4/2/07
Sports

Sixty years ago this month, Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier and served as a pioneer for African Americans who played the sport after him.

However, while celebrations in honor of Robinson’s achievement will be taking place, a recently-released study has shown that African Americans represented only 8.4 percent of players in the major leagues in 2006, the lowest figure in over 20 years.

The study, conducted by the University of Central Florida’s Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports, also found that only 3 percent of major league pitchers were Black and that the overall percentage of African American players had decreased from nine percent in 2004 and 2005.

“That has been a concern of Major League Baseball and leaders in the African American community as the numbers have consistently gone down,” said Richard Lapchick, the director of the Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport at UCF, in a press release.

Conversely, the institute’s Racial and Gender Report Card gave baseball higher marks for minority representation in its front office, issuing a letter grade of B+.  Lapchick’s report card gave baseball an A+ for its hiring policies within its central offices, a B+ for hiring among its senior administration and a B among team vice presidents.

Still, the steady decline of Black players in the major leagues remains one of baseball’s primary issue.

“While MLB has achieved these new distinctions regarding who runs the game, the percentage of African Americans playing the game reached a new low,” Lapchick said.

African Americans represented 17 percent of MLB players a decade ago and 2006’s 8.4 percent total was the lowest in the study’s nearly 20-year history. 

While the number of African American baseball players is on the decline, players of Hispanic and Asian descent is consistently rising.  29.4 percent of major league players in 2006 were Hispanic and 2.4 percent were Asian, both an increase of their 2005 totals.  Last year, MLB played a major role in the orchestration of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, a global competition among national teams.

Some students at Howard University attribute this decline among African American players to the lack of funds and resources at the youth level of the sport.

“I think one of the major factors leading to the decrease when it comes to baseball is the lack of support for inner-city programs,” said Myron Aldridge, a junior mechanical engineering major who formerly played the sport in high school.  “A lot of the inner-city leagues have been cut because there isn’t enough money.” 

Aldridge added that the slow pace of baseball in general might turn off fans of faster-paced sports like football and basketball.
Bilal Curtis, a junior marketing major, agreed that there has been more of an emphasis placed on other sports rather than baseball within the Black community in recent years.

“So many kids are focused on basketball and football that there isn’t the same level of interest in baseball,” Curtis said.

On March 31, MLB held its first annual “Civil Rights Game” in Memphis, Tenn., an exhibition match between the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians, ahead of the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s first major league appearance on April 15.  Though the Racial and Gender Report Card acknowledged MLB’s efforts to improve its racial diversity, the study also pointed out that only two of the league’s 30 general managers are people of color; Ken Williams of the Chicago White Sox and Omar Minaya of the New York Mets.  Williams is Black and Minaya is Hispanic.

Larc Pickett, a senior member of Howard’s softball team, attributes the decline of Black participation in baseball to the lack of positive images in the sport for African Americans.

“I think having more Black modern-day role models is the biggest thing that would help the situation,” Pickett said.  She also mentioned that the steroids scandal surrounding the sport may have had a negative effect on its popularity overall.

“Baseball’s reputation has gone down a lot because of the problems with steroids and other drugs,” Pickett said.

Howard University discontinued its baseball program after the Spring of 2002, officially due to a lack of proper facilities.

The 2007 MLB season kicked off last night with the New York Mets beating last year’s world champion St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1.

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