Decrease in African Americans in baseball has officials puzzled, concerned

The Miami Herald/St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 22 Mar 2004 | GORDON WITTENMYER

[ServesURight]

Absolutely well said.

Baseball doesn't have the trash-talking and in-your-face style of play like basketball does.

[GSWarrior]

Hitting a baseball is the most difficult task in sports

Agreed. But baseball is still boring.

[r9etb]

Baseball is a game that fathers teach their sons, and fathers stay involved in up to high school. Anyone look at what has happened to the black family since the 60's?

I believe you hit the nail squarely on the head here. Last I saw, the illegitimacy rate was something like 80% among inner-city blacks.

[whattajoke]

Baseball covets a wholesome image.

While your points are valid, baseball's "wholesome image" needs some major repair these days.

[smith288]

Baseball doesn't have the trash-talking and in-your-face style of play like basketball does.

Nope...but on occasion...it can appeal to every inner city thug. Go NOLAN go!

[r9etb]

But hitting a baseball is no more "athletic" than bowling, playing billiards, playing golf or shooting free-throws. It's much more a skill -- and a very hard one to "master" but it's not very "athletic".

Which merely goes to show that you know nothing about hitting a baseball.

[johnb838]

More likely it 's the opportunity to play for football and basketball college teams. More exciting and more money.

I've been cruising this thread looking for someone to make this argument and I think you're the first. I think you're right. Baseball is a minor sport in HS and College. Fooball and Bass-te-ball bring in the money, the crowds, the fame, the hot chicks. Then they all think they'll go pro and get rich quick, which few do, but the possibility is there. Baseball you have to go away and be an apprentice for years. I don't think it's surprising at all that the best athletes of all races would want to play football and basketball. The only thing baseball has going for it is that it can pay well and you can potentially play for a long time. Football careers are typically very short.

[Lost Highway]

"I'll tell you straight up," Hunter said. "If a black scout goes in there and finds a black kid in the hood because white scouts won't go in that neighborhood and then comes back with a report that says, 'Hey, this dude was like the best,' they won't believe them. They'll think he's trying to help the kid get out of the neighborhood.

Oh yah, no owner wants a player that's 10 times better than Torey Hunter because he's from the wrong neighborhood.

[A2J]

"No question about that, and we've been concerned," Commissioner Bud Selig said.

What's next?

Is Bud ready to pay reparations?

[lewislynn]

Then by your logic blacks aren't athletic enough to endure the grueling task of sitting in dugouts, trotting back and forth to the outfield every 30 minutes or less...

So far your definitions of an athlete are someone who can either throw an object 100 MPH (women softball pitchers throw them faster, does that make them a better athlete?) or hit an object coming at them at 100 mph.

[Mr. Bird]

But hitting a baseball is no more "athletic" than bowling, playing billiards, playing golf or shooting free-throws. It's much more a skill -- and a very hard one to "master" but it's not very "athletic".

Gonna have to disagree with you on that score. I think everyone would agree that an NFL quarterback needs to be an outstanding athlete. But, when you boil his job down to the essentials, it's not much more than playing catch while getting the crap beat out of you. Is that athletic? Not when it's described that way, it's not.

Hitting a baseball, and then running the basepaths, are quite athletic endeavors. If we attempt to whittle sports down to pure athleticism, we'll end up with marathon runners. Now that's boring.

[A2J]

The answer is quite simple: Baseball does not glorify the rap, hip-hop, and bad-body image that basketball and to a lesser extent football do. Black kids are being taught to be a part of the MTV culture that glorifies sex and violence. Basketball plays up to that, while Baseball covets a wholesome image.

I guess that explains why Tiger is still an oddity on the PGA tour.

[A2J]

This calls for quick action from Washington. Maybe a congression investigation or creation of whole new federal agency...

Yeah, they can call it the "The Department of Homey-land Security."

[PBRSTREETGANG]

So how do the NBA players get discovered in those "neighborhoods that no scout will go to"?

[A2J]

Could it be that the reason for more Latino's playing baseball than blacks is because there are more Latino's as a percentage of US population than blacks?

Then why aren't there a proportionate number of Latino's playing in the NFL or NBA?

[cyborg]

Depends on the family culture. Tiger grew up in a diverse family with a very astute father who nurtured his son's natural talents. I love golf. Baseball is interesting to me only as far as American culture is concerned. My interest is in cricket but if these folks don't like baseball they'll never like cricket.

[White Eagle]

Bingo. Star basketball and football players in high school can go to a big-name school, and maybe even get an education. For 4 years they are in minor-league sports, getting the star treatment from boosters and the schools. Or, they can ride a bus to small towns and not see their names on the front page of the sports section. Tough choice to make.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

You've got to be sh*tting me. It seems to this baseball fan that the majority of baseball players today ARE black. Does it really matter whether they come from the US or Latin America?

[AmishDude]

Which merely goes to show that you know nothing about hitting a baseball.

C'mon . . . John Kruk.

I think the analogy to golf is a good one. Being athletic helps, but to me, an athletic endeavor is one that anybody in good shape can do well without much specific training or practice. Hitting a baseball well will result from hours of practice but running laps will only help very marginally.

[GulliverSwift]

Decrease in whites in basketball has officials puzzled, concerned

Am I reading that right?