While MLB celebrates the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson "breaking the color barrier," it will only "camouflage the harsh reality that there are fewer African Americans in baseball than at any other time in the last 60 years," according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. A study done by USA Today shows that African Americans "comprise just 7.1% of players on this year’s opening-day rosters," the lowest percentage since '58. There are "62 African-American players among the 868 on active rosters and disabled lists." Eleven teams have "no more than one African American on their roster," and the Padres and Rockies have none. There are a "litany of reasons why the African-American population in MLB has dwindled" from 17.2% in '94, but there are "signs of optimism." Six of the top 30 prospects in this year’s draft, according to ESPN and MLB.com, are African American -- "including perhaps the top three picks." Baseball America reports that "five of the top 12 high school prospects" are African American. Baseball also is "starting to see results from the millions of dollars it has poured into youth programs, urban initiatives and showcases." This will be the "third consecutive year that an alumnus from the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program and Breakthrough Series will be selected among the top five picks" (USA TODAY, 4/14).
ALTERNATIVE VIEW: MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince wrote under the header, "Diversity Blossoming Within Baseball." Whenever this topic "arises in MLB -- especially around the anniversary of Robinson's groundbreaking debut -- the overall diversity gets less attention than the specific percentage of African-American players." And this year, that percentage "declined on Opening Day rosters, from 8.3 to 7.7 -- a total of four players." But the '17 number is "slightly skewed" by the five black players of American and Canadian descent who began this season on the DL (Red Sox P David Price, Rockies LF Ian Desmond, Braves 2B Micah Johnson, Rangers P Tyson Ross and Blue Jays CF Dalton Pompey). The decline over the decades also "deserves some context." Though baseball's "peak African-American population" is often cited at 27% in the mid '70s, that number was "inflated by the inclusion of dark-skinned players from Latin American countries." Over the past five years, the first round of the amateur Draft has "featured 34 African-American players out of 168 total selections," or 20.2%. These "prominent Draft selections have contributed" toward African-Americans making up 14% of MLBPipeline.com's '17 Top 100 Prospects list (MLB.com, 4/14).
