Selig Seeks Solution For Decline in African-American Players

Selig To Participate In Conference Call To Discuss Drop Of African Americans In MLB

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig invited “all of today’s prominent African-American players” and MLB advisor Frank Robinson to join MLB Exec VP/Baseball Operations Jimmie Lee Solomon in a conference call earlier this month so Selig could “receive information from the group on what it considered as the reasons for the drop in African-American players,” according to Terence Moore of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. The group will “return at a later date with possible solutions.” Selig said Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins and 1B Ryan Howard, Brewers 1B Prince Fielder, Reds CF Ken Griffey Jr. and Yankees SS Derek Jeter "were all there, and it was quite remarkable. We’re not going to stop until we get this thing done.” Moore noted only 8% of MLBers last season were African-American, compared with 27% in the mid-70s. Robinson said Selig is “very concerned, and he’s very serious about this, and what he’s trying to do is figure out some way to find a solution to this, which is why he’s reaching out to this group.” Selig said, “I want to build more baseball academies, but I also want to know what they want us to do, and what they are willing to do with us, too” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 11/25).