ESPN, Stephen A. Smith Ask Rob Manfred About 'Diversity' Instead Of Trevor Bauer

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appeared on ESPN's flagship program First Take Wednesday morning with Stephen A. Smith. Manfred answered a series of questions about the postseason. But the elephant in the room was obvious:

Trevor Bauer.

Two years ago, a woman named Lindsey Hill accused the then-Dodgers pitcher of sexual assault and strangulation. Bauer adamantly denied the allegations. Yet the accusations cost Bauer his place in MLB.

On Monday, Bauer posted a video where he read aloud text messages in which the woman admitted to her friends a plan to frame the pitcher as an abuser.

The story is not only timely but significant. Bauer has been a topic on cable news throughout the week. It's one of the rare baseball stories to transcend beyond sports media.

And no opinion on the matter is more sought after than Manfred's. It was Manfred who placed Bauer on administrative leave in 2021, three days after learning of Hill's unsubstantiated accusations. Bauer hasn't pitched in the majors since.

Despite the interest, Stephen A. didn't bother to ask Manfred about the subject. Smith has other questions to ask:

"Let me transition, because I would be remiss not to bring this up," Smith began. "African American participation in the sport, from a player's perspective, is at 6.2%. How much of a concern is that to you as a commissioner? And what is being done to rectify that."

Smith said the hell with a star pitcher wrongly accused of sexual assault, what about diversity?

Smith references an ESPN report from June citing the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport's complaint about the lack of black players in MLB. But, as we proved at the time, the outrage was dishonest.

The institute graded all professional sports leagues on their "commitment to diversity." And while the report focused on the 6.2% of black players in MLB, it failed to highlight less represented groups in other leagues.

For example, the report buried that Latinos make up just 3.1% of NBA players. It also buried that Asian players make up only 0.04% of the NBA.

Moreover, MLB is quite diverse, with people of color accounting for 40.5% of the league. The NBA is not, with 73% of its players belonging to one demographic: the African-American demographic.

Was Stephen A. aware that Asians and Latinos are less represented in basketball than black players are in baseball? Does he not care? Does he consider the number of black baseball players more timely than the Bauer story?

We asked him Wednesday afternoon:

Stephen A.,

I saw you interviewed Rob Manfred today. I am curious as to why you didn't ask him about the Trevor Bauer update, as in the woman admitting over text to a plan to frame him as an abuser. Is that not the most-talked-about baseball story in the media today, given that those allegations previously cost him his career?

Moreover, you cite a "problem" that black players make up only 6% of MLB rosters. However, in the NBA, only 3.1% of players are Latino. Asian players make up only .04 percent of NBA players. All in all, 73.2 % of the NBA is African American.

Is that not a "lack of diversity"?

Why is the lack of black MLB players a bigger deal than the lack of Latinos and Asians in the NBA? Unless I missed it, I have never seen you cite those studies or express an interest in that topic.

If you have a comment on any of the above questions, please let me know.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith failed to bring the subject of Trevor Bauer up when interviewing Rob Manfred. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images).

Unfortunately, we are yet to hear back.

Smith's lack of interest in the Bauer story is particularly hypocritical when you consider he passionately defended Michael Irvin last summer against the woman who accused Irvin of sexual misconduct earlier this year.

“I think it’s a travesty what happened to Michael Irvin over the last few months,” Smith said in July.

“That was bad enough, but for him have an accusation levied against him that ultimately jeopardized his career? ... For him to be off the airwaves since February, to be off the airwaves that long and to have his job in jeopardy, his future in jeopardy, is a travesty.”

Stephen A. concluded that "As a black man, it was incredibly scary to see ."

Apparently, "as a black man," Smith doesn't share the same sympathy for Bauer.

That said, Stephen A. is not the only member of the media to bury the Bauer update.

The very media members that smeared Bauer over the past two years have had little -- or nothing -- to say this week since he released his accuser's damning text messages.

We wrote about the irresponsibility of the media's coverage below:

You can add Stephen A. Smith to that list.

He's more "concerned" about the skin colors of the baseball players than the baseball player who had his life ruined over false sexual assault allegations.