Posted on 04/16/2014 7:28:08 AM PDT by LeoMcNeil
Yesterday wasn’t just tax day, it was the 67th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the baseball color barrier by playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. For those games not washed away by rain or snow, teams wore #42 jerseys in his honor. ESPN, as usual, used the anniversary to lament the dwindling number of black baseball players. The number of blacks playing major league baseball has gotten extremely low in recent years. It goes right along with a massive decrease in the number of black kids playing baseball and going to baseball games. In many ways the decrease in black interest in baseball dates back to Jackie Robinson.
(Excerpt) Read more at leomcneil.net ...
What stopped you from posting your full content, Leo?
Don't like it? Stay home.
All this navel gazing racial nose counting is getting really boring.
Especially when directed at one particular sport but not at another.
Interesting article.
There are a few reasons for the decline of black ballplayers. One is that many black young men play basketball or football. Nowadays, in high school and college, players are discouraged from playing other sports. They are encouraged to specialize and play just one, which for many black athletes ends up being football or basketball.
Another reason is the huge influx of foreign players in the major leagues. American born players of all races are competing with increasing numbers from Latin America and Asia. Arguably some American born players from all backgrounds are being squeezed out by Latin and Asian players.
Good point. Rather than navel gazing about the decline of black ballplayers, we should be happy that there is no discrimination any more. Best players get to play. If there are not as many black ballplayers in the pipeline to the major leagues as in previous decades, it is not due to discrimination.
Nobody would ever navel gaze about the sharp decline of white American born players in the NBA, would they?
To the best of my knowledge, there are presently no barriers that keep black athletes from playing baseball.
I would conclude that less black athletes simply don’t want to play baseball. They choose to use their skill sets on other sports or in other professions.
Besides, with everything being called racism these days I'm beginning to doubt the public's ability to recognize the real thing.
I see LeBron James was whining that he doesn’t make as much as Miguel Cabrera. If I were Cabrera I would suggest that James play 160 games per season before whining about only making only $19 million per season.
After all, being superior althetically blacks dominate the NBA and the NFL; were it not for racism they would dominate MLB.
I feel so cheated. /s
Here's a thought: baseball takes more dedication and discipline than other sports; and the black community doesn't value commitment. It is hard to achieve in baseball coming from a broken home, surrounded by addictions, with no positive male role model. Now is that waaaaaayyyycist?
LeBron has a big ego, doesn’t he???
Sheesh. LeBron has no problem paying his bills. Let LeBron get with his agent to re-negotiate his contract if he’s so underpaid. Geez louise........
Scan the crowd of an NBA game and you'll see pretty much the same. Same with the NFL? Maybe it more ticket prices than disinterest?
I agree, fewer black kids want to play baseball. I’m simply exploring reasons why that may be.
Lebron James makes considerably more if you look at it according to number of games played in a season.
$19 million for approximately 80 games in the NBA vs $21 million for 160 MLB games.
So if I am reading the article correctly, you are saying Blacks liked baseball when they could see all black players. When the MLB allowed blacks, blacks spectators still only wanted to see black players and not any of the white players on the teams.
So Blacks don’t like baseball anymore because Blacks are racist?
LeBron is complaining about $21 million vs. $19 million? Geez, they are both well into the allegedly evil 1%. They are both set for life financially if they handle things properly. What’s the problem with him? Just big ego??
To borrow a phrase from Hillary - at this point what does it really matter? And it this case since no one is dead and no one is being denied access to anything what does it really matter?
I think one of the big reasons why we don’t see blacks at baseball games is that integration destroyed the negro leagues, which were the baseball outlet for black fans for half a century. When the Dodgers left Brooklyn their fans didn’t become Yankee fans. I think the same applies here. Fans of the local negro league team didn’t become fans of the local major league team. That trickled down 60 years now to the point where baseball is less favored by young black athletes compared to basketball and football.
And what’s the plan to get more white, Asian, and Native American players in the NBA?
Only if we apply ridiculous leftist logic to the situation.
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