MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson Day every April 15th, when every player, coach, and manager wears number 42 for Robinson, the first US-born Black player in the majors in the 20th century. But not even four days later, only one Black player (Minnesotaโs Byron Buxton) was on the field between both the Twins and Detroit Tigers.
Itโs the same sad old story that baseball struggles with the low number of Black players in the majors: only 6.2% of this yearโs rosters on opening day were Black.
The Twins, however, have three Blacks or 11.5% of its 2024 roster. Although this is above the average, it is still way down from 1991, when 18% of MLB players were Black, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), which began tracking this in 1991.
Many inside and outside baseball have long debated the various reasons regularly offered for such low numbers of Black baseball players, whether in the majors, minors, college, or prep.
MLB officials constantly tout its RBI youth program, which, in part, has helped produce Black players who were drafted by big league clubs. Black players made up 10 of the first 50 draftees in 2023, and four of the first five selections in 2022 were Black.
However, this seemingly hasnโt bumped MLB numbers as far as Black players are concerned.
โItโs still not enough. Itโs the same story,โ noted sports talk show host Donal Ware of “From The Press Box to Press Row.” His weekly show debuted in 2005 on five stations and is now in over 30 radio markets across the country and on Sirius XM.
โMajor League Baseball has Jackie Robinson Day, then what does Major League Baseball do after that?โ asked Ware.
How well are the MLB clubs promoting the game in the Black community? Ware remembers the difficulty in getting an MLB club to fulfill his interview request for a Black player: โI probably put in 40 requests over a 10-year period,โ Ware recalled.
โI love baseball. Iโve coached baseball. Grew up loving the game,โ noted Ware, โand by the way, I donโt just request Black players either.โ
โHow is Major League Baseball promoting itself?โ Ware questioned, โand the clubs for that matter โฆ in marketing to the Black community and spending dollars with your newspaper or other Black mediums. I donโt see it.โ
โI think Major League Baseball is disconnected from the Black community,โ believed Ware.
In regard to player availability, he blames MLB teams’ media relations personnel. Many of them probably donโt understand the importance of Black mediaโโYou allow the players to make a decision [to do an interview]. Sometimes you just got to tell the playersโฆ to do this,โ said Ware.
Finally, Ware challenges MLB as a league and its individual clubs to do better if it is really serious about growing the game of baseball.
โWhat are you really doing to increase that number or to grow the game in the Black community?” stressed Ware.