I've been reading about Gary Sheffield's (expanded) comments about the relative absence of African Americans in Major League Baseball. To tell you how much I know and how deep this situation is, until Sheffield made his comments I just assumed that Sheffield himself was Latino. I know that Bonds is an African American, and that Griffey is African American…but after that? My mind is a blank. (Oh. Cecil Fielder's son Prince is African American.) The Tigers are now good enough for me to follow now, so hopefully that situation will change.But whatever the case I think that Sheffield's comments are worth thinking about, and fleshing out. I've read at least one commenter who got some of it right. And another who also came close. But there's more than a few idiots floating around. The following represents a piece I wrote over at my old haunts, with a few modifications.I was listening to the Kojo Nnamdi Show today, and part of the discussion centered on African American sports preferences. An old head like Gerald Early loves baseball like it was his second wife.
But for a guy like me? I'm down with baseball when the Tigers are doing work. I keep up with them enough to have been happy that Alan Trammel, Lance Parrish, and Kirk Gibson were brought back into the fold, but I don't live and breathe baseball.
I live and breathe basketball. When I'm not thinking about writing, or researching, or writing? I'm thinking about a crossover. A jumpshot. A behind the back look off bounce pass on the break. And truth be told? I can't play. I play well enough to hold my own, but I can count the number of times I've been in the zone during a pickup game on one hand with two fingers lopped off.
And I'm not alone. Starting with my generation I think, blacks have turned their backs on baseball.
Why?
One of the guys on Nnamdi's show made "the bling" argument. Black kids are transfixed by the dream of getting paid. Of getting on ESPN Sportscenter. Of being in the slam dunk contest. And more recently some have argued that black kids are just too poor to play the game given the resources required.
I don't buy this. I called in for the better part of a half hour trying to smack some sense in them fools.
NO one chooses basketball because of the promise of loot. After you CHOOSE basketball, and get good at it, you might try harder because you think you can make loot later down the line…but you don't pick up a rock at 6 and make a decision like that. And on top of that, while black kids are comparatively poorer it isn't like they don't have disposable income. How expensive is a baseball anyway? A serviceable glove? A bat?
For me what looms large are three things.
The first is the dearth of urban baseball diamonds. When cities started getting their budgets hamstrung, the first thing they cut was parks and rec. It's easier finding a Sharper Image within Detroit's borders than it is finding a nice serviceable baseball diamond. If you don't already have a group of baseball hardheads who are willing to dive through broken glass to snag grounders, nobody's going to pick up the game when the fields suck.
The second? Getting 6 people to play three on three, 10 people to play five on five is easy.Try getting 18 to play a pickup game of baseball. Who just happen to have gloves on them. Ain't happening. You can't find those types of numbers in the city anymore. Hell, how many times have we heard stories about pros practicing by themselves imagining themselves as Jordan, or Dr. J? Magic used to play one on NONE imagining he was Julius Erving taking the last shot. Do that with a baseball why don't you?
The third? The lack of a serviceable Little League infrastructure that can expose people to the nuances of the game. The reason why Detroit, Flint and Saginaw produce ballers left and right is because a dedicated basketball infrastructure exists that identifies and trains talent. It wasn't uncommon to see Isiah, Derrick Coleman, Chris Webber, all playing ball at Saint Cecilia during the summers.Nowhere in this model does "bling" play a role. Kids don't make decisions on what to play based on potential income.
And the thing is, if we were talking about white kids, I don't think anyone would make that type of argument. If the bling model held fast, then wouldn't white kids be moving away from the game too? Further while poverty is important here, what we're talking about more than anything is a poverty of resources at the institutional level. Cities that don't have enough money to provide for parks and rec. Little leagues that either can't be formed because of the lack of good diamonds (and concomitant lack of interest) or won't be formed because of perceptions about black talent.Sheffield was on the money about how Latinos in baseball are treated the same way that Latino immigrants are–like disposable and disempowered labor. The next step is getting him and others to do a better job of understanding the processes that kept people like me from playing, and the thing keeping another generation of playing the game that many people (now wrongly) call America's game.
Damm good research Doc,when I first heard about Shefield comments I was watching cnn headline news in which the sports are repeated every half hour.The commentator leads in to the story saying shefild will get in trouble for his remarks;(dah)what trouble?for giving his opinion.As your research prove the schism between Blacks has been simmering since Richie Allen aqnd Roberto Clemente.This subect needs an intellectual effort that you can give,it touches all bases from parenting to urban renewal;I’m retired and coach 10 and under basketball I put the word out to coach baseball the offer came from a fraternity Bro to help in the suburbe I wanted to coach in the city.
All of your points are well taken. I grew up in Los Angeles and I used to listen to the Dodgers on the radio. I would take a bus with my buddies on the block and pay for a General Admission ticket for $1.50 or something equally ridiculous. We would sneak downstairs by the 4th inning and watch the game from the good seats. We had favorite players. We stayed after the game to get autographs. We played ball on our block and the palm trees were the bases. Guy hits a grounder and you had to hit the palm tree with the ball before he got there to get an out. We developed our throwing accuracy with those rules!
Today, it’s much as you describe. However, my 7-year old son came home today from school with a baseball glove and a ball in his hand. And he and dear-old-dad went out and tossed the ball around. He wants to play baseball next year (he played football last year and will play again beginning next month).
Baseball is still a fun game.
peace, Villager
Great blog! I never thought about why many blacks didn’t get into baseball until reading this. It makes a lot of sense. I was able to play it (or softball, the girlie version) simply because of where I went to school and where I grew up and the facilities available. And you are right, it is easier to get a pick up game of basketball going than baseball.
My father’s from southern Alabama, Prichard to be exact. Famous baseball players from his area and era are Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, and Willie McCovey. He played all sports and had my brothers and me playing all sports. My older brother gravitated to football and track, while I did basketball and track, and my younger brother didn’t really pursue sports. My father loves baseball to this day, and while I used to get into it, after that last strike, when the WS was cancelled, baseball kind of lost me as a fan.
My kids took my love of basketball. My daughter tried softball for a couple of seasons, but like me, needs to be running around and being in the physical flow. Baseball misses that, I think.
Basketball is popular everywhere in the world now. We just got a new park in my neighborhood, with a 94 x 50 court, three point line and regulation glass backboard with heavy duty collapsible rims. I’m out there often as I can, looking for a pick-up game but practicing by myself if no one is around.
I think the best argument you make is the one about not being able to start a pick up baseball game. When I was growing up I played a lot of football and basketball on the streets. There wasn’t a park I could go to near my house. We never had enough players or space to get a good game of baseball in, so we didn’t play much.
I played baseball for one season in high school but sucked at it and was bored at the games. After that I lost all interest in baseball for good.
Good doctor…Blacks not playing baseball has absolutely nothing to do with economics. It also has nothing to do with amenities (i.e. parks, playgrounds, etc). That premise is complete false. We simply prefer basketball, football more. For most of us (blacks), the game of baseball is too slow, and quite frankly, boring. Not only do we not play it, but you will be hard pressed to walk into a black household and see baseball game on our television sets. Unfortunately, this game/sport is unappealing by an entire demographic. Hope that adds to your perspective.
I've always like Gary Shefield. There is a dignity to his anger, kind of like Jim Brown and sometimes Derek Jeter. He is his own man. It's a reason I've never liked Tiger and am suspicious of Jordan. As black superstar athletes go, I like the ones who can figure out a way to collect their checks and share their political opinions.