Posted by
Over the Kohls on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 9:39:23 PM
Are we going to go through this whole Jackie Robinson self flagellation, or should I say “self flatulation”, every 10 years now? My God, how many times do we have to bow at the altar of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey? Blacks have been playing major league baseball longer than were kept out of it. But still we have to go through this exercise every so often with Jackie Robinson having blazed the trail for blacks in baseball. In the last 60 years, how many records have been set by blacks in the Majors? Too numerous to count. For goodness sake, it has been 60 years now and thanks to Robinson, some sports like basketball for example are entirely dominated by black athletes and football is moving toward basketball percentages. But for some reason, baseball participation by blacks is falling and this bothers all the liberals who are in a twit or snit about this wondering what has happened to blacks in baseball and why the Hispanics are now dominating Baseball. Could it be that Blacks are just choosing the other sports over baseball? Why is this happening? My theory is that it takes a lot of time to develop excellence in baseball and I think for that reason, Blacks gravitate toward basketball and football for the instant gratification that they provide. The road to glory in these sports is not only quicker but more is more high profile. Even in high school, basketball and football are the two primary sports with high attendance while baseball brings up the rear in the Spring with little or no attendance. Same is true in college. NCAA basketball and football are televised nationally and its stars are nationally known figures before they finish their college careers. But college baseball is relegated to late night viewing on ESPN 2.
The way participation by Blacks in baseball is dwindling, how long will it be before they celebrate not only the first Black baseball player but also the last one?