Blacks in Baseball: No inner-city pastime

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — C.C. Sabathia is only 26, but he is from a different era in terms of black participation in baseball.

In 1974, 27 percent of all major-leaguers were African-Americans. Last year, it was 9 percent. The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals had no blacks on the 25-man roster, and few in the farm system.

So is pre-Jackie Robinson racism back in vogue? Hardly. The Cardinals and every team in the big leagues would welcome an influx of talented black athletes. After all, it would make the talent pool of players that much larger.

The story here goes deeper than signing black players. It's no longer a secret that black kids don't play baseball in significant numbers.

"I go back home to Vallejo [Calif.], and the inner-city kids say, 'What's baseball?' They don't go to [Oakland] A's games; they don't do any baseball stuff," Sabathia said.

Sabathia grew up in the North Bay area, about 35 miles from San Francisco and 15 miles from Oakland. There are loads of black youngsters who participate in sports there, but not the sport that is the choice of Sabathia.

"This is not just an issue for my hometown, it's an issue for the whole country," he said Tuesday. "I think Major League Baseball should do something about it. I don't know what, but something."

According to a 4-year-old story in Sports Illustrated, there were 13 black pitchers in the big leagues, including five starters, during the 2003 season.

In 2006, there were only two prominent black starters in the majors: Sabathia and Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins. Reasons for the lack of interest by black children certainly include money and the lure of the NBA and NFL.

"First of all, baseball is expensive," Sabathia said. "You have to have equipment. In basketball and football, you can pick up almost anything and play."

Kids teams usually need sponsors to pay for bats, balls, gloves, uniforms, umpires and sometimes the use of the fields. On traveling teams — squads comprised of the most talented players — the cost per season can be up to $3,000 per player.

"Baseball also is not appealing in the inner city," Sabathia said. "The kids there don't see us playing. When I was a kid, Dave Stewart was my favorite player on the A's, and I was a huge A's fan. I was a left-handed hitter, and Dave Parker was a left-handed hitter. He was one of my favorite players."

Baseball faces a public-relations problem in luring blacks, who see the NBA and the NFL as faster ways to economic security.

Climbing to the major leagues usually involves spending four to six years (or more) in the minors, where the pay is low and the amenities are sparse.

By contrast, NBA rosters are dotted with players as young as 19. In football, college athletes can jump to the NFL after their third year.

"Black kids see LeBron [James] coming out of high school and getting his millions," Sabathia said. "So they see basketball and football as the quickest way out [of the inner city]."

College baseball is especially devoid of black players. As Sabathia said, "I was home watching a college game and there were no black players."

Unlike college basketball and football, the NCAA mandates only 11.7 scholarships for baseball. That means the vast majority of players receive only a partial scholarship. Only an elite pitcher or two per team are likely to receive a full ride.

Even at state universities, tuition, room, board and books can cost $12,000 to $16,000 per year. At private schools, the cost is more likely to be $32,000 and up. Even if a player receives a scholarship that pays for half the total, he has to come up with the rest. That can be difficult for an inner-city teen.

There are some observers who don't view the scarcity of blacks in baseball as a problem. They say as long as African-American children are playing some sport — the sport of their choice — it doesn't matter.

"People need to say this is not OK, because it's not," said Sabathia.

He is trying to do something about it by sponsoring an entire youth league of 175 participants in Vallejo, from 6-year-olds playing T-ball to 12-year-olds.

"I'm not just out there once," Sabathia said. "I'm there all the time, because I want the kids to see me, to let them know I'm there. It doesn't have to be basketball and football for these kids. It might be baseball."