Royals assistant GM Jin Wong saddened by hate crimes against Asian Americans
Jin Wong is Royals general manager Dayton Moore’s right-hand man when it comes to negotiating contracts, “interpreting the Basic Agreement and Major League rules” and more.
But Wong, who has been with the Royals since 2000, admitted in a recent roundtable discussion that it took him a while to feel comfortable in his own skin. That’s because of racism he faced in his younger days.
Wong talked about that during the discussion on Major League Baseball’s site titled “Supporting the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Community.” He was joined by Marlins general manager Kim Ng, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“I would say that probably everybody on this call has been, whether it’s 20 years ago, 30 years ago, been the target of some sort of blatantly racist gesture or the butt of a blatantly racist joke, right?” said Wong, who is the Royals assistant GM for baseball administration. “That’s what happens when you’re growing up and obviously your childhood can scar you for a long time but I’ve found over my 46 years that it took a little time to get comfortable in my own skin and be willing and able to raise my voice when I disagree about something.
“Because a lot of times in my I youth, I just wanted to fit in. I just was questioning in the back of my mind, why can’t I be treated the same as everybody else? Why?’ I was born certainly an Asian American and why can’t my friends, or who I thought were my friends, treat me the same way as their other Caucasian counterparts? And that took a while to get over. “
Wong began as a scouting operations coordinator for the Royals in 2000 and has worked his way up the ladder.
“I think gets easier as you advance in the ranks of baseball quite frankly, because let’s face facts, if you’re an entry-level baseball operation staffer you’re probably going to be less likely to say something because you don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb and cause waves so to speak,” Wong said. “But, again, we’ve got to create an environment where that stuff is not tolerated like the jokes that Farhan and all of us have heard In our years in baseball and we’ve got to create an environment where people are comfortable speaking up.”
There have been a number of hate crimes against Asian Americans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, and each of the panelists talked about the sorrow they’ve felt about the violence.
Wong said he doesn’t think much about the dangers himself, but he does worry about his parents because many of the crimes have been committed against older Asian Americans. He feels a “profound sadness” about the treatment of Asian Americans.
“In Asian culture, the elderly are held in such high esteem,” Wong said. “And the fact that these hate crimes are being perpetuated against the elderly in these communities is just incomprehensible. We as Americans, we’ve had a lot of tough days in our history, and I’m hopeful that we can get through this and come out better on the other side, but until then, you know, I’m just hoping that all this violence ends quickly.”
Wong is trying to be a positive role model for others and help whenever and wherever he can in Kansas City.
While Wong believes there is more opportunity for Asian Americans in Major League Baseball, he said there is a ways to go.
“Increased representation is good for any industry, especially this game that we all love, especially in a country that we all see as a melting pot. You know, it’s where all races, ethnicities, religions can come and seek opportunity,” Wong said. “Quite frankly, I’m an immigrant myself, my parents brought me here. We immigrated here when I was 3 years old for a better lot in life and we basically have been successful in that.
“But I think it’s getting better, I think the fact that we have a AAPI representation on the field both or in the dugout and playing and also in the highest levels of the front office, kids can look at us and say, ‘Hey, that guy looks like me, that lady looks like me. I can maybe be that one day and I think from that perspective, I’m extremely proud.”
