There's no crying (err Blacks) in Baseball

[Philaflava]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2798719

Sabathia makes pitch for more black players

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- C.C. Sabathia looks around Cleveland's clubhouse and sees something missing.

"There aren't very many African-American players, and it's not just in here, it's everywhere. It's not just a problem -- it's a crisis."
-- C.C. Sabathia

"There aren't very many African-American players, and it's not just in here, it's everywhere," Sabathia said Wednesday between morning workouts. "It's not just a problem -- it's a crisis."

Sabathia, the only black player on the Indians' 25-man roster last season, feels baseball could be doing more to promote its game to inner-city kids who are gravitating toward basketball and other sports.

"I go back home to Vallejo," Sabathia said of his offseason time in California, "and the kids say, 'What's baseball?' It's not just an issue for my hometown, it's an issue for the whole country. I think Major League Baseball should do something about it. I don't know exactly what they could be doing, but I know it's not enough."

According to a 2005 report by the University of Central Florida Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, only 8.5 percent of major leaguers were African American -- the lowest percentage since the report was initiated in the mid-1980s. By contrast, whites comprised 59.5 percent of the majors' player pool, Latinos 28.7 percent and Asians 2.5.

Sabathia appreciates some of the steps baseball has taken to make itself more appealing to young blacks such as the Urban Youth Academy, which opened last year in Compton, Calif. Also, there's the RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program, which has attracted more than 120,000 kids worldwide.

Still, it's not enough to Sabathia, who along with Florida's Dontrelle Willis are the only prominent black starting pitchers in the majors.

"That's amazing. That's unbelievable," he said. "I don't think people understand that there is a problem. They see players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and just assume that they're black."

Sabathia is trying to do his part to make a difference and raise baseball's profile. He sponsors the North Vallejo Little League, providing equipment and serving as a role model for 175 kids from his hometown he hopes will see where baseball can take them.

"I try to do a lot with the league and with the rec centers," he said. "I want to show them. I came from there. These are the fields I played on. There is a way out, and it could be baseball."

One of the reasons for baseball's decline among African Americans may be that struggling inner-city families can't afford the necessary equipment. Aluminum bats, balls, gloves and uniforms cost money, a fact that pushes kids toward basketball because all you need to play is a ball and a hoop.

In addition, because there are so few African-American major league stars, kids don't identify with them the way they do with today's top NBA and NFL players.

"They don't see us playing," Sabathia said. "When I grew up, I was a pitcher and I liked the Oakland A's. I liked Dave Stewart. I was a big left-handed hitter, so I liked Dave Parker. You had Barry Bonds playing in San Francisco, guys like that. There were a lot of guys to look up to."

If he was a kid today, would Sabathia be playing baseball?

"No way," he said. "That's the truth."

The Indians have long been at the forefront of baseball's race game. The club was chosen to play against St. Louis in the inaugural Civil Rights game on March 31 in Memphis because it was the first AL team to have a black player (Larry Doby) and first in the majors to hire a black manager (Frank Robinson).

The lack of black, non-Hispanic players isn't just a problem at the major league level, either. In 2003, the NCAA revealed that only 6 percent of the nearly 9,800 Division I baseball players were black, compared to 25 percent in all sports combined.

Sabathia thinks another reason for baseball's dip in popularity among urban youth could be traced to the lure of big-money contracts in other sports.

"Black kids see LeBron [James] coming out of high school and getting his millions," the 26-year-old said. "So they see basketball and football as the quickest way out. But they don't realize I got to the big leagues when I was only 20."

Sabathia has spoken with Willis and Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins -- all are from the Bay Area -- about doing more to raise baseball's profile. He credited Minnesota outfielder Torii Hunter, who is seeking the best African-American amateur teams from across the nation and sponsoring a tournament.

"We can all do more," Sabathia said. "Talking about the problem isn't going to solve it. It's time to do something."

[Philaflava]

Personally kids, especially in the inner cities are more prone to pick up a basketball because its more in vogue. It's easier to shoot hoops and less work to the pros than playing baseball.

You can't really play ball yourself. Not many batting cages available to these kids, plus you can't just showcase your shit like a pick-up game on the courts.

Basketball is more attracting. More endorsements. More exciting to the average Black person. I took a survey, I know.

I see what he's saying, but overall baseball has fewer blacks and whites considering latinos are dominating the sport. But there are a ton of reasons why young black kids aren't interested in baseball.

[eternalreflection]

Basketball is more attracting. More endorsements. More exciting to the average Black person. I took a survey, I know.

barring you being 7ft tall, its by far the toughest sport to make the pros in

[Philaflava]

Basketball is more attracting. More endorsements. More exciting to the average Black person. I took a survey, I know.

barring you being 7ft tall, its by far the toughest sport to make the pros in

Sure, not everybody is built like Durant and can shoot the lights out. But what's easier to play, to practice, to get better at? What's more in style in terms of clothes, celebrity, etc...

And besides most of the kids think they have a shot until college is over and at that point well they've already got a free education some dedicated mudsharks as fans and practically made it in their eyes.

Baseball, well I don't think BJ Uptons stories were nearly as good/fun as say Noah.

[ripweblo]

two words.....



































lastings milledge

[Gregg Popabitch1]

"That's amazing. That's unbelievable," he said. "I don't think people understand that there is a problem. They see players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and just assume that they're black."

[bringinoutbangerz]

Personally kids, especially in the inner cities are more prone to pick up a basketball because its more in vogue. It's easier to shoot hoops and less work to the pros than playing baseball.

You can't really play ball yourself. Not many batting cages available to these kids, plus you can't just showcase your shit like a pick-up game on the courts.

Basketball is more attracting. More endorsements. More exciting to the average Black person. I took a survey, I know.

I see what he's saying, but overall baseball has fewer blacks and whites considering latinos are dominating the sport. But there are a ton of reasons why young black kids aren't interested in baseball.

naw. The problem is baseball, like George W. Bush, doesn't care about black people. They care about their factories in Central America where they can skirt drafting rules and create-a-player from guys who are twice as poor and hungry.

[T-Wrex]

Nobody played baseball where I grew up.

With basketball, you can play 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, etc, half court, full court, H.o.r.s.e., around the world, etc. You can play on the street, you can play at a park, you can play in backyards, etc.

Baseball? Good luck finding 18 kids at once who all have gloves and who all want to play.

The city of detroit has a very weak Parks & Recs department. There was nothing in ways of organized sports.

How do you expect to excel at a sport that you can't practice?

Maybe the MLB needs to run sanctioned leagues for inner cities. Build the fields, hire the umps, coaches and league admins, give camps, etc. With sponsorships, they have money falling out of their ass. I'd imagine that you could organize something like this in each big city for under 100k per year.

[capable_keL]

fuck CC, I am sick of his ass throwing at my TWINS.

he is a poor man's Bartolo Colon anyway....

he did house Serenna Williams..props for that

[ardamus]

I always questioned baseball. Because you run into a few brothas that played but didn't stick with it like that.

[uh zip zoom]

two words.....



































cameron maybin

[Epitome]

Basketball is at least as tough to succeed at the elite level, harder even as there's fewer positions available.

Basketball is obviously a much more easily improvised game than baseball but if black kids really wanted to play baseball, they'd find a way too. But they don't.

in 1994 the MLB was composed of 19% African Americans. At the current pace, there may be fewer blacks than asians in the sport in 20 years.

And the lack of African Americans has significantly decreased my enjoyment of the sport in recent years.

[eternalreflection]

Basketball is at least as tough to succeed at the elite level, harder even as there's fewer positions available.

Basketball is obviously a much more easily improvised game than baseball but if black kids really wanted to play baseball, they'd find a way too. But they don't.

in 1994 the MLB was composed of 19% African Americans. At the current pace, there may be fewer blacks than asians in the sport in 20 years.

And the lack of African Americans has significantly decreased my enjoyment of the sport in recent years.

why do you care if there are X% of blacks in a sport, I really like the game if 1 in 5 players is black, but man if its 1/7 it sucks .. seems foreign to me

all I care is if the league has the best players, and the games are entertaining fuck skin color

[Magneto]

Ummm...Delgado and Reyes are black. They are just not African American.

[binary]

Ask the youth about baseball, the shit is just boring.

[the Wiper]

we just made final cuts on our high school team.

we kept 16 varsity and 18 JV, for a total of 34...

we kept 3 black kids.

and actually got questioned by a local (black) preacher and the athletic director about it...

our answer was that only 6 tried out, and 2 were football players that were fuckin' around...

the real answer would've been little league...there are 3 little leagues in our town. i umpire the 11-12 year olds in all three leagues all summer long...the 'downtown' league, where the majority of the black kids play have TERRIBLE coaches. they're the athletes, for sure, but the other 2 leagues have much, much, much better coaching, and it shows when the kids get to the high school level. the kids from the downtown league are raw, and it usually takes a year or two before you can break their bad habits (swings mostly) and get them doing stuff the 'right' way..

this certainly isn't saying the black players can't play. it's saying that the kids from the other 2 little leagues are generally much more developed when they get to us...

*shrug*

edit: but, after saying all that, if a natural athlete gets coaching, look out, and we have very good coaches...

[Philaflava]

Ummm...Delgado and Reyes are black. They are just not African American.

Delgado is from Puetro Rico and Reyes (like Pujols) is from Domincan Republic. Both Delgado and Reyes are black but CC ain't trying to hear it.

[Epitome]

Basketball is at least as tough to succeed at the elite level, harder even as there's fewer positions available.

Basketball is obviously a much more easily improvised game than baseball but if black kids really wanted to play baseball, they'd find a way too. But they don't.

in 1994 the MLB was composed of 19% African Americans. At the current pace, there may be fewer blacks than asians in the sport in 20 years.

And the lack of African Americans has significantly decreased my enjoyment of the sport in recent years.

why do you care if there are X% of blacks in a sport, I really like the game if 1 in 5 players is black, but man if its 1/7 it sucks .. seems foreign to me

all I care is if the league has the best players, and the games are entertaining fuck skin color

Because I like seeing excellence in sports. I love watching great athletes no matter what the sport, and in case you hadn't noticed, African Americans, by far the country's richest athletic resource, are consistently choosing to enter other sports.

[RacquetballGangsta]

fuck baseball. its sad in a way, but to me, its a bigger problem that baseball just in general, sucks and is always enshrouded in scandal and disparity..its just...blah...who cares about baseball? it stopped being "the nation's pastime" a while ago, i think.

[Trademark]

There's no whites in Basketball....cry about it...

[D. James]

Ummm...Delgado and Reyes are black. They are just not African American.

Exactly. When the fuck did American blacks acquire a monopoly on being black? There are plenty of black players in Major League Baseball, the majority of them just happen to be from Latin American countries. Young black Americans, to a large degree, just aren't interested in baseball. So what? People who want to play baseball will play it and people who don't won't. It's not a problem, it's not a fucking crisis. All it is is American blacks gravitating to sports other than baseball.

[ric]

Ask the youth about baseball, the shit is just boring.

BOOM

[Myjah]

Ummm...Delgado and Reyes are black. They are just not African American.

Exactly. When the fuck did American blacks acquire a monopoly on being black? There are plenty of black players in Major League Baseball, the majority of them just happen to be from Latin American countries. Young black Americans, to a large degree, just aren't interested in baseball. So what? People who want to play baseball will play it and people who don't won't. It's not a problem, it's not a fucking crisis. All it is is American blacks gravitating to sports other than baseball.

I think it's sort of odd. Are Europeans not white?

There were mid skinned latin players and stuff who played before Jackie Robbinson.