Why arent there alot of African Americans in Baseball?

Unlike football or basketball, baseball is very much what I call a "native sport" meaning that you have to grow up playing it quite a bit just to be decent...and truly gifted to be great. In other sports if you have natural ability, it will shine through and you can get started relatively late in life. How many times have we heard of an African kid that picks up basketball at 15 years old, is spotted by scouts and ends up a shot-blocking ace by age 19 or 20 in either the NBA or big-time college basketball? A 15 year old picking up baseball for the first time will get a line drive to the face off the bat of a good slugger and his interest in baseball will end right there.

Baseball is also romanticized and seen as an old white man's sport. It is seen in the same light as the TV show "Happy Days", the Beach Boys, large American cars and buzzcuts...it's a relic of the good 'ole days.

Besides...white American kids are not playing it as much anymore as Latin Americans are dominating. White kids would rather play soccer, hoops or any other sport but beisbol.

 

I'm surprised they don't show basketball in Russia. I thought it was pretty popular there

 

There ARE a lot African-Americans in baseball! Just not as much as in football and of course, basketball.

Currently the percentage of black players in Major League Baseball is at 10.2 percent. The national percentage of blacks in the U.S. is about 12.5 percent. So the proportion is not that far off.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090415&content_id=4280320&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

 

Proportionally we are well represented but writers and historians of the game have noticed that black American ball players' presence in the game has dropped precipitously in the last generation. I think people want to know why the numbers have gone down so much and if it is possible to reverse. I agree with the post about baseball being a game that fathers hand down to sons. The intracacies, "unspoken rules" and overall complexity of baseball are difficult to learn simply by being coached in Little League, high school and traveling select teams. Football and hoops can be understood fairly well through pure observation and some coaching (only my opinion). Baseball needs more reinforcement at home.

 

Well-stated and backed up! Taking a cup half full approach, baseball is a sport which has a good mix of white, hispanic and black Americans, central americans and asians.

I have to say though, I am a little concerned as I watch the College World Series this week. Not too many brothers out there this year, at least in the games that I have seen so far.

 

I think basketball is popular among the youths (a lot of the guys seemed to be into And-1) but not so much among the older males. Maybe it was the cable package in my apartment, but there was ALWAYS a hockey game on, while the basketball games were only being shown in the occasional highlight.

 

Because they're all playing football or they're on the basketball court.

 

That makes sense.

I wouldn't expect hockey to be popular in Africa.

 

we fought and was beatin to be able to play baseball in the National League and then it seems in the 80s blacks started to drop out of baseball. perhaps because many moved to urban areas and it became harder and more expensive for black kids to play, but there are still many blacks in rural south and suburban south , so i wonder why also

 

I just now saw Jason Mitchell for LSU at bat against Texas. He was the first player drafted in the major leagues this year and it appears he will choose baseball over football:



"The 6-foot, 200-pounder who was ranked by Baseball America as the Best Athlete and Fastest Runner among draft-eligible college players.

The 20-year-old junior is hitting .325 with 12 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 43 RBI and 35 stolen bases for the Tigers this season as he prepares to play in the College World Series.

...he was a member of the LSU football team, playing wide receiver since the 2006 season"

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/1615030,white-sox-lsu-jared-mitchell-060909.article

 

Kevin Keyes is another prospect, from my alma mater. Playing vs LSU and Mitchell as we speak:



He's already been drafted by the Texas Rangers but is probably hoping to get picked in a higher round next year. Looking at his size he could have chosen a different sport than baseball no doubt.

Ht: 6-4 Wt: 225
Position: OF
Bats: R
Throws: R
Birthplace: Austin, TX
Class: Sophomore
College: Texas

http://www.texassports.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/keyes_kevin00.html

 

This kid is an outfielder for LSU. Interestingly, LSU is facing Texas in the championship. Today's CNN Play-of-the-day features an acrobatic catch by Landry off of the bat of Kevin Keyes (The you tube feed below is from another amazing catch by Landry).


Leon Landry
POSITION: Outfield
BATS/THROWS: L/R
HEIGHT: 5-11
WEIGHT: 197
CLASS: Sophomore
EXPERIENCE: 1L
HIGH SCHOOL: Baker HS
HOMETOWN: Baton Rouge, La.

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