Baseball Beat: Friday, April 13th

Here is the rundown for the Friday, April 13th edition of Baseball Beat with Charley Steiner:
(All Times Eastern)

1:05 p.m.
Guest: Steve Phillips, ESPN
1:25 p.m.
Guest: Mike Downey, Chicago Tribune
1:45 p.m.
Guest: Joe Simpson, Broadcaster, Atlanta Braves
2:05 p.m.
Guest: Claire Smith, Philadelphia Inquirer
2:25 p.m.
Guest: Michael Wilbon, Washington Post
2:45 p.m.
Listener Calls

Guest Summaries:
Phillips discussed this Sunday’s Jackie Robinson Day including his role in baseball and American society as well as the declining number of African-Americans in baseball; Downey discussed the future sale of the Chicago Cubs including Mark Cuban’s lack of involvement as well as Jerry Colangelo and Ernie Banks efforts to form groups to make an offer for the club. He also discussed Alfonzo Soriano’s struggles in centerfield, Chicago White Sox early season, and tomorrow’s Olympic announcement between Los Angeles and Chicago; Simpson discussed the Atlanta Braves early season success including the improved bullpen and last night’s surprising loss to the Washington Nationals; Smith discussed this week’s Don Imus story and put it into the context of how far our country has come yet still needs to go. She also discussed the declining number of African-American and Caucasian American players in baseball as well as how Jackie Robinson would have handled the situation; Wilbon discussed the impact of African-American athletes being more active playing basketball and football than baseball and he mentioned ways to reverse the numbers and bring more minority athletes back to baseball. He discussed his recent conversation with Jimmie Lee Solomon and how marketing such as Nike and Adidas have a tremendous impact on future athletes’ game of choice. There was also talk about how easy it is to play basketball as opposed to having the equipment and enough players (18) to play baseball.