Yahoo Finance Cincinnati baseball players, including Kevin Youkilis, want to remove Marge Schott's name from field
University of Cincinnati baseball players want the school to distance itself from Marge Schott. A number of Cincinnati alumni, including former major league All-Star Kevin Youkilis, have endorsed a petition to remove Schott’s name from the team’s baseball stadium.
The petition was started by former University of Cincinnati player Jordan Ramey, who urged the school to stop celebrating Schott.
“We have a responsibility to develop our kids for the future. Black kids should not be made to play and represent a name such as hers and white kids should not be celebrating her legacy subconsciously.
“As a community of former and current players, staff, students, alums, and Cincinnatians alike, We will not be promoting her, or her legacy any longer.”
Schott was suspended and fined multiple times by Major League Baseball for making both racist and antisemitic remarks during her time as the Cincinnati Reds’ owner. One of those suspensions came after Schott said Adolf Hitler, “was good at the beginning, but he just went too far.”
She sold her controlling interest in the team in 1999, but remained on as a minority partner. Schott died in 2004.
Youkilis — a Cincinnati alumnus — weighed in on the petition Sunday. He explained he had an opportunity to have the field named after him, but passed on it after learning his name would sit next to Schott’s.
I stand with @nike_nate2! #WeAreUC https://t.co/Mz9m7enCBL pic.twitter.com/E4PQWrrYg9
— Kevin Youkilis (@GreekGodOfHops) June 7, 2020
Nathan Moore — a Cincinnati pitcher who just graduated from the school — also wrote a statement, saying he “cannot understand why our great University would not address the removal of this hurtful and offensive commemoration of racism.”
Ramey’s petition currently has more than 3,400 signatures. He’s seeking 5,000.
The University of Cincinnati has not addressed the petition — or comments from their former players — at this time.
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