{"id":14330,"date":"2018-01-10T15:13:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T21:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=14330"},"modified":"2018-01-10T15:25:02","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T21:25:02","slug":"why-the-number-of-african-american-baseball-players-are-declining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=14330","title":{"rendered":"Why The Number Of African American Baseball Players Are Declining"},"content":{"rendered":"
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List of first black Major League Baseball players<\/h1>\n
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Johnny Wright<\/a> was the second black player signed to a contract by the Dodgers, and was on the roster of the 1946 Montreal Royals<\/a> at the same time as Jackie.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Seventy years after Jackie\u2019s debut, the numbers remain low<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Andrew McCutchen (22) hits an RBI single against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning of the 2017 season opening home game at PNC Park.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Major League Baseball will celebrate its annual Jackie Robinson Day from New York\u2019s Yankee Stadium to Safeco Field in Seattle on Saturday. The celebration includes the <\/span>unveiling of a statue<\/a> in Robinson\u2019s honor at Dodger Stadium, and the baseball team at UCLA, Robinson\u2019s alma mater, will wear cleats with newspaper headlines and Robinson\u2019s No. 42 on them.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>Baseball has become a living and breathing component of culture in the Caribbean and Latin America, which is severely lacking here in the US. After examining the upbringing of JBJ, Betts, Young, and Price, all four players were raised in the seventeen warmest states \u2013\u2013 all of which are located in the southern regions within the country. Black American baseball players seem to be trickling out of the warmer areas where the game can be played more frequently. This closely mirrors the conditions that are present in our transcontinental neighbors. With this being so, what must be done moving forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"These numbers are jarring, and it\u2019s startling that in almost 30 years, the proportion of black American players has dropped by nearly ten percentage points. According to a study<\/a> released by the Society For American Baseball Research<\/em> (SABR) in 1986, MLB was 18.3 percent African American. This same study indicated that the percentages of Latin Americans within the league began exponentially increasing at the same time as black American numbers steadily were declining. But does this correlation between the two deviations suggest a causation? In theory, this might be more than a fortuity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is clear that black Americans need more support from the league, and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) initiative<\/a>, established in 1989, was a substantial first step. But, after properly investigating the issue at hand, emerging players deserve a secure mentor rather than the miracle mentioned by McCutchen. These mentorships shouldn\u2019t resemble the questionable conditions that are practiced by the buscones, but should provide black Americans with resources that currently are evasive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the African American community, sports icons wield\u00a0immense power. For example,LeBron James can stick his logo on the ugliest shoes in the market and still sell $340 million<\/a>\u00a0worth of merchandise. Michael Jordan, who retired in 2003, has made more in retirement than he ever did in his playing days;\u00a0$1.24 billion<\/a>. Peyton Manning, like\u00a0MJ, hasmade millions off the field<\/a>. \u00a0Baseball players, for the most part, don\u2019t have the same nationwide appeal.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is due in large part to the poor job MLB has done with their marketing strategies. While baseball has the most lucrative contracts in professional sports, they leave the promotion of their superstars to the companies representing them. The NBA has done a phenomenal job of running commercials over recent years, starting with it\u2019s \u201cNBA BIG<\/a>\u201d initiative, on to the modern day \u201cThis is Why We Play<\/a>\u201d campaign.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Baseball is lacking in this department, an area highly effective in the recruitment of young athletes. Increasingly, the parents of today are millennials who grew up infatuated with television. With the ad campaigns of the NFL and NBA overshadowing those of the MLB, it would make sense interest in the sport would diminish among American youths.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Baseball\u2019s superstars themselves are indirectly a part of the declining numbers of African American\u00a0baseball players. In the league\u2019s history, MLB\u2019s superstars have been largely white, and it is easy to see why. The majority of players are white. When there are more of one race playing a sport, the talent level of that race should, in turn, be higher. That is because there are more players to choose from. To put it simply, there aren\u2019t any black baseball superstars. There are no perennial African American MVP candidates (outside of Mookie Betts<\/a>, Adam Jones<\/a>, and an aging Andrew McCutchen<\/a>). With the African American culture being one that draws from the greatness of one another, the lack of black superstars means a lack of interest from the youths that would potentially look at them as role models.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bradford Richardson makes a great point in his article for the Washington Post about the decline of black ball players. Baseball is a sport that is typically passed on from a father to a son. In 2012, 72.6 percent of black children were born out of wedlock.<\/a>\u00a0With the glaring lack of fatherhood in a large percentage of the \u00a0Caucasian and African American community, the tradition of sharing baseball, from a father to a son, is dwindling. Sadly, the MLB does not have the capability to increase the relations between fathers and children in both the \u00a0Caucasian and Black community.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s appearance on Opening Day with the Brooklyn Dodgers 70 years ago ended 60 years of baseball segregation, as he became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Player<\/strong><\/th>\nTeam<\/strong><\/th>\nLeague<\/strong><\/th>\nDate<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Jackie Robinson<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nBrooklyn Dodgers<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nApril 15, 1947<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Larry Doby<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nCleveland Indians<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nJuly 5, 1947<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hank Thompson<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nSt. Louis Browns<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nJuly 17, 1947<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willard Brown<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nSt. Louis Browns<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nJuly 19, 1947<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dan Bankhead<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nBrooklyn Dodgers<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nAugust 26, 1947<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Roy Campanella<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nBrooklyn Dodgers<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nApril 20, 1948<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Satchel Paige<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nCleveland Indians<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nJuly 9, 1948<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minnie Mi\u00f1oso<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nCleveland Indians<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nApril 19, 1949<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Don Newcombe<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nBrooklyn Dodgers<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nMay 20, 1949<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Monte Irvin<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nNew York Giants<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nJuly 8, 1949<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luke Easter<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nCleveland Indians<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nAugust 11, 1949<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sam Jethroe<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nBoston Braves<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nApril 18, 1950<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luis M\u00e1rquez<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nBoston Braves<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nApril 18, 1951<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ray Noble<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nNew York Giants<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Artie Wilson<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nNew York Giants<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Harry Simpson<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nCleveland Indians<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nApril 21, 1951<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willie Mays<\/a><\/span><\/span> \u2020<\/sup><\/strong><\/td>\nNew York Giants<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nNL<\/strong><\/td>\nMay 25, 1951<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sam Hairston<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nChicago White Sox<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nJuly 21, 1951<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bob Boyd<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nChicago White Sox<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nSeptember 8, 1951<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sam Jones<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nCleveland Indians<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nAL<\/strong><\/td>\nSeptember 22, 1951<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n