> “Major League Baseball, which touts Jackie Robinson and the game’s association with integration, declined to make commissioner Rob Manfred available for an interview.
>“MLB leaves decisions about … displays at ballparks to the 30 clubs who have strong ties to their respective communities,” said league spokesman Pat Courtney. “Your question regarding the statue should be directed to the Texas Rangers.”
>Courtney did not respond to a follow-up question asking if anything would supersede that policy, and why this statue doesn’t meet that standard.
>Rangers owner Ray Davis declined an interview request with The Athletic.
>Minority owner Neil Leibman — who chaired MLB’s diversity committee, and according to Molina, was the first Rangers official he spoke to about the statue — did not respond to an interview request.”
Sharp-Room-8235
They’re also the only MLB team without a pride night. It’s 2026.
The owner is a bigot and his name is Ray Davis
respaaaaaj
The racism is the point
neverAcquiesce
Racism. The answer is racism.
7thAndGreenhill
As I gleefully tell my Texas based family, the « Lone Star » is a rating not a motto.
AjiChap
Still playing these stupid games in 2026, yay texasss.
ANGRY_BEARDED_MAN
Because LAW’N ORDUH™ thats why
taffyowner
I’m originally from Texas, and as much beauty and great things there are about my home state, there is all this bullshit that they just keep doing
Prestigious-Swan6161
Controversial is one way to put it
HenrikCrown
As long as that statue is there I’m not going
aRadioKid
Because they are racists. It’s very simple
ActivityImaginary941
Forward-Carry5993
Because baseball is a conservative sport run by predominately rich white men.
OrbisChap
So if a team’s community has strong ties to the KKK, a David Duke statue would be a-ok by the MLB?
YourFriendNoo
1) I abhor that our biggest outlets for « journalism » have to take this pondorous « Gee I wonder why » approach to things that are abundantly obvious to everyone.
2) A huge part of the history of the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team) is their use as a native extermination force. So really, racism is baked into the premise from the jump.
ContinuumGuy
Here’s the thing: they could very easily honor their namesake with some sort of generic statue NOT modeled after this very specific person. It’d be easy, and probably not even that expensive. Hell, they could probably get some actual Texas Ranger who has done security at Rangers games in the past.
But they didn’t, they went and grabbed this one.
Nolif3
Yikes. That statue is wicked
LHamiltonPP
I do think there’s an argument that can be made in favor of displaying statues of controversial/prejudiced/bad/whatever people but that’s all about putting them in the proper context so that people understand the complete history of the figure
Just plonking one down in the concourse of the a baseball stadium without an iota of acknowledgment towards the full history of the Texas Rangers Division generally or Jay Banks specifically sure doesn’t do that
18 Comments
> “Major League Baseball, which touts Jackie Robinson and the game’s association with integration, declined to make commissioner Rob Manfred available for an interview.
>“MLB leaves decisions about … displays at ballparks to the 30 clubs who have strong ties to their respective communities,” said league spokesman Pat Courtney. “Your question regarding the statue should be directed to the Texas Rangers.”
>Courtney did not respond to a follow-up question asking if anything would supersede that policy, and why this statue doesn’t meet that standard.
>Rangers owner Ray Davis declined an interview request with The Athletic.
>Minority owner Neil Leibman — who chaired MLB’s diversity committee, and according to Molina, was the first Rangers official he spoke to about the statue — did not respond to an interview request.”
They’re also the only MLB team without a pride night. It’s 2026.
The owner is a bigot and his name is Ray Davis
The racism is the point
Racism. The answer is racism.
As I gleefully tell my Texas based family, the « Lone Star » is a rating not a motto.
Still playing these stupid games in 2026, yay texasss.
Because LAW’N ORDUH™ thats why
I’m originally from Texas, and as much beauty and great things there are about my home state, there is all this bullshit that they just keep doing
Controversial is one way to put it
As long as that statue is there I’m not going
Because they are racists. It’s very simple
Because baseball is a conservative sport run by predominately rich white men.
So if a team’s community has strong ties to the KKK, a David Duke statue would be a-ok by the MLB?
1) I abhor that our biggest outlets for « journalism » have to take this pondorous « Gee I wonder why » approach to things that are abundantly obvious to everyone.
2) A huge part of the history of the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team) is their use as a native extermination force. So really, racism is baked into the premise from the jump.
Here’s the thing: they could very easily honor their namesake with some sort of generic statue NOT modeled after this very specific person. It’d be easy, and probably not even that expensive. Hell, they could probably get some actual Texas Ranger who has done security at Rangers games in the past.
But they didn’t, they went and grabbed this one.
Yikes. That statue is wicked
I do think there’s an argument that can be made in favor of displaying statues of controversial/prejudiced/bad/whatever people but that’s all about putting them in the proper context so that people understand the complete history of the figure
Just plonking one down in the concourse of the a baseball stadium without an iota of acknowledgment towards the full history of the Texas Rangers Division generally or Jay Banks specifically sure doesn’t do that