Diversity and Blindness

In this article, the author is bemoaning the lack of American black players as Major League Baseball starts celebrating Jackie Robinson. (I guess he is ignoring the guys from the Caribbean who also wouldn't have been able to play.) But there is another side to this story that this author was blinded to in his quest for a "crisis." (Well, either that or he is a complete idiot, but I will be nice and give him the benefit of the doubt.)

Actually, the author hit on a major reason there are so few blacks in the MLB without ever intending it. This quote tells the story. "For Robinson, football and basketball had the allure of forbidden mistresses, and that was even prior to the NFL and NBA's maturation into baseball's legitimate competitors." What if we looked at the number of American blacks (staying consistent and ignoring guys from Africa) and how they have increased in the NBA or the NFL? Could that choice facing Robinson be the one facing blacks today? Maybe, but there is another part to it. I think baseball is starting to lose popularity in America, for whites, blacks, Asians, you name it. Every year it seems the NFL gets more popular. Can we say the same thing about the MLB? And if it is gaining more fans, are these brand new fans or old fans who had given up and are now coming back? Basically, baseball had a certain popularity back in the day. Is it higher now than it was or is baseball trying to climb back to its former height?

There is another part of this story that the author fails to mention. Do you know how hard it would be for a city dweller to actually play baseball? Where would they play without breaking a window? Now, to be more than fair, he talks about the price of equipment, but come on. How much is a bat and ball or a working glove? You don't need the full catcher's equipment. However, you do need a diamond. Now those are bloody expensive, once again, figuring no one wants to play in the street and break a window. How hard is it to put up a basketball hoop? Oh yeah, not very. Suppose someone did build a park in a city. Do you think they would be more likely to put up a basketball hoop, build a diamond, both, or neither? My guess is there will be quite a few hoops put up, but not any place to play baseball.

So what does this "crisis" really mean? Is it something to be worried about? Not really. I guess if someone wants to, they can bemoan all the Latino players taken roster spots from blacks and whites, but there isn't really a "crisis." And if for some reason we called it a crisis, truth and honesty would make us say there is also a crisis in the NBA, a lack of white players. Now who wants to write that story?