In a Wednesday op-ed, the Associated Press expressed its outrage that “for the first time since 1950,” there will be no black players taking the field during MLB’s World Series game.
In his op-ed, AP writer Ben Walker was seen wringing hands that as the World Series kicks off on Oct. 28, there will “be no U.S.-born Black players” on the field.
Walker quotes an alarmed Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, who said, “That is eye opening. That is eye opening. It is somewhat startling that two cities that have high African American populations, there’s not a single Black player.”
The op-ed also grumbles that “Starting in 1954 when Willie Mays and the New York Giants played against Larry Doby and Cleveland, every single team to reach the World Series had at least one U.S.-born Black player until the 2005 Astros did not.” (The 2005 series champs Chicago White Sox, though, had about a dozen blacks on the roster, both players and coaches and staff.)
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (The Associated Press)
The AP piece is somewhat misleading in that Walker does not note until deep down in the story that the Astros actually have two black players on their roster — Michael Brantley and Josh James — but the reason they aren’t playing in the big game this week is that both suffered medical issues that put them on the bench for the end of this season. So, it isn’t as if neither team had any black players on the roster.
Still, the number of black players dropped this year. Last season 7.6 percent of players were US-born blacks. This year that fell slightly to 7.2 percent. But by comparison, in 1996, 18 percent of players were black.
Philadelphia Phillies Gary Matthews (34) is congratulated at home plate by teammate Tony Perez (24) after his second-inning solo homer against Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mike Flanigan in Game 3 of the World Series, Friday, Oct. 14, 1983, in Philadelphia. (The Associated Press)
It isn’t for lack of trying on the league’s part. Walker also finally notes, after lamenting the race gap, that MLB has put up $150 million to the Player’s Alliance to help foster young black players.
To his credit, Walker briefly notes that as Football and Basketball rose in popularity, “Kids started shifting to other sports.” Black athletes, in particular, became more interested in basketball and football, leaving baseball behind.
While it is definitely a curiosity that no black players will take the field for the 2022 World Series, there does not appear to be any racism at play, despite the AP’s fearmongering.
Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve runs onto the field during player introductions before Game 3 of an American League Championship baseball series against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Baseball’s slow retreat from the most popular American sport has far more to do with the lack of black players than “racism,” as black kids dream of hoops and touchdowns more than they do of home runs.
But the whole article does raise one question. Is either the Associated Press or writer Ben Walker all wee-weed up, if I may quote Barack Obama, over the fact that there are very few US-born white players in the NBA? Or a shrinking number of white players in the NFL?
You already know the answer to that question.
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