| Where Have All the Black Players Gone? |
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| Written by A. Peter Bailey |
 If you ve read between the lines of the sports pages in the past few months, you may have noticed a buzz in the baseball world. That is, the game is essentially suffering from a lack of black players. Is it conspiracy or coincidence, natural occurrence or tragedy It may be hard to say at this point. Its no secret that earlier in its existence, Major League Baseball  MLB went out of its way to omit blacks. Let us not forget the overt exclusion of men of color from the game of baseball early in the last century. Nevertheless, times have changed. A more liberal attitude has, to a certain extent, infiltrated both the game and American sports. For decades, MLB has admired and celebrated black players and their contributions to the game. Take the example of Hank Aaron and Willie Mayes, both famous black players regarded as two of the greatest players the sport has ever seen, period. In the current make  up of big league ball, the number of black players is staggeringly low, the lowest its been in quite some time. According to a report from CNNMoney.com, black baseball players total a meager 8 percent of all the leagues players many people involved in baseball have speculated as to why this is so, players and analysts alike. Gary Sheffield of the Detroit Tigers suggests that the rise in the number of Latino players has a direct correlation to the drop in the leagues overall percentage of black players. He was quoted as saying,  ... Its about being able to tell  Latin players what to do being able to control them ...Where I'm from, you can't control us... So, if you're equally good as this Latin player, guess who's going to get sent home The Twins Tori Hunter also suggested that it makes more economic sense to pay for a Hispanic player that costs  2,000 than a black player that cost 2 million. This issue perhaps best relates to the perception of black players in the eyes of the media some of the more prominent black baseball players arent always shown in the best light. Barry Bonds is demonized solely on steroid allegations and his unwillingness to oblige the media. Gary Sheffield is often looked upon as a malcontent, simply because hes opinionated. Tori Hunter may have been viewed as culturally insensitive for his shortsighted comments regarding Hispanic players and baseball economics. All of this may have an unintended consequence, as it would appear that the black youth of America could someday be lacking appropriate black male athletes to emulate. If black ball players are portrayed as deviants then black kids are uninterested in becoming ball players in the future, simple.  There is the argument that major league clubs can get equal value at a lower cost. By bringing in players from places such as the Dominican Republic and offering them the opportunity to earn enough money to support their families back home, the league has a surefire way to recruit submissive and content athletes. That being said, its quite foolish to simply blame Latino players, as their rights are as germane as anyone elses. Baseball has let blacks into the game over half a century ago, and now its time for Hispanic players to fully enter the game as well. They should be afforded the same rights and benefits that black players receive rights that took quite some time to materialize. Another possible reason for the drop in participation is that baseballs own popularity has been in steady decline for some years now. Consider a few things here football has been cited as being Americas new favorite pastime basketball has the richest history of black players among major American sports and both football and basketball are far more accessible sports for children to play. This last point is key Its easy to see why a black child from a lowincome neighborhood without easy access to a baseball field or other players might shy away from baseball. If you can unearth the easy answer as to why baseball has seen such a steep decline in black participation, then by all means, share it with us. Otherwise, anticipate on seeing two phenomena persist the rhetoric on this matter will become louder and louder and the number of black baseball players will keep dropping further. |