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I grew up playing baseball, always dreamed of coaching, but now I know too much to ever go back into that environment. Too many hicks and rednecks. I remember getting into it with the white boys on my teams for cracking "back of the bus" jokes and the older Black players on the squad just laughing along wih the white boys, and I remember having a huge argument on a road trip to a game for Mahmoud Abdul Rauf when the NBA was getting him out the paint, and we ended up getting blasted by the other team. I quit the team pretty soon afterwards. I enjoyed playing, and would've loved doing it as a job, but the only way I'd end up in coaching is if my son started playing, or if I found a Negro league to play in. I wasn't talented enough to offset my political views playing in "their" leagues. I was a really good role player at best.