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Number of Black MLB Players Down to 8.2%

sports.espn.go.com — MLB received its first A-minus for race Tuesday from Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. Its grade was B-plus in last year's study. Among major leaguers, though, just 8.2 percent were black players, down from 8.4 percent in 2006 and the lowest level in at least two decades.

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  • frooo, on 04/16/2008, -8/+205.. and right there is where the racial problems start, from the top down.
    They're too concerned about players skin tones, instead of just hiring players based off their ability to play.
    This article should have been about MLB Marketing's failure to permeate many regions in the USA, instead of a racial article.
    • johneyoung, on 04/16/2008, -4/+42I couldn't agree more - it's really nothing more than affirmative action in the sports world.
    • MicFury, on 04/16/2008, -5/+44On top of agreeing with both of you I am glad that the first comment was insightful and intelligent. It doesn't happen often on digg.
    • Hoogs, on 04/16/2008, -5/+13The world needs more people like you.
    • ssn697, on 04/16/2008, -2/+34Excellent comment. This is somehow MLB's fault? What a load of crap. What next? There are too MANY Latino players?
    • dracostimpy, on 04/16/2008, -3/+30I would love to see affirmative action enforced upon baseball, so once and for all the couch potatoes of America could see why affirmative action is a monumental failure.

      As unclebuck mentioned below, the NBA has a huge shortage of white guys... let's make the NBA staff themselves with at least 70% whiteys to better match the national demographic as well. Brilliant!
    • Pstall, on 04/16/2008, -6/+19Barack Obama - "I want to make sure that today’s decision upholding affirmative action remains in force, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all those who make up our nation.”
      • muchachoburacho, on 04/16/2008, -7/+2Not that i even should respond to you, but didnt people criticize him when made a speech explaining how he knew that white people had resentment towards the black community because of things such as affirmative action? You don't know what you're talking about.
    • fool13, on 04/16/2008, -0/+16Well said, people don't care about race in baseball - they just want the best player period. In recent years theres been an influx of spanish and to a lesser extent japanese players (Matsui, Ichiro, Matsuzaka etc) but there are still good black players coming up just not as many. Justin Upton & Prince Fielder are both black, both have excellent futures ahead of them and may be hall of famers. The problem if you want to call it that is within the black community, less blacks are playing baseball so less go onto the majors. If people are actually implying that we should pick some no talent players to diversify the game they are ***** idiots.
      • sifuchar, on 04/16/2008, -1/+5That's exactly what affirmative action says. It doesn't make any more sense in business either.
      • bowe, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2hispanic, not spanish. But I agree with you.
    • dmark77, on 04/16/2008, -0/+16Agreed. Should we also grade the NBA for not having enough Caucasians?
    • deejqu1k, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8What makes this even more shaky is their defintiion of black. Vlad Guerrero, David Ortiz, Alfonso Soriano are not being counted as black because they have "mixed decent," this is a perfect example of good intentions gone wrong.
      • ssn697, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2I believe you meant to say they are of mixed DESCENT, but saying they are mixed decent is a really funny slip...

        Being mostly Black-Irish, I will now be telling people I am mixed decent ;-)
      • justjoehere, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1Stirred, not shaken too.
    • staticneuron, on 04/16/2008, -9/+6May I be the one asking you what on earth are you talking about?
      "They're too concerned about players skin tones, instead of just hiring players based off their ability to play."
      Well I assume you understand that 'The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports' doesn't hire anybody to play sports and then criticizing what 'the 'Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports' for what they are focusing on seems kind of silly.

      From the article....
      "Baseball has probably lost a whole generation here," Lapchick said. "African-Americans just aren't playing it at this point. They're going to have to increase their efforts."

      I am not reading that they need to have black players just to make the feild look pretty they are just saying black folks are not interested. Digg is getting really bad at twisting the issues when it is concerning race and quite frankly it is sad.
      • staticneuron, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2I honestly do not understand why people just choose to digg down without saying something. Is something that I said factually incorrect or is this something that people o not want to hear?
    • devophl, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Here are breakdowns from two NL east teams:

      Mets: 13 whites, 3 blacks, 15 hispanics (6 from Dominican Republic, 6 from Puerto Rico)
      Phillies: 20 whites, 4 blacks, 5 hispanics, 1 oriental

      Pitchers: 21 whites, 1 black, 11 hispanics
      Fielders: 12 whites, 6 blacks, 9 hispanics, 1 oriental

      United States 39, Dominican Republic 8, Puerto Rico 7, Canada 1, Panama 1, Japan 1, Cuba 1, Mexico 1, Venezuela 1
      • nelav, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1Uh, oriental? Really?
        • DephexTwin, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1Yeah, I did a double-take as well when I saw that.
      • rilus, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Just remember that Hispanic is an ethnicity. We come in all colors. =)
    • Herrold, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4But its not MLB's fault. Its a trend that is in college baseball as well as high school. African American athletes are deciding not to play baseball. Why? Ask them. If an athlete of any race decides to play one sport over another, that seems like a personal decision more than an institutional problem. Its easier to play other sports anywhere. Can you play baseball 2 on 2? Or with a half court hoop? Other sports are just more exciting and easier to play.
      • staticneuron, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2I am thinking that this submission was ment to stir up these question. This submissian has nothing to do with pointing fingers. Some institude whose sole purpose is to look at these things released their scores and made it into the news.

        Why people thinking that this was meant to blame somebody or has anything to do with affirmitive action it is beyond me. This is making a mountain out of an ant hill. Reminds me of those PSP commercials where people were saying it is racists. When something of this nature is released sometimes the offense is taken up in the perception of the viewer.
    • jsaic, on 04/16/2008, -2/+2the nba does need more white players. it was a lot better when they had larry bird and pistol pete and mchale bill laimbeer mark price dan marjele. it was just cool to have different people. and please stop saying affirmative action helps mostly blacks because it doesn't, it helps mostly white women. so unless you hate your white moms and sisters don't hate on affirmative action.
      • Tecton1c, on 04/16/2008, -2/+0You ought to try reading Clarence Thomas' "My Grandfather's Son". It may help you understand what people are talking about when they bad-mouth affirmative action.
        • staticneuron, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3He formulated his beliefs off of reading Race and economics. The book clearly tried to use statistics to disprove the disparity between blacks and whites by using broad numbers from across this nation. the problem with that is that the number will be skewed because the troubles blacks faced with were not nationwide per se but were reduced down to regional influences.

          It took in numbers without taking in the possibility that the blacks getting jobs in certain areas where there was less outright racism to the other areas that had intense racism even in the 70's
          • Tecton1c, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1I wasn't referring to any numbers at all. I don't even remember any numbers in the book relating to affirmative action...if there were some, that's certainly not what a person would take away from the book on this topic primarily. If you've read Clarence Thomas' book, you had to have learned something about the effects of handouts on work ethic and dignity. He formulated his beliefs based on life experience and his grandfather's character. Did you read the book? I'd be surprised if anyone that buried me for my previous comment has read it...it was a very neutral comment even.
          • staticneuron, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1Oh no. Thats not what I was saying. I am just saying that his research came from dubious sources. Take it like this. I own a 360 and lets say for arguements sake I have freinds who own one as well and never recieved a RROD. I read an article about the percentages of the failures being 3% and by large there is just a vocal minority that is hyping it up. I can then use any justification to rationalize why people are acting this way because obviously mass failures do not exist.

            Well taking in what I know about clarence thomas history and thomas sowell I can probably come to the conclusion that they have never felt racial discrimination when going for their jobs. When your looking for a job and have the knowledge and experience to do the job nothing hurts more than being told that this position isn't for you because you have not recieved a chance to prove yourself. Now imagine that happening in the entire community that you live in.

            It is like jobs requiring college degrees to even be considered for jobs. I have seen it way to many times in which the college person doesn't have enough pratical experience for the task demanded while we turn away people who had a long list of experience but have no degree. Seeing it from the management side it is even worse to find out the reason why. Because certain jobs get so many people applying to them they use that as a method of filtering people, not only to reduce the amount of prospective employees but also to not deal with people they just do not seem to like.

            What is being argued is that AA puts minorities at a disadvantage that would be true if you really felt racism doesn't exist in todays workplace. Its valiant to say..... prove yourself, but racism isn't about looking at you because of your qualifications, a racist employeer wouldn't care if you could do your job better than 10 other people combined.

            But I guess the vibe that I am seeing from digg is some sort of fustration at people getting things that aren't deserved. I'll take it that it is generally believed that racism doesn't exist in the workplace or better yet not at all. Then fine, I would wish to do away with AA as well.
          • Tecton1c, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1You need to read his book man...you clearly haven't. One of Clarence Thomas' biggest regrets in life is going to Yale, where he saw his acceptance to the school as solely based on his race. He also felt that employers scoffed at his Yale degree due to his AA-based acceptance.

            "What is being argued is that AA puts minorities at a disadvantage that would be true if you really felt racism doesn't exist in todays workplace."

            No, people argue that AA gives minorities an undeserved advantage. Maybe you typo'd that one.
            I believe racism exists in the workplace. I believe it exists from all sides - not just white on minority. I don't know how to measure the degree to which it exists. But I do believe that handouts create laziness and a sense that the world/government owes a person something (hell, I believe a bit of laziness is instilled in me due to methods - handouts - used in my own upbringing) and hurt the individual overall more than they help, even if there is some financial gain that occurs.

            Read the book dude. You're a bit misinformed on Thomas' feelings on AA and probably life in general.
          • Tecton1c, on 04/17/2008, -0/+0After re-reading this again, I think you were referring to jsaic's comment about numbers and everything! Sorry! Still, no harm in reading Thomas' own account of his beliefs.
    • RegalGSX, on 04/17/2008, -2/+0It's tough getting into MLB when you're serving time in prison.
    • Proxenus, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1The Blacks in Africa starve to death while the Blacks in America strive to be on MTV. That's where the thanksgiving should start.
  • HookmasterCH47, on 04/16/2008, -34/+625 Diggs... front page. Do we have a new MrBabyMan?
  • apraxia, on 04/16/2008, -23/+6Baseball is the new hockey.


    • fribhey, on 04/16/2008, -0/+9why, are there a ton of latin players in hockey? or maybe a lot of europeans and canadians playing baseball?.....
  • Alix7, on 04/16/2008, -22/+52White men can't jump
    Black men can't swing
    • ihavebeenseen, on 04/16/2008, -1/+9...
      • staticneuron, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3Why do you people insist on spreading facts?
    • BoneheadFarker, on 04/16/2008, -1/+9The NBA MVP for the last three years has been white...
      • zzhiwen, on 04/16/2008, -2/+6and both were born outside the USA
        • Kakemonster, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Aaaand?
        • aristotle0dude, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4White American men can't jump.
        • loopyloopy, on 04/17/2008, -1/+1i dunno, is Steve Nash really better than any or every other black guard in the NBA? maybe it was marketing to keep white kids interested in playing the game as I'd imagine many these days would just think "I'm white, so why bother, i'll choose skiiing instead" ... or baseball as it would seem
      • Rsam, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2They didn't win the MVP due to their jumping ability.
    • ihavebeenseen, on 04/16/2008, -1/+5meant to say 6 out of the last 7 NL MVPs awards went to black players and the one that was not was a brown guy.
    • thrikulam, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1http://mkbasketball.ytmnd.com/
    • AshamedAmerican, on 04/16/2008, -7/+24Black men steal more though.

      Bases I mean.
    • wbeavis, on 04/16/2008, -2/+3Then explain Tiger Woods?
    • metapop, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3i'm sure if you were to google "black swingers" you'd find plenty of evidence to refute your claim.
    • jakobmakob, on 04/16/2008, -4/+4Tell that to Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Eddie Murray, Willie Mays, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Ryan Howard, Alfonso Soriano, Prince Fielder, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Manny Ramirez, and Gary Sheffield.

      What would be closer is "Black men can't pitch."
  • mattmy, on 04/16/2008, -12/+72I could really give a ***** less.
    • Klydethegreater, on 04/16/2008, -2/+21How much less could you give?
    • whitezombie420, on 04/16/2008, -1/+9i'm pretty sure you meant to say couldN'T really give a ***** less. unless you are actually very concerned about the contents of this article.
      • zacharytelschow, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2To be able to care less, he doesn't need to care a lot, he just has to care at all.
      • shortyjacobs, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8Well, that all depends on how small his ***** usually are relative to everything else he gives. If he has a really diminutive *****, then giving a ***** less really isn't that monumental a statement.

        For example, maybe he gives two ***** about this article, and say there are 10 ***** per *****. So if he gives two ***** about this article, but could really give a ***** less, then he's actually CAPABLE of giving 1 ***** 9 *****. Maybe he's just throwing in the extra ***** for fun. Maybe he's just a generous guy.
        • HoratioHellpop, on 04/16/2008, -2/+2Maybe I just spent too much time reading that.
          • shortyjacobs, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Maybe you should make time for the little pleasures in life. I personally make sure I have at least 15 minutes per day to read about ***** and *****. It's both satisfying and cleansing.
  • Chahrlie5, on 04/16/2008, -11/+7bfd
  • santiago1, on 04/16/2008, -2/+106 What the hell? It should be about the skill in playing the game, not what color your skin is! I don't give a crap about your ethnic background, if you can play, and play very good, then you should be in the game! If you can't play as well as others, then don't cry about not being in the Majors and trying to play the race card just to get in!

    Stupid affirmative action anyway
    • deaftly, on 04/16/2008, -1/+9word.
    • Hoogs, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5+1 for santiago1.
    • brettmurf, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6I don't know if it is players complaining, but committees. It is committees that make up numbers on how diverse things should be instead of just letting things be. It usually isn't people directly involved that have the issues, it is these self-appointed overlords.
    • IglooBurner, on 04/16/2008, -1/+17There's not enough Asians in the NBA, this is an outrage.
      • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2They are all in the MLB
      • jabbar, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1have you seen Yi Jianli play? pathetic. Yao is all they have. and he's too big for his own knees. i remember the spurs had Mengke Bateer, a big mongolian ***** and when he would score a single basket we would go ***** for about 2 days talking about how he scored. pitiful how it plays out that way. i'd like to see a really good SG/SF from asia. that would be interesting.
    • Zlorp, on 04/16/2008, -0/+7i dont see anyone complaining about the lack of mexicans in the NFL
      • devophl, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3That's because Mexicans think football is played with a round ball. Outside of the US and Canada, no one plays or even knows about American football. About the only non-American players in the NFL are place kickers and those come from that other football.
    • BIim, on 04/16/2008, -0/+0I personally think it's because black people are scared of the prospect of being forced through the farm leagues...again.
    • goomba323, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3And not one person from another planet plays on any sports team...this is an outrage!
    • leerayIG88, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Now..if you were the color "rainbow" I would care who you are!
  • VarelseSoul, on 04/16/2008, -2/+80Why is this even news?
    • dubloe7, on 04/16/2008, -10/+6it was news to me that there was still major league baseball...
  • EvilLordBanana, on 04/16/2008, -24/+9pfft who cares, the majority of the white people who like baseball are the ones who play it. nobody else cares about that boring ass sport
  • FeartheKnighted, on 04/16/2008, -3/+86So? Why don't they do a racial diversity assessment of the NBA or NFL? Why aren't people crying about how few white men are playing in those leagues? I love my alma mater, but these kinds of reports just don't do any good.
    • fool13, on 04/16/2008, -3/+17That's the problem, if the minority group is white's it's racially diverse but if the minority group is anything other than white people cry discrimination.
    • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -3/+5The reason being that white guys make the best quarterbacks, coaches, and they own all the teams
    • jefferygomer, on 04/16/2008, -1/+6They do. (PDF warning)
      http://www.tidesport.org/RGRC/2006/2006_RGRC_NFL.p ...
      http://www.tidesport.org/Articles/2006_NBA_RGRC_PR ...

      NFL Summary of Players (Latest data is 2006):
      White: 31%
      African-American: 67%
      Latino: 0.5%
      Asian: 1.5%
      Other: 0%
      International: 1%

      NBA Summary of Players(Latest data is 2006):
      White: 21%
      African-American: 75%
      Latino: 3%
      Asian:
      • jocknerd, on 04/17/2008, -0/+2If MLB doesn't count black Hispanics as black, why does the NBA count Europeans as white? Without Europeans, there are about 5 white Americans in the NBA.
      • mousky, on 04/17/2008, -0/+3So it's not okay to call "African-Americans" black, but it is perfectly fine to call Caucasions or 'European-Americans' white?
    • spider-man, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Umm, these pdf reports are blatantly slanted for giving "good grades" to these sports organizations based almost exclusively on the presence of blacks. I don't see how this is a counterpoint to what FeartheKnighted was saying, but rather further supports the suggestion.
  • bobbybebob, on 04/16/2008, -7/+1I don't understand why they don't want to play baseball, it can't be about money because baseball players generally make more money then a football player.
    The only thing i can think of is its too hard to get anywhere in baseball, with the whole single A, double A, and triple A thing.
    • JeffH, on 04/16/2008, -1/+5Basketball, Football, Hockey, etc.

      They all have "minor" leagues like the "whole single A, double A, and triple A thing." you were talking about.
      • bobbybebob, on 04/16/2008, -4/+2baseball is still harder to get up to the "major league" then all those that you mentioned. Its a pain in the ass to go through the farm system in baseball.
        You can go straight from collage to playing football in the NFL. That doesn't really happen in baseball.
        Besides nascar baseball is the hardest sport to get to play in the majors.
        • innocentsinner, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3True. It's not as if when you're struggling in the NFL, they send you back to the NCAA level until you re-prove yourself.
      • BigMrWiggly, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Football doesn't have anything like baseball. The setup is totally different.
        • joey368, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2Baseball doesn't have anything like the other sports. It doesn't have time limits, fouls/penalties, replays, cheerleaders, and in my opinion, frequent scoring and amount of teams in the playoffs.
    • nomadxx7, on 04/16/2008, -1/+8I'm taking a shot in the dark and really just thinking out of my ass but isn't there a larger demographic of African-Americans living in cities or inner cities? Most of the time you need a large area to play baseball whereas a lot of cities have basketball hoops set up around the city. It may be pure coincidence but I think sports draw the people that have the area and equipment to do it. Basketball only takes the purchase of a basketball to play. Most of the time the equipment (i.e. hoops and court) have been provided by the city/town. Now baseball you need things like gloves, bats, cleats, baseballs, etc.I believe that a lot of the reasons is that due to limited land in cities (with a higher demographic of minorities) that basketball seems to be the easiest and cheapest sport to implement.
      • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Explain football, Need just as much room, and the gear is way more expensive
        • shortyjacobs, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2For football all you need is the willingness to beat the ***** outta someone.
        • nomadxx7, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1I'm not sure about that one. Just hypothesizing about basketball. Maybe with football there are more schools with football programs vs baseball programs (could be because you have a larger football team - more people to play - versus a 10 man baseball team). I really don't know
    • jackalsclaw, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1black people are only 13% of the population on the united states, when you think about players from Latin and Asian countries it work out about right.
      also more baseball players might make it to the majors form Latin countries because major league team recruit and train them form a young age in those countries, this is because international free agents (as young as 16 years old) can be signed by any team, without having to use a draft pick.
      In the US young baseball players develop in high school and college run programs that aren't necessarily as good as MLB teams.
      to see what i am talking about look at how the overall number qauilty of puerto rican players has decreaed since they were included in the US amature dratf. before team were training players for 7+ years before they made the majors, now player for the PR have amature and college programs train them before teams draft them,
  • unclebuck, on 04/16/2008, -1/+106In other news...

    Number of White NBA Players Down to 7.9%
    • BigMrWiggly, on 04/16/2008, -5/+9Racist
      • zacharytelschow, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3If your comment is sincere, that's the problem right there.
        • Lithpiperpilot, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2/me teaches sarcasms lessons. Who's first? ahh yes, mr. zacharytelschow, step right up
    • SasquatchBill, on 04/16/2008, -0/+26I'm going to try out for the NBA in the name of diversity. There's too many talented black players; what that league needs is some untalented white players.
      I'm just doing my part to increase diversity.
    • pumpedvideo, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1no way...
    • punkcat, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2i think he meant down to 7.

  • deaftly, on 04/16/2008, -0/+26Who cares? Its the direct opposite of this in basketball and football. You never see any number of white players down to whatever for those sports.
    • vinnyvenus, on 04/16/2008, -4/+2Except for quarterback in football.
      • joey368, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4McNair, Gerrard, Campbell, Culpepper, McNabb, Vince Young, Tavaris Jackson...
        • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3And all of those teams did so good last season. The exception being Gerrard, and that was because all he had to do is hand the ball to Jones-Drew and Taylor

          Oh and how many top running backs are white?
          • ShugNinx21, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3Are you suggesting that those QBs are bad because they are black and that Gerrard only did well because of the running game despite his blackness?

            Those QBs have issues playing their position that has nothing to do with the color of their skin.
    • skyjis6, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1Yeah, negro male here. This does not pass my who cares test. buried.
  • Ryan0617, on 04/16/2008, -3/+27What the hell does race have to do with anything? Its things like this thats makes it racial. Can't we just see everyone as one and not as colours.
    • zacharytelschow, on 04/16/2008, -1/+6Playing the race card when race isn't an issue makes you the racist. This article is a fine example.
    • loopyloopy, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1i assume the article is based on the premise that the black man is the superior athlete (proven in the other major team sports of Football and Basketball), so there must be something wrong if this representation isnt as high in Baseball, indicating some sort of elitism as seen with golf and tennis. (just how I'm reading it.)
  • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -1/+29Asian players up 78%
  • HeyArnold, on 04/16/2008, -2/+37Oh no! its an epidemic!
    Call BET, and Al Sharpton!
    • brettmurf, on 04/16/2008, -2/+6BET perpetuates black stereotypes. They don't want to even talk about black people in baseball.
  • TherealObadiah, on 04/16/2008, -0/+16And what is the number of white players down to in the NBA?
    • innocentsinner, on 04/16/2008, -5/+1I'd be willing to bet that it's going up
      • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Havent seen an NBA game lately have you?
  • mytibt, on 04/16/2008, -2/+11I can't believe they actually hand out a letter grade for something like this. It should be presented more as an informal report - an official grading system makes it seem like they should push people through to the majors regardless of skill
  • DeskFlyer, on 04/16/2008, -23/+3I'd like to vote on most of the comments in this thread but I don't want my account locked due to mass-burying.
    • VarelseSoul, on 04/16/2008, -2/+7Ok, I'll go ahead and bury you, then.
  • SpectralSounds, on 04/16/2008, -0/+16"African-Americans just aren't playing it at this point. They're going to have to increase their efforts."

    Who is going to have to increase their efforts? The African-Americans, or the people who are trying to sucker them into playing the game so that people don't think that MLB is full of racists?

    Maybe they just don't want to play. I guess they aren't allowed to not want to play... something is wrong and by God, we have to fix it!
    • serif69, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3African Americans just aren't appearing in minstrel shows a this point. They're going to have to increase their efforts.
    • reaper527, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3"Although MLB has established its Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program and urban youth academies, Lapchick said it will take many years for those efforts to pay off."

      apparently it is mlb's responsibility to get black players
    • BloKKem, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1maybe its a lot ***** harder to get 20 people together to kick off a game of baseball when you can shoot basketball by yourself or have an intense game with 2vs2. Even though that applies to every race, inner city is usually predominitely black (at least in the south where I am from) and there is usually a lot more ***** b-ball courts than baseball fields available.
  • sodomizer, on 04/16/2008, -0/+12What percent of affirmative action set-asides does the author suggest? Perhaps all teams should be forced to have their roster with 25% blacks, regardless of ability.
    • aladrin, on 04/16/2008, -0/+10Hell, let's have 50% white, 50% black, 50% hispanic and 50% asian.

      I mean, if we're going to be crazy, let's go all the way.
      • dynamojoe, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2you forgot 50% "Other"
        • slvrbullet87, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3But there are about 6 eskimos on the planet, atleast 3 of them should be in the majors
          • reaper527, on 04/16/2008, -0/+2don't forget about the 9 shakers that are still alive. i want 4 and a half of them in baseball
      • reaper527, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3and 50% "Jew" since they seem to count as an ethnicity in most official forms i've seen
  • SpookyDIGG, on 04/16/2008, -3/+11and I care why....
    • suzywang3000, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4because it might affect your menstrual cycle.
  • pradaaddict, on 04/16/2008, -8/+3it's because of the doping scandal :(

    (sorry, i had to crack that one)
  • enjoiskating811, on 04/16/2008, -1/+4It's just because they all chose to go into football or basketball instead.
  • popnwave, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6What a non article.. last time I checked some of the highest profile players are of some color... A Rod, Big Papi, etc.... or maybe that's in contrast to the NBA which seems to be only 8.2% white at times, hehehehehe..
  • theillest1, on 04/16/2008, -1/+13Should my blackness be offended? Seriously, who cares?
  • Olympian83, on 04/16/2008, -3/+10What an awful and misleading report. Black players were down .2%. What about white players? Did the report say white players were up? How about Hispanic players? Or MLB importing more players from Japan? What about the Dominican wave continuing. 8.2% means nothing without other race statistics.
    • 8ight, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3You're getting dugg down by I agree with you. If one is .2 down then some other group is up. But like others have said, it doesn't matter where you come from or what color you are. If you can play baseball at that level you should and will most likely will be doing just that. These reports are trash and meaningless.

      Lowest in two decades? So... I bet the Dominican's are up in those two decades. I bet Asians are up in those two decades. I think it has less to do with competition from other sports as Jackie Robinson's widow claims (a definitive source... just like me). It has more to do with some of the finest players outside of the United States playing in the MLB now. Because they're damn good... that's why they're playing and others are not.

      I'd love to see the NHL's grade. Damn, I wonder how many Russian players there are in the NHL. I bet their numbers are down. The Finnish goalies percentage has be way up from two decades ago.

      All *****. This article is trash and so is this dumb ass University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports deal.
  • traicer, on 04/16/2008, -1/+6dugg for the comments
  • hokie47, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Blacks are leaving baseball because black youths are not pushed to play baseball as much as football or basketball anymore. Intercity youth baseball for the most part has been destroyed, leaving only the suburban “soccer mom” youth baseball leagues.
  • aeonoftime, on 04/16/2008, -7/+4In other news....Canadians are more racist then anybody...how many black players are there in the NHL(Can be counted in under 10)?
  • vinnyvenus, on 04/16/2008, -0/+17Is NBA racist because majority of their players are black? Buried for stupidity.
  • rodon, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6I bet he would find an even smaller percentage in the NHL.
  • pos3000, on 04/16/2008, -0/+15ESPN the most trusted name in completely pointless news.
  • EvilBaby, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1Until the article starting talking about who was in head office I was ok with. It was basically saying black youths aren't playing baseball anymore and MLB has to do a better job at reaching that target audience. The need more young black men playing baseball than footbal or basketball. Is there anything wrong with that?
    • BIim, on 04/16/2008, -0/+0"Is there anything wrong with that?"
      Yes. Why is it MLB's responsibility to attempt to reach out to black people? They're not reaching out to anyone else.
      • EvilBaby, on 04/16/2008, -1/+1because they need a young presenece in the sport to keep it popular. If all the kids start playing other sports what sport do you think they are going to watch when they grow up?
  • dreesemonkey, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6..Nearly triple the % of whites in the NBA. Yawn.
    ESPN, though I love the network dearly, is just looking to stir the pot for Jackie Robinson. I'm convinced (insert high made up percentage here) of racial tensions/general feelbadery is perpetrated by the media in general. Like two years ago when the Colts and Bears were in the superbowl, the first time any black coach made it there or something - let alone two. Seriously, who honestly cares and/or acknowledges this crap? They're all people, give it a freaking rest.
    • sat0shi, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1If only Japanese people thought the way you do... Hell, going to McDonald's and successfully ordering in Japanese is a historical feat here for a foreigner. At least, that's what they make it out to be.
  • Budman21901, on 04/16/2008, -3/+3Does anyone really care? I mean after the 94 strike, and the 7 strikes prior i thought most everyone would have given up on the boring sport by now. I could care less who plays baseball! Bunch of freaking crybabies with there 8million dollar contracts wining about pensions, or benefits. WAAAAA! Cry you bunch of pussies!
    • jocknerd, on 04/17/2008, -0/+1If you knew the history of players and owners, you would have a different understanding of the game. Just remember not to complain if you make less than the person that works with you but doesn't do as good a job as you. Freaking crybabies!
  • JasonCox, on 04/16/2008, -1/+6And in other news, the number of white players in the NBA has dropped to 3%.

    Seriously, do we care? Bring in the player thats going to take the team to victory, not the player thats [insert_skin_color] to make the [insert_skin_color_based_organization] happy.
  • diggerpleez, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1Jeter pleez...
  • tman84, on 04/16/2008, -3/+3I guess Hispanics aren't a "worthy" enough minority.
    • diggerpleez, on 04/16/2008, -1/+2I am not sure that Hispanics actually qualify as a minority in 2008.
    • prophet5, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I think you're correct! :-)
  • BlackJackJester, on 04/16/2008, -0/+5In other news : something that matters
    • BOFH2, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1I think the author of the study could find something that would promote diversity more then studying a sport.
  • Zlorp, on 04/16/2008, -0/+6So? did they ever think that maybe black people have lost interest in baseball?
    • Goldbricker, on 04/16/2008, -0/+3No way. It's the white man keeping everyone down.
  • sniperpants, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8Who really gives a *****?
  • pseudononymist, on 04/16/2008, -0/+7More black people are going to college and starting businesses! For the love of God put them back on the playing field where they belong!
  • matt11885, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4Race has nothing to do with it. If you're good enough, you can play MLB
  • TheGrimChaos, on 04/16/2008, -0/+4lame...
    hire based on skill and not on the color of their skin.
  • hamobu, on 04/16/2008, -1/+7.2% change is probably due to random fluctuations. African Americans are 12.3% of the population, and they are represented in MLB with 8.2% of players. That is not that bad.
    • aladrin, on 04/16/2008, -1/+3Oh God. Don't you go bringing sense into this!
    • mdude85, on 04/17/2008, -0/+00.2% is a loss of about 2 players in the MLB.
  • Schmapdi, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8So what? Black people don't like baseball that much? Where are the complaints for the lack of asians in the NFL? Or the lack of white guys in the NBA? Or the lack of hispanics in the NHL?
  • haikuFU, on 04/16/2008, -3/+1The solution to this "problem" is to have a separate white league, and a separate black league. Why are they even concerned with this? I don't see any black hockey players, I guess the NHL is a bunch of truck driving KKK rednecks.
  • galeninjapan, on 04/16/2008, -2/+8Clearly we need to raise the quotas. It's the only solution.
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Yes, vote OBAMA in 2008. He'll fix these racist problems! We need to put our foots on the neck of the white devils who are keeping blacks down to only a few % less than their population in this particular trivial sport.
  • zyl0x, on 04/16/2008, -4/+7Global warming!
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