IT WAS the spring of 2003 when I began investigating what I thought would be a decent story. Having covered baseball since 1995, I’d noticed a trend: fewer and fewer African-Americans on major league rosters. That story turned into a three-part series published well before the rest of the mainstream media took notice.
Four years later, that trend not only hasn’t been reversed, the numbers have gotten more alarming. According to the most recent racial and gender report card authored by the University of Central Florida, the percentage of African Americans playing in the majors in 2006 was 8.4 percent. That’s down from 10 percent in 2002 and 19 percent in 1995.
As baseball celebrates the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier, it might seem the African-American baseball player is heading toward extinction. Truth is, Robinson might be proud of the strides Major League Baseball has made in recent years to address its diversity problems.
For starters, 40.5 percent of the players in baseball in 2006 were Latino (29.4 percent), African-American (8.4), Asian (2.4) or other (0.3). That’s close to the all-time high of 42 percent during the 1997 season when the amount of African-Americans was double today’s total.
Furthermore, a Latino, Arturo Moreno, owns the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Two people of color, GM Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen, guided the White Sox to a World Series title in 2005. Omar Minaya, baseball’s only Latino GM, and Willie Randolph, one of two African-American managers, guided the Mets to the NL Championship Series last year. And according to MLB, people of color constitute 33 percent of the managerial positions within the minor leagues.
“Baseball is more diverse than ever,” said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations for MLB.
There is no quick fix to curb the decline of African-American players in the majors. There are several reasons for the dwindling numbers. They include: the rising popularity of football and basketball; the lack of facilities and leagues in urban areas; the limited baseball scholarships colleges and universities offer; the instant riches available in other sports; and economic and social obstacles that limit exposure to the game.
“All these factors come together and make this not such a simple problem to solve,” Solomon said.
Could there be a rebirth on the horizon? MLB opened its first Urban Youth Academy in early 2006 in Compton, Calif., with the idea of introducing baseball to urban youth in the community. The $10 million facility includes four fields, a huge clubhouse and learning facilities. It offers boys and girls instruction on not only baseball and softball, but such things as coaching, umpiring, scouting, groundskeeping and photography.
The Academy already has produced two players signed by major league teams: Lyndon Pool by the Dodgers and Cardoza Tucker by the Astros.
“It’s been a fantastic success,” Solomon said of the Academy, which is patterned after similar academies in Latin America and will serve as a prototype for other planned facilities around urban America.
The long-established Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program continues to produce prospects. Thirty-one graduates of the RBI program were drafted in 2005, including six in the first round. Another 11 were drafted last year.
“That’s the type of impact these programs are starting to have,” Solomon said. “We’re doing our best to impact [the decline of African-Americans in the majors]. But it’s not going to happen overnight.”
The rise of young African-American stars also should help. Phillies slugger Ryan Howard won the NL Most Valuable Player award in 2006, while Marlins’ pitcher Dontrelle Willis is one of the league’s more recognized players.
Sixty years ago, Jackie Robinson sacrificed so black Americans could play major league baseball. Now Major League Baseball is doing what it can to ensure Robinson’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.