Will The Last Black-American Baseball Player Please Standu..

As a Black man and longtime baseball fan, Black America's increasing
abandonment of baseball has gotten more troubling by the year, to the
point that it's now become kind of shameful IMO...

When you consider ALL those battles that were fought just to prove we
belonged on the same playing field as ANY player, to see today's lack of
Black fan intrest and participation is plain and simply tragic. From a
high of over 27% in 1975, todays Black-American representation in the
Major Leagues is an anemic 8.4% - and dropping like a rock!

As we approach the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson re-breaking of
the color line in Major League Baseball - this Sunday, April 15th - I
can only imagine what he would say if he were alive today to see us
virtually disappearing from the game he fought so hard to get us into!


What happened to the Black fans and players?
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Why America's Pastime Is Losing Its Identity
http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=5026

African Americans In College Baseball
http://www.thesportjournal.org/2007Journal/Vol10-No2/Butts07.asp


What's being done about it?
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MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/community/urban_youth.jsp

The Torii Hunter Project
http://www.toriihunter48.com/

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Three of the most recent acclaimed books on the lasting legacy of Jackie
Robinson, Larry Doby and others

Carrying Jackie's Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball-and America
http://www.amazon.com/Carrying-Jackies-Torch-Integrated-Baseball/dp/15...26393/s

After Jackie: Pride, Prejudice, and Baseball's Forgotten Heroes - An
Oral History
http://www.amazon.com/After-Jackie-Prejudice-Baseballs-Forgotten/dp/19...60182/r

Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Day-Jackie-Robinsons-Season/dp/074329460...ef=pd_b


In the end it all starts with becoming a fan of the game; that's where
players come from... we've lost that along the way.