsibility. Do you think too much emphasis was put on successful black athletes, more so than successful black business persons or in other arenas? Yes, I do. I'm glad you asked that because sometimes black athletes, not only black athletes, but black entertainers, just blacks whose names are known to the public, they are sometimes asked to give pronouncements on subjects about which they know very little. And then those subjects and their pronouncements are put out as being the voice of black America, which in fact it is not.

And so if black entertainers or athletes, public figures happen to know about a subject and they feel reasonably certain that they can give a learned responsive informed answer than I say fine. But if they can't, then they're better off saying that maybe there's some of these lay with a resolution of the problem but not go too far on expounding on any answers. What did mean to you winning Women's Tune in 1975, was that a goal that you achieved? I guess it was. Yes, I mean that's the most prestigious title one can win and to win it certainly would guarantee a player at the very least a co-number one ranking for that year. You've been instrumental in involving blacks and tennis in the inner city area. When can we foresee if we see any new black pros on the circuit? I don't think we'll see any big rash or a wave of black athletes playing tennis for

the foreseeable future. Tennis is not stressed in the public school systems, which is where most of our black athletes sort of matriculate or mature their athletic skills. The athletic events and the competitions that are participated in by public schools are not that important in the scheme of things in tennis that is if you're the inner scholastic champion or the NCAA champion that means nothing on the world circuit, absolutely nothing. I mean the Bjornborg quit school at 14 and he took the gamble that he would pay off and it did for him but obviously our value system is a lot different. We will however when we do see black athletes making their mark in this sport, I would say the ratio will be probably three females for every one male who makes it because there's less competition in women's tennis and also I've found that this is just a viagery

but I would be willing to stand by it. Over the long haul, tennis requires a great deal of one-on-one instruction and black females seem to be able to withstand the sustained coach-people relationship over a long period of time, then do black males. Black males allow them to change their minds and tennis has a very long gestation period that is almost all the good players you see out there started before they were 10 and within two or three years stopped everything else and just plugged tennis. It takes that sort of single mindedness and not too many black males who will do that but black females will and of course the best example is one who is from Houston, Zena Garrison who started at McGregor Park with John Wilkerson when she was very young and she's still with John Wilkerson after all these years. I think

that is one of the keys to her success that she stuck with at one coach who knew what he was doing for a long period of time. She was willing to take instruction and she was not diverted. A couple of years back you accepted a two-year tenure at Florida Memorial College. Why did you take up that challenge? I was asked by Reverend Jefferson Rogers who was head of the Senate for the community change there to teach a course on the black athlete and I found it a challenge so I said I'll give it a try and I enjoyed it for a year and a half but I was also woefully disappointed at the student response so after a while I decided to stop. I think I may do it again but with a friend at Cornell who I think could come up with a program. Also I was Dr. Harvey at Hampton and asked me about doing the same thing at Hampton so I might try it there. Is that a different responsibility as far as the role of the black athlete at a predominant

black college versus the role of a black athlete at a predominant white university? Oh I don't think the role is too much different. The role of these are what do you mean society or science and that particular college setting. I think things are much more difficult for them at a predominant white school. I mean there's no question in my mind that is the case. The support system is not there and to the extent that he or she doesn't feel comfortable mingling with a culturally diverse student population that means he's going to have problems in the classroom as well. It used to be when I was a student at UCLA even though that school UCLA had a long history of black athletic participation going back to Dr. Ralph Bunch in the 1920s and Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington and Rayford Johnson and so forth. The percentage of black students on campus are still very small and if the campus itself was physically isolated then you had it to the social problem. You know

there weren't enough either girls for the guys to date or vice versa and until recently there were not too many academic counselors that some black athlete could go and feel comfortable with and communicate with until recently the coaches didn't understand the black athlete or just thought of them as a commodity and irreplaceable part in the athletic team machine and might have been finished with him when his academic eligibility or athletic eligibility was used up. None of that obtains at a black school. There's no question about it so I think it'd be much much more difficult and his role on a black college has a much longer history and much more successful history and that adjustment process that the white schools are still going on even today. Besides your continuing involvement in tennis, your other business interests and activities? Oh yes. I'm still fortunate I did very well

as a professional athlete. I was never a frivolous spender, saved my money, it's been invested well. I'm literally financially secure in the rest of my life so I'm literally free to do what I want to do which is a nice position to be in. But I, in addition to I guess to the anti-aparctite movement I'm involved still in the sport of tennis in a big way. Vice chairman of the Davis Cup Committee, the sales of my rackets, clothes and shoes are still going on around the world. I'm on the board of directors of Atina Life and Casually Company which is one of the 15 largest companies in the United States and I'm also involved in a host of activities like this which interests me and I just I want to give willingly my free time so I do.

Another edge, former tennis professional. If you have a comment or like to purchase a cassette copy of this program, write us. The address is in Black America, Longhorn Radio Network, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 787, 12. For in Black America's technical producer Walter Morgan, I'm John Hanson. Join us next week. You've been listening to In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. In Black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or this station. This is The Longhorn Radio Network.