How about the fact that basketball can be played with just one net and a half court space but baseball needs a LOT bigger area;and kids are chased way from any lots big enough.And there just aren’t as many big open spaces as in days past.Especially there aren’t baseball sized lots in black urban areas. Plus the sight of young blacks or whites carrying baseball bats is likely to result in a call to police.
baseball has suffered due to the pressures that sports MUST be organized and supervised;when was the last time you saw kids anywhere playing baseball in the old fashion ?
There are basketball courts available everywhere, and all it takes is ONE basketball among ten players. The requirements for baseball are more complicated and expensive.
There are other reasons, too. Baseball skills are often imparted by a father. Even within basketball, the skills developed vary by socioeconomics. A good jump shot is not developed on a public court, where a player must struggle to get his hands on the ball. A jump shot is developed through thousands of shots taken at a basket at a suburban home.
Or it could all just be racism.