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The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport in Central Florida released its annual report on Major League Baseball’s diversity recruiting practices on Thursday. For the second consecutive season, TIDES reported a record-low percentage of black players on MLB Opening Day rosters, according to the Associated Press.
According to TIDES’ research, only 6.2% of players on Opening Day rosters were black. Last season that percentage was 7.2%. For context, black players represented 18% of the league when the study began, in 1991.
The TIDES findings come months after the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies played the first World Series since 1950 in which no black player was born in the United States. (Jackie Robinson entered MLB in 1947.) Dusty Baker, the winning manager last October, who remains one of two black skippers, said at the time: “What hurts is that I don’t know how much hope it holds a part of the young African-American kids, because when I was their age, I had a bunch of boys, [Willie] girl, [Hank] Aaron, Frank Robinson, Tommy Davis — my hero — Maury Wills, all these guys. We have to do something before we lose them.”
Baker pointed out that the tide could turn based on recent draft results. In fact, four of the top five selections in last summer’s event were US-born black players: outfielder Druw Jones, right-hander Kumar Rocker, infielder Termarr Johnson and outfielder Elijah Green.
“Help is on the way,” Baker told reporters. “You can see it in the number of African-American No. 1 draft picks. The academies produce players. So hopefully we don’t have to talk about this or even be in this situation for the foreseeable future.”
For his part, TIDES director Richard Lapchick seemed to agree with Baker’s assessment. He told the AP he believed the percentage of black players could rise in coming years, if not to 1991 levels, thanks in part to programs MLB has created to improve black youth participation in baseball. “I think the trend could continue for another year or two until all the programs they put in place have that kind of impact,” Lapchick said.
Overall, TIDES gave MLB a B for racial hiring and a C for gender based hiring.
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