Martin Luther King III Part of Investor Group Seeking Stake in New York Mets

Martin Luther King III and investor group seeking stake of the New York Mets.

Martin Luther King III is part of a group of investors who have set their sights on a stake in the New York Mets and yes, the haters are all out in force commenting on the New York Post and ESPN websites. According to the NY Post, King has teamed up with Mets legend Ed Kranepool, entrepreneur Donn Clendenon Jr., TV executive Larry Meli and a few unnamed investors.

"It's fitting with the legacy of Jackie Robinson essentially transferring to the Mets; what better place to have African-American ownership than with the Mets," Meli said, noting that Major League Baseball has no African-American owners. "The time and place are right for it. It just seems to be the right mix of people." Source: NY Post

Fred Wilpon and son Jeff Wilpon, the Mets chief operating officer, announced Friday their intention to potentially sell 20-25 percent of the team to satisfy any judgment or settlement in a lawsuit brought by the trustee looking to recover money for victims of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The group including King III reportedly wants to have at least a 50 percent share of the team, which is a complication, since the Wilpons have stated they only intend to sell a minority share. Source: ESPN

So, a black man is part of a group of investors to buy a team and people have issues on the basis of race. You see, when Dr. Bill Cosby expressed some interest in NBC, he was literally laughed at for entertaining such a lofty ambition. If you have some issues about Martin Luther King III purchasing a stake in the team, why not talk about it from a monetary point of view? Why attack the man because of his race? The question I have is where Martin Luther King III got the money from to make such a purchase since the King Center is still in the red and Washington memorial is running low on funds. You see, I'm coming at this purely from a monetary position and as someone who lives in metro-Atlanta and remembers the scandal that ensued over the mismanagement at the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, I am just wondering out loud where Martin III got this money from.

Here's a sampling of the comments on the NY Post:

Blondie

Tell MLK III to go back to Atlanta and ruin that baseball team. Where did this guy get the $$$ to buy into anything as expensive as the Mets? I thought that he was a poor preacher man like Al Sharpton. Kranepool has a right to be a part owner of the Mets. He was a part of their glory. Donn Clendenon Jr. is a part of the team by birthright. MLK III has nothing to do with out Mets. Tell him to go back to Georgia and get the heck away from us.

mingdurga

On second thought, this might be a good way to reunite Al Sharpton and Tawana Brawley as 3rd and 1st base coaches on the MLK All American Team.

can't take it anymore

Black ownership? Is having a piece of the team that important to him for that reason alone? I have a dream too. A dream that I can see another world series at Shea Stadium, I mean Citi-Field, I mean MLK "I Have a Dream Field

From ESPN:

Cyyyyk
Sounds like the beginning of a Jesse Jackson style race hustler shakedown........ cue the "institutionalized racism" accusation any minute now if the Wilpon's don't agree to sell.

You see, the King children -- Martin III, Dexter & Bernice -- have been a big disappointment with all the infighting and mismanagement of their father's legacy. So, excuse me if I am less than ecstatic about Martin Luther King III making a major purchase, still, to attack him because of his race is just despicable.

 UPDATE#1: From the NY Daily News, King III said he may indeed join a group of investors interested in the Mets, but he made it clear that he is not leading the effort and Monday, King's potential partners were already downplaying his involvement.