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Pool not so shallow Fewer black baseball players doesn't mean the talent is gonePosted: Tuesday May 27, 2003 4:20 PMUpdated: Tuesday May 27, 2003 6:30 PM
Has baseball fallen out of favor with young black athletes? That’s what the declining number of big leaguers suggest, but early signs are the top player in the amateur baseball draft next week figures to be either high school outfielder Delmon Young, Dmitri’s little brother, or Rickie Weeks, a second baseman out of Southern University. The player who doesn’t go first overall to Tampa Bay is likely to be chosen second by Milwaukee. Young, who recently staged an impressive batting practice in St. Petersburg for Devil Ray officials, is widely recognized as the best pro prospect among the high school position players. The only other college scholarship Weeks had three years ago was from George Washington, but he’s now among a handful of southern players being eyed by scouts. A recent “What happened to the black baseball players?"’ column touched a nerve with a lot of readers ...
Baseball isn't “cool" anymore. Many young baseball players now in the minors and majors grew up with the popularity of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. He dominated basketball. Baseball didn't have that player in the '80s. It’s hard for a player in baseball to have the same effect on the game that Jordan had on basketball or that Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders had on football. They changed how the game was played. How it was coached. The only players to have a similar impact on baseball are Randy Johnson (white) and Cal Ripken (white). Barry Bonds is having that run now that can change the minds of many young sluggers-to-be. But the real impact players in the majors right now are of Latin descent: A-Rod, Pedro Martinez, Magglio Ordonez, Vladimir Guerrero. These are the players who kids look up to now. And that isn't "cool" in urban African American neighborhoods.
You’re probably on to something, Scott. But the trio of role-model athletes you mention -- Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders -- all dabbled for a time in pro baseball. Bo displayed flashes of brilliance in Kansas City before his hip injury, while Deion was more hype than substance and MJ couldn’t even cut it in the minors. So regardless of where baseball players come from, they obviously possess rare athletic skills.
Baseball in America is dying, starting with our youth. There's really only one team sport that young people play without leagues, schedules, uniforms and extensive parental coordination -- basketball. As for baseball, if current trends don't change, baseball will be a boutique curiosity we trot out for exhibitions every July fourth.
Well, to say the National Pastime is dying sounds a bit strong, but the game’s got some definite aches and pains. Attendance figures are a nice indicator. And the last numbers we saw had major league attendance down more than 3 percent. That follows a 6 percent decline last season over 2001 figures. You’re right in saying basketball is a no-fuss pickup game, but the same is true of soccer and I don’t see the U.S. professional leagues reaping significant benefits.
There is another factor that baseball executives haven't faced -- and that is the overall decline of interest in baseball as a sport by young athletes. In our community, a lot of black -- and white -- children play Little League baseball. However, many of them, including my son, played other sports, including soccer. The action of the other sports compared to the sedentary pace of baseball is leading many teenagers to drop baseball and focus on other sports, despite early success in baseball. Personally, I think the dwindling number of American black baseball players is soon to be followed by a decline in the number of American white players, because younger athletes today, regardless of race, find baseball a boring sport to play.
Kevin, the numbers are starting to trickle in to support your premise. The percentage of white players in the big leagues is down 7 percent over the last decade. Perhaps as a sign of things to come, the percentage of foreign-born minor league players is at an all-time high 46 percent.
If the decline of black players in Major League Baseball is based on societal evolution, instead of coercion, is it really a problem? If you had written an article with the headline “What happened to the white basketball players?” you could have stirred up a much bigger hornets’ nest. A shift in demographics of the player pool shouldn’t be seen in a sinister light unless there is some verifiable evidence of a coercive policy in place.
Sorry if you missed the point, Jim. No one is calling for Jesse Jackson to march on Bud Selig’s office. Nor are we suggesting a sinister plot has been hatched to put black ballplayers out of work. But the percentage of African-Americans is at its lowest in more than 40 years -- an interesting fact, we thought -- so we offered some ideas on why and threw it out for discussion.
I'm an African-American and have two boys, both baseball players. I have been constantly frustrated in this arena. The inner cities have abandoned programs promoting competitive baseball. Jails instead of programs are the agenda in Baltimore. The ground is fertile but the opportunities for all kids to learn the game and mature into good ball players are reserved for only a select group. The 'burbs have training facilities and manicured fields but zealously guard their programs against “outsiders."
You make a good point about facilities, John. I can’t speak to what is happening in Baltimore, but I’ve seen first hand the money, time and sweat that go into operating youth baseball programs. It’s interesting that major league clubs have invested heavily building camps in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere in Latin America. Maybe they need to spend a few more dollars closer to home.
I have coached high school baseball in Texas for five years now and during that time I have coached only three black baseball players out of probably 200. Where I coach we have a school population that's about 30 percent black, most from low socio-economic homes. In football and basketball the budgets are big, kids are not responsible for providing anything but their talent. Helmets, shoulder pads, game jersey's, shoes, and warmup suits are all provided. In baseball throughout the state, the budgets are very small, and kids are required to pay for their caps, sleeves, belts, socks and shoes. With the price of those things adding up to between $60 and $80, many of our minorities don't have it.
It sounds like football and basketball rule. If you haven’t already thought of it, maybe the answer is fundraisers and a booster club.
ACC (A Championship Conference). In football, baseball, and basketball, this conference will be elite. Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Syracuse will become a football mecca conference. Look out, because the ACC is on the rise and if this deal goes down it will be a nasty ride for the Big East.
Not so fast, Jeff. The ACC is potentially a stronger conference, definitely. But a lot depends on how the programs shake out over the next two or three years, especially in football. Virginia and NC State are on the rise. At the same time, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and even Clemson might be headed the other way. Florida State also hasn’t been its usual national power the last two seasons. The fortunes of a program can change from year to year, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
I adamantly disagree with the slant of your ACC expansion column as summed up in your final comment, “It's just business, Mike." It's not "just business." Its unethical, and probably illegal, behavior on the parts of the university administrations involved. It’s essentially about deliberately putting schools like Virginia Tech, which have spent millions to upgrade facilities and programs in order to be competitive in the Big East, into or near bankruptcy. It is the blatant violation of antitrust laws, which would bring down the Justice Department on any normal corporation in a minute. And this from the presidents of some of our most prestigious universities, the people we want our children to hold in highest esteem. When did sportsmanship get removed from intercollegiate sports?
Sorry to disappoint you, James. I, too, feel for Virginia Tech, which has a football program that Boston College and Syracuse can’t match. But this is a business deal based on location, as in market size, and the ability to drive future TV contract negotiations. College athletics has been going down this road for quite some time. You could go back to the formation of the Big East and the TV deals, the breakup of the Southwest Conference and formation of the BCS. When the NCAA leadership signs a $6 billion deal with CBS, that’s business. Like it or not, big-time college sports is driven by money and the ACC expansion plan is only the latest example.
As an undergraduate in the '60s and later an instructor on the college
level, I've seen that college presidents tend to be fund raisers. Asking these folks
to "oversee" athletic programs is just short of funny -- way short! The issue that continues to be left out of the media reports for the most part is the plight of the athletes. Institutions that allow/require coaches to resign maintain the iron-fisted control of the students. If this is an example of fair thinking by college presidents, decisions by the oversight Knight Commission will just continue the flawed process.
Through the years, the Knight Commission has helped steer the reform movement in college sports. It’s fostered the debate and pushed some solid ideas. But it’s interesting that some college presidents -- even those who’ve sat on the commission -- talk a good game but don’t always follow what they preach on their own campuses.
I think the Rev. Jesse Jackson's protest of Mike Shula’s hiring at Alabama is an outrage. I ask you, what credibility does a REVEREND, who had an extra-marital affair and child, have in the Bible Belt? How can he accuse anyone of anything? Had Rev. Jackson been Coach Jackson at Bama and had the affair and kid, don't you think he'd have been fired regardless of race or creed?
I’ll let others wrestle with the virtues of Coach Jackson, but he’d probably fit right in with the shenanigans at Alabama in recent seasons.
What do you think of the fact that the SEC has NEVER hired a black man as a
football coach in its entire history?
Well, it’s easy to turn the spotlight on the SEC’s hiring practices. And people should. But fact is, I don’t see other conferences rushing to hire qualified minority candidates. What’s interesting is universities, including SEC schools, have been willing to turn over control of their basketball programs to African-American coaches but not so willing when it comes to football.
It's pure hypocrisy to make football players attend classes, at least in
season. They are employees of the schools and ought to be paid as such. If
they want to be students also, let them. The current situation is designed
for the benefit of the schools, primarily financially.
There’s some hypocrisy in big-time college athletics, but the idea of not going to class isn’t a solution. What you’re describing already exists, and it’s called the NFL. Mike Fish is a senior writer for SI.com.
Comments? To e-mail Fish, click here.
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