Giants Have No Black Players in ST

[Dugmet]

This is alarming, and sad. Baseball needs to reconnect with black youth.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – One of the highlights of the spring is when Willie Mays arrives and sits at his customary table in the Scottsdale Stadium clubhouse, and starts chirping at Mike Murphy.

This year, the moment came with a bit of melancholy.

That’s because as I looked around the room, I realized that Mays, and his assistant, were the only people of African-American heritage in it.

We know the trends. You’ve heard about them for a long time. The percentage of African-Americans in baseball, which peaked at close to 30 percent in the 1970s, has dwindled down to single digits.

Sure, there have been times when the Giants did not have a single African-American on the roster. But no representation whatsoever in big league spring training? More than 70 players, and not one African-American in the room? That realization stunned me.

I spent a half-hour going through every roster, and sure enough, the Giants are the only major league organization with zero African-Americans in big league camp. Some teams have more representation than others, sure. The Atlanta Braves will feature three African-Americans in their starting outfield, with the Upton brothers and Jason Heyward. But each of the other 29 teams at least has one African-American player in camp.

This isn’t a Giants-centric phenomenon by any means, and I’m making no suggestion to that effect. The club has spent high draft picks on African-American players, including Wendell Fairley, Fred Lewis and others. And GM Brian Sabean certainly is open-minded to finding talent in all shapes and forms. This is the club that invested in Tim Lincecum and traded for Hunter Pence, after all.

If you look around the Giants clubhouse, you’ll see people of color. The Giants have a vibrant Latino culture, and that extends to their coaching staff with Roberto Kelly (from Panama), Hensley Meulens (Curacao), infield coach Jose Alguacil (Venezuela) and minor league coach Henry Cotto (Puerto Rico).

But no African-American players at all? From the organization that so shined because of Mays and McCovey and Monte Irvin?

I suppose I’m doing little more than making an observation here. There are myriad reasons for the declining numbers of African-Americans in baseball, few of them simple. I can’t pretend to tell you which reasons are the most important, or what should be done, or even if something needs to be done.

I mentioned my observation to Sabean and he is stunned as well. He is a firm believer that the decreasing number of college scholarships has a lot to do with African-American receiving fewer opportunities in baseball. If you’re not from an affluent background, how can you afford to take a partial scholarship when you could get a full ride playing football or basketball? The existence of traveling teams, summer leagues, etc. also make it so much harder for kids to be two- or three-sport stars like in the past. And if you stop playing baseball at a young age, you don't continue to get access to better coaching, you don't continue to hone your skills, etc. Baseball might be your best sport but you don't play it long enough to find out.

I don't buy the garbage that baseball is less lustrous than football or that baseball requires more work than basketball. I've always felt there are some underlying stereotypes in those arguments that I can't accept.

The only thing I know is that equality cannot happen without equal opportunity, and if baseball needs to do anything, it’s to work to provide opportunities for all young people of all backgrounds to continue playing the game if they are interested in doing so.

Well, here's one more thing I know: Barring a trade or late signing, the Giants will stand on the baseline on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day, 66 years after the color barrier was broken, and they won’t have a single African-American player to reflect on it.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/andre...-americans-etc

[lolPhillies]

Although interesting, I can't see this going anywhere but south. PSD can't handle race or religion as topics.

[Jeffy25]

I don't see why it matters....at all.


We are supposedly so far removed from race being an issue in sports (at least supposed to be). When things like this are even noticed is when there is an issue.

Fact is, there just aren't that many black baseball players to begin with. I believe the Cardinals only have one on their roster (Jon Jay) and I think another on the 40 man (Maikel Cleto).

The fact that someone would even write about this is more disturbing than there not being any black players on a team.

I think Andrew Baggerly, who wrote this, the person that came to this realization....is the one with the issue, not the Giants. It's not like the Giants hate black men or something. This is needs to be ignored.

I think it's really sad that someone would even notice a lack of black players in the Giants ST camp. I wonder if he also noticed a lack of women, or a lack of asians on other clubs, or a lack of Canadians in a camp. Those that notice things like this are the one's with the issue.


I understand he is wanting to argue that blacks need to be cultivated and developed better for baseball. But it's just not an appealing sport to the more urban youth in America. And with baseball quickly developing in more latino countries, I don't see why it would be a surprise that it is trending that way more and more.

I don't think it's an issue. Just like I don't think it's an issue that 70% of the men that play in the NBA are black.

[spliff(TONE)]

Giants are so racist.

[spliff(TONE)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqETyU9k0lM

[Halladay]

I remember many years ago a Toronto paper printed the fact that the Jays had the least amount of minorities in the entire league(some team has to right?). It raised a big stink here. I also recall discussions on TV regarding the lack of inner city youth, whom are usually black youths, losing an interest in baseball and focusing only on football and basketball. Less kids are playing baseball within cities now and from what I've read, cities across the U.S are all reporting this. I've never researched it because I don't care that much but I found it interesting.

[Bigbadmoffo]

Dumb! close thread

[PhillyFaninLA]

Topics like this turning nothing into racism is a big part of what fuels racism.

You have every right to make a topic like this but it only fuels racism and opens the door to people to say stupid biggoted things they may or may not mean.

Teams are beyond racism and try and build the best team, if they have all or none of a specific minority group its a coincidence.

[streetsmarts13]

I get tired of hearing **** like this. If i would say that there isnt enough white people in basketball i would get yelled at. I get tired of everyone using race as a reason. Take this thread and shut it down.

[Yankees90.]

Um.....ok.

First off, I highly doubt this is intentional, and anyone who believes so needs to go get there head examined.

Second, is there a law that says you HAVE to, at ALL times, have a black player in your camp? I thought this is about finding the best talent, not making sure we make every demographic happy.

I'm really sick of hearing stories like this. At some point this crap got old.

[benzni]

so....

they have kung foo panda. How many other teams have a panda on their team

[Pinstripe power]

...........and this is an issue.......why? it's not like they are forcing black players out of the MLB. The problem has nothing to do with baseball or the MLB, its because of the NBA and NFL

[Philapsychosis]

Yeah, only thing to say is, who cares? The guys up there are dead on in saying that this alone fuels racism. If we keep singling out "black" players, then it's never gonna end

[trueblue83]

Its because less and less black people are playing baseball now, and its starts at the Little League level, not the MLB......nothing racial about it....just i guess what you would call a generational change!

[rhymeratic]

Fact is baseball is not a popular sport among the youth and especially not in the African American community. It is now Basketball/Football etc. That's really all it comes down to.