Because baseball has become less strategic. Think about a guy like Vince on base in front of a good batter. The pitcher would sometimes throw over to first as many at 10 times. That increases his "pitch" count and decreases his attention from the plate.

AA kids, after T-Ball or the second year of Little League Baseball tend to gravitate towards rec league football or some type of organized basketball.

Another factor is the fact that today, very few high school athletes compete in three sport or even two sports. Hence, your top athletes are driven by the need to be competitive for the few Football and Basketball schollys that are available. The result is year round devotion to a specific sport via AAU travel teams, specific skills camps, etc.

In Florida, baseball is played year-round thus the white kids who play have a distinct advantage over AA kids who have not devoted as much time developing and honing baseball skills.

In other words, no more Bo Jackson, Dieon Sanders, Phil Bradley, et. al.

quote:

Originally posted by FAMU CLIFF:
Because baseball has become less strategic. Think about a guy like Vince on base in front of a good batter. The pitcher would sometimes throw over to first as many at 10 times. That increases his "pitch" count and decreases his attention from the plate.

It makes total sense to have a bunch of Vince Colemen's on the team, but teams want to use that Earl Weaver philosopy of the big inning rather than stealing and bunting and wasting outs.

The title is mis-leading...

There are plenty of BLACKS in baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:
The title is mis-leading...

There are plenty of BLACKS in baseball.

There are plenty of African-Americans who play baseball all over the country, but when there are only 7 percent playing in MLB and less than that if you don't count HBCUs in college, it's a problem.

I assume Ebony Magazine no longer does that annual "Blacks in the Major Leagues" article - with all the pictres of all the players by each team - every spring anymore ... "Huh?"

i think there are multiple reasons why blacks no longer play baseball but to me the main reasons are that the game is too slow paced, its non-athletic (too much standing around), and most of all, baseball is the only major sport that refuses to make rules changes to make the game more exciting. football and basketball have made numerous rules changes over the years to improve the excitement of their game. baseball has not. for example, basketball brought back the slam dunk, added the 3 point shot, reduce the time allotted for backcourt violations, college added the shot clock, all changes made to increase offense. football has changed rules regarding defensive backs (they can hardly touch a receiver now days), you can barely touch the quarterback, they added the 2 point conversion and they moved the kickoff back 5 yards just to name a few. baseball's rules have never changed to improve the game's excitement, to speed up the pace. to me, black athletes in general are bored by baseball. in football and basketball, guys can honestly say "i'm exhausted, that was a hard fought win", can't say that in baseball. our kids prefer action oriented sports, a challenge of strength and athleticism, not just standing around under the sun all day…

This message has been edited. Last edited by: oleschoolaggie,

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:
The title is mis-leading...

There are plenty of BLACKS in baseball.

There are plenty of African-Americans who play baseball all over the country, but when there are only 7 percent playing in MLB and less than that if you don't count HBCUs in college, it's a problem.

We can say Afro-Americans (and even that is slippery considering that there are in other North and Central American nations) not blacks because people like Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, David Ortez who ARE black.

quote:

Originally posted by oleschoolaggie:
i think there are multiple reasons why blacks no longer play baseball but to me the main reasons are that the game is too slow paced, its non-athletic (too much standing around), and most of all, baseball is the only major sport that refuses to make rules changes to make the game more exciting. football and basketball have made numerous rules changes over the years to improve the excitement of their game. baseball has not. for example, basketball brought back the slam dunk, added the 3 point shot, reduce the time allotted for backcourt violations, college added the shot clock, all changes made to increase offense. football has changed rules regarding defensive backs (they can hardly touch a receiver now days), you can barely touch the quarterback, they added the 2 point conversion and they moved the kickoff back 5 yards just to name a few. baseball's rules have never changed to improve the game's excitement, to speed up the pace. to me, black athletes in general are bored by baseball. in football and basketball, guys can honestly say "i'm exhausted, that was a hard fought win", can't say that in baseball. our kids prefer action oriented sports, a challenge of strength and athleticism, not just standing around under the sun all day…

What?

1. The batters can't step out of the box with both feet and take practice swings.
2. The pitchers have 10 seconds to throw a pitch after going into the set position.
3. You forget the DH was put in and the mound was lowered back in late 1960s to give lineups a chance against the great pitching staffs of that era.
4. In addition baseball also outlawed pitchers doctoring the balls to gain an advantage.
5. I mean, the strike zone has clearly srunk the last 10 years and that has increased scoring.
5. Ballparks are being built smaller, and the outfield walls are being moved closer in some ballparks to increase run production.
6.Young players once used wood bats and now have aluminum bats. You can't tell me that has not helped in creating more excitement.

The beauty of the game is that it goes at it's own pace and does not alienate the crowd with artifical mechanisms to draw the attention of this ADHD world like basketball and football has.

What does being tired have to do with the level of attraction the game has towards kids? I wish you had the gonads to tell current and former players that the wins were never hard-fought and they were never tired. You probably get dressed down.

Go ask those players who took greenies just to make it through the season that the game is not tough. Go tell that to pitchers who took injections in their shoulders and elbows to be able to pitch every fifth day.

Go ask Ricky Henderson how he had to deal with the pain of stealing bases because his body was bruised and cut and tried after sliding over and over and over five months a year. How about asking Andre Dawson about playing on the original Astroturf with the Expos on bad knees.

Go ask Ivan Rodriguez how did it feel to catch your 150th game of the season in 100 degree weather in Teaxas for 8 years.

Stand in the sun all day....Man, you are not serious. Baseball is a physically and mentally challeging.

You are probably one of those cats who steer kids away from the game because you think it's boring.

And you call yourself old school?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MARSHALL,

Also you have to think about marketing. Here in Cincinnati we have the RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Innercity) program. MLB is not trying to market itself to the young kids. I see in the public high school level that there only a few kids who played a kid and you have several who never played and you have to teach them from scratch.

Also as mention high school coaches (and AAU) are in competition with each other instead of letting kids become 3 or 4 sport athletes.

T. LOUIS -- Five statues in the state of Missouri honor Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial, but until June 28, there were no baseball fields named after the man who spent 22 seasons with St. Louis.

The Cardinals Care Foundation took care of that when it dedicated Stan Musial Field in Jennings, Mo., on Tuesday.

"Cardinals Care is thrilled that we could honor 'Stan the Man' in this way for the tremendous contributions he has made to the St. Louis community on and off the field," said Tim Hanser, vice president, community outreach and Cardinals Care.

Cardinals Care helps children through building baseball fields, supporting youth programs and funding children's agencies that support kids primarily in the areas of health education, mentoring and the arts. Since its inception in 1997, the organization has given more than $8.5 billion to help children in St. Louis. Including Stan Musial Field, Cardinals Care has funded 11 youth diamonds.

The field was completed last year and was home to the Jennings High School varsity baseball team. This summer, children involved in Redbird Rookies -- a youth baseball program -- will use the field. Redbird Rookies provides baseball equipment to more than 2,000 boys and girls ages 5-13 in 15 neighborhoods.

Stan Musial is a three-time National League MVP and a seven-time National League batting champion. He ranks fourth in Major League history with 3,630 hits.

Cardinals Care received a substantial donation from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust and support from the Healthy Kids at Play initiative, which provides designated neighborhoods with a safe place for children to play.

Construction was headed by Clayco Sports.

Stephen A. Norris is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:
The title is mis-leading...

There are plenty of BLACKS in baseball.

There are plenty of African-Americans who play baseball all over the country, but when there are only 7 percent playing in MLB and less than that if you don't count HBCUs in college, it's a problem.

We can say Afro-Americans (and even that is slippery considering that there are in other North and Central American nations) not blacks because people like Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, David Ortez who ARE black.

Well, I think we are disussing mostly American-born African-Americans.

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:
The title is mis-leading...

There are plenty of BLACKS in baseball.

There are plenty of African-Americans who play baseball all over the country, but when there are only 7 percent playing in MLB and less than that if you don't count HBCUs in college, it's a problem.

We can say Afro-Americans (and even that is slippery considering that there are in other North and Central American nations) not blacks because people like Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, David Ortez who ARE black.

Well, I think we are disussing mostly American-born African-Americans.

That's why I said the title was misleading.

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by B Triple:
The title is mis-leading...

There are plenty of BLACKS in baseball.

There are plenty of African-Americans who play baseball all over the country, but when there are only 7 percent playing in MLB and less than that if you don't count HBCUs in college, it's a problem.

We can say Afro-Americans (and even that is slippery considering that there are in other North and Central American nations) not blacks because people like Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, David Ortez who ARE black.

Well, I think we are disussing mostly American-born African-Americans.

That's why I said the title was misleading.

I feel you now.

To me playing baseball requires patience and time and that is something that black athletes of today in general do not have. To play in the majors you generally have to put in years before you make it. Unless you are a can't miss prospect and that is few and far between you could be in the minors for a while. With so many black athletes wanting instant success and instant money it is very hard for baseball to encourage them to play the sports no matter how many acadamies and programs they start.

quote:

Originally posted by Arlington R. Morgan, Jr.:
To me playing baseball requires patience and time and that is something that black athletes of today in general do not have. To play in the majors you generally have to put in years before you make it. Unless you are a can't miss prospect and that is few and far between you could be in the minors for a while. With so many black athletes wanting instant success and instant money it is very hard for baseball to encourage them to play the sports no matter how many acadamies and programs they start.

All the sports are the same in regards to needing patience to be successful. I mean, you got about a billion kid now thinking they can be the next Kobe or LeBron now. You got hundreds of AAU and traveling teams that it's not realistic little John is going to the NBA or get a college scholarship.

It's the same with football as well when it comes to kids flooding the market to become the next Vince Young or Reggie Bush. You are right about kids not sticking to the game after high school and college. But you've got about a million guys playing ball on the blacktop in the hood who won't make it in the NBA even though they are good athletes. And you got high school and college football players who were dominate at that level but won't make it in the NFL.

I played ball in college with a guy who I thought was the best athlete I'd ever seen. He was a WR/KR on the football team and played centerfield on the baseball team. Dude got drafted by the Red Sox and then traded to Arizona for Curt Schilling.

I thought he would be playing centerfield for the D-Backs in a year or so. Wrong. That cat is working a 9 to 5 now.

I have a cousin who played at the University of Illinois on their 2005 Final Four team and he was just a second-round pick. He plays about 15-20 minutes off the bench now, but he never knows when that next cat is around the corner to take his place.

Folks have to realize that making it in pro sports is damn hard no matter how good you think you are.

Even the 12th man on the Clippers, the 53rd man on the Raiders or the 25th man on the Reds is one of the best athletes in world.

Those are some good examples Marshall but you can't compare baseball with football and basketball because of the way baseball is structured. In Baseball you can go to the majors right out of high school if you are good enough to play in the big leagues like Griffey Jr and HOF Robin Yount who was playing in the majors at 17. In football no matter how good you or someone else thinks you are, you have to wait 3 years after you graduate from high school to play in the NFL. In basketball up until a few years ago you could go to the NBA right out of high school and now its only a year after high school. You are absolutely right that its extremely hard to make it in the big leagues in any sport but in baseball its even more difficult especially if you believe that you should up there from day one and are not. Young kids see the Lebrons and the Kobies of the world make it and make it fast in basketball but don't see the same thing in baseball and that in itself is why baseball is having a difficult time bringing the black athlete and especially the young black athlete into their sport.

quote:

Originally posted by Arlington R. Morgan, Jr.:
In Baseball you can go to the majors right out of high school if you are good enough to play in the big leagues like Griffey .

I think the days of Griffey Jr, Robin Yount and Bob Feller going to the major leagues fresh out of high school is over. There is just too much money invested in those type players to have them ruin their career by going to the big leagues at such a young age.

That's why even the great high school players still have to go to rookie league and A ball with players their own age before making that jump. Unlike basketball and football where 19,20,21 year-olds are thrown into a man's game and man's lifestyle too soon.

But I understand your point that kids don't want to wait 3-4 years afer getting drafted before their hardwork pays off when you can get drafted out of college and make millions right away playing in the NBA or NFL.

It's a tough sell for baseball to say the least.

Like you guys said eariler, it is hard for our kids to get into Baseball because of a lack of resources and money, it is like getting our kids into Soccer. There are alot of sports kids can get into and plus, maybe they don't want to play when they don't see enough black athletes being marketed, like Soccer here in American. I would love to see our kids get back into the sport where we once dominated and produced some of the best players of all-time.

quote:

Originally posted by MARSHALL:

quote:

Originally posted by Arlington R. Morgan, Jr.:
In Baseball you can go to the majors right out of high school if you are good enough to play in the big leagues like Griffey .

I think the days of Griffey Jr, Robin Yount and Bob Feller going to the major leagues fresh out of high school is over. There is just too much money invested in those type players to have them ruin their career by going to the big leagues at such a young age.

The Upton kid made the Dbacks pretty quick.