cheka.
29th May 2018, 08:47 PM
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2018/04/11/mlb-african-americans-opening-day-rosters/507685002/
There are 68 African Americans on rosters, six more than a year ago, when baseball had its lowest percentage of black players since 1958.
Yet, despite the modest uptick, nearly one-third of all teams don’t have more than one African-American on their 25-man roster or DL.
“We’re starting to see some progress,’’ MLB executive vice president Tony Reagins says, “but is there a lot of work to be done? Absolutely.
“Our goal is to get our numbers back to 19% and 20%. That’s a lofty goal. But this isn’t a one-time effort. We are fully committed to this.’’
Major League Baseball no longer is accepting excuses for its African-American declining population, and is taking full responsibility.
For the first time, MLB is making every club accountable for its actions, sending out an extensive survey to each club asking how many minorities are in their front offices, among their scouting ranks, their coaching staffs, and players in their minor-league system.
It’s called the Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report, providing information and performance metrics of their initiatives during the past year. It will be the first time the Commissioner’s office has proactively shared the information publicly, and is expected to be released in two weeks.
“It is important that we create an atmosphere within baseball,’’ MLB said in a statement, “where diversity is celebrated and inclusion is promoted as a strength of our business.’’
Franchises failing in that mission will be publicly identified.
It’s embarrassing to Major League Baseball that the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox series this week features more African-Americans than three entire divisions.
The San Diego Padres, considered to have the richest farm system in baseball, once again do not have a single African-American on the opening-day roster. There are six other teams who have only one African-American.
The Cleveland Indians, with outfielders Michael Brantley and Rajai Davis, are the lone AL Central team with more than one African-American.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Mets, who play in the two largest cities in America, had only one African-American, 33-year-old Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, active on Opening Day.
It’s unacceptable, MLB knows it, and insists it will do something about it.
“We’re ramping up our scouting efforts in inner cities,’’ says Reagins, former GM of the Los Angeles Angels, “and that’s going to be a big part of our objectives. We’re going to focus on going back to the inner cities, those high schools, those baseball programs, that have been forgotten.
“You’re going to see our scouts go back to the same areas that provided us with Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry and Eddie Murray and Kenny Landreaux in South-Central LA. That used to be a breeding ground for MLB. I think we have the opportunity to get back to that.
“It’s going to take work, but we’re committed to do that.’’
There are 68 African Americans on rosters, six more than a year ago, when baseball had its lowest percentage of black players since 1958.
Yet, despite the modest uptick, nearly one-third of all teams don’t have more than one African-American on their 25-man roster or DL.
“We’re starting to see some progress,’’ MLB executive vice president Tony Reagins says, “but is there a lot of work to be done? Absolutely.
“Our goal is to get our numbers back to 19% and 20%. That’s a lofty goal. But this isn’t a one-time effort. We are fully committed to this.’’
Major League Baseball no longer is accepting excuses for its African-American declining population, and is taking full responsibility.
For the first time, MLB is making every club accountable for its actions, sending out an extensive survey to each club asking how many minorities are in their front offices, among their scouting ranks, their coaching staffs, and players in their minor-league system.
It’s called the Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report, providing information and performance metrics of their initiatives during the past year. It will be the first time the Commissioner’s office has proactively shared the information publicly, and is expected to be released in two weeks.
“It is important that we create an atmosphere within baseball,’’ MLB said in a statement, “where diversity is celebrated and inclusion is promoted as a strength of our business.’’
Franchises failing in that mission will be publicly identified.
It’s embarrassing to Major League Baseball that the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox series this week features more African-Americans than three entire divisions.
The San Diego Padres, considered to have the richest farm system in baseball, once again do not have a single African-American on the opening-day roster. There are six other teams who have only one African-American.
The Cleveland Indians, with outfielders Michael Brantley and Rajai Davis, are the lone AL Central team with more than one African-American.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Mets, who play in the two largest cities in America, had only one African-American, 33-year-old Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, active on Opening Day.
It’s unacceptable, MLB knows it, and insists it will do something about it.
“We’re ramping up our scouting efforts in inner cities,’’ says Reagins, former GM of the Los Angeles Angels, “and that’s going to be a big part of our objectives. We’re going to focus on going back to the inner cities, those high schools, those baseball programs, that have been forgotten.
“You’re going to see our scouts go back to the same areas that provided us with Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry and Eddie Murray and Kenny Landreaux in South-Central LA. That used to be a breeding ground for MLB. I think we have the opportunity to get back to that.
“It’s going to take work, but we’re committed to do that.’’