In your opinion what caused the decline of African Americans in Baseball?

[L&HH]

Not only the money but the quality of life post baseball. There's a lot more blue-blood money throughout those organizations. Also most baseball players who retire aren't dealing with life debilitating injuries.

Those shots NFL players take aren't worth it.

There was a AMA on reddit on a dude who skipped out on major D1 scholarships cause of the health risks. Then ppl on the comments were telling him it was a great decision. Players who only made it to D2 were on there talking about how they had to get hip replacements by age 30 and how they'll probably have to get total knee replacements by the time they're in there mid-40's had me like

 

[feelosofer]

This is garbage.
You need a pristine field now for kids to play sports?

They have hand me down shoulder pads, other pads, cleats, helmets, uniforms all available for kids to play football. Why is it so impossible for baseball.

When you say it's more "expensive" what you really mean is that the costs don't match the interest levels. If the interest was high enough, the costs would not matter, like they don't matter for football - otherwise basketball would be the only popular sport amonv AAs.

Lol I'm not even talking pristine, G. I'm talking it would cost 50k to make it safe to play and you really need to get a long term contract with a company. Municipal baseball fields are regulated by the county and the state and have to be in a certain condition otherwise they are essentially condemned sandlot until further notice. This is needed because properly regulated fields can be hosted and bring revenue to the city through vending licenses, promoting/sponsoring etc. Thers's a lot of pieces that go into play. A basketball court can be fixed up for maybe 10-15k, football fields can be resodded for relatively cheap in comparison.

Also baseball equipment has to be custimized to an extent. Equipment and uniforms get worn down a lot faster due to the longer season in baseball, my son played for 5 years, the equipment/uniforms degrade pretty quickly and you have to buy new stuff every year or 2 (granted my son was in the middle of some growth spurts) but either way for an avg working parent, thats hundreds of dollars out of pocket they just can't afford.

 

[MikeBrownsJob]

There was a AMA on reddit on a dude who skipped out on major D1 scholarships cause of the health risks. Then ppl on the comments were telling him it was a great decision. Players who only made it to D2 were on there talking about how they had to get hip replacements by age 30 and how they'll probably have to get total knee replacements by the time they're in there mid-40's had me like

And these dudes are really arguing that it's harder to get paid in baseball? It's literally the worst "Big 3" sport you can play.

Arguably, Major League Baseball (“MLB”) offers one of the best pension and healthcare programs in all of sports. Players vest in their pensions after 43 days on the active roster and just one day qualifies a player for lifetime healthcare. Playing isn’t even a requirement, benchwarmers may qualify for benefits as well. After 43 days, players qualify for the minimum benefit of $34,000 per year and those with 10 years of service receive a pension of approximately $100,000 annually.

 

[Texas2step]

Im going to speak on my experience and why I my interest declined. I've played baseball since I was 5 and was very good at it. But it felt is if I didnt belong or that sport wasnt made for me. You get to the point where you are tired of being the only black person playing. I played shortstop & pitcher & batted 3rd my whole life but when I got to highschool my coach thought I should play outfield and hit leadoff (while knowing I was HR hitter) . Now this is my same RB coach in football who would run to fetch me water but in baseball he wouldnt even give me the chance to play my natural position at first (he eventually had no choice to play me at shortstop and bat 3rd since i was the best). It makes you feel uncomfortable and you get tired of that feeling. Now I was heavily recruited in baseball, but refused those scholarships at D1 baseball to play D2 football


Most black baseball players go through that feeling of being mistreated or outcast or unwanted. Plus the fact that the attention I got in both football and basketball was greater than I got in baseball tho being 10x better can also be a factor

 

[Danie84]

As a casual baseball fan, everytime I see a modern black baseball player (B. Phillips, A. Jones, the Upton bros (not so much BJ ), and McCutchen) shining I feel a great pride of BLACKEXCELLENCE

I don't care where Ortiz or Puig is from, their still el negro

 

[Swiggy]

Baseball requires so much involvement to get into, where a kid by himself can get his hoops skills polished at an early age, just by dribbling home from the bus stop after school. That right there is practice without practicing.

Plus, idolizing athletes that you can relate to is key, as basketball stars are engrained into the culture more than any other athlete. Even NFL players.

 

[TooLazyToMakeUp1]

I dunno breh. I love the game. I played from little league all the way up to sophomore year. Everyone did as well. All my boys who were black played up until freshman year, but High School hits and all of a sudden, you have 3-4 other middle schools pouring into one.

No one cares about baseball in high school. I remember that year on the baseball team and the white coaches who were bigots(looking back) moved me from pitcher to CF. I quit the next year to play basketball and football.

That's my story but I chalk up the decline to cultural. No one in high school is more influenced by things than black youth and baseball just isn't cool. I remember all my boys who were just a year removed from playing asking me why I was playing that "kaker sport"..Couple that with being the only negro out there and you start to think ...It's not even a financial thing like hockey because the Caribbean countries stay pumping out kids in baseball who are less fortunate and have less access to baseball equipment.

it's cultural breh. Same reason why white people dominate Jazz.

I played lacrosse, baseball and ran track in high school.......and the robotics team too . My baseball team had 3 brothas on it, including myself, and I was the only black dude on my lacrosse team (there was another one. He was black but not a brotha at all. Dude was darker than me, but he was on some no-n!ggas wavelength )

Like you said, it's really a cultural thing for baseball I guess because there isn't that immediate payoff. Still, there would be no way in hell I'd ever sign an NFL contract if baseball was an option

 

[Carolina Slim]

Lack of equipment, parks, and little league teams. And then you gotta find enough kids to field 2 teams.

Its much easier & more satisfying to hoop by yourself or find a pickup game than it is to practice hitting off a practice tee.

The kids I know who played baseball got pushed into it by their parents. More parents have to push their sons into other sports: get that easy scholarship money playing something other than football/ basketball. If you're a gifted athlete you can always crossover later like Tim Duncan.

This. My projects had a baseball field right in the middle of it. I grew up loving baseball, probably even more so than football and basketball. It was a problem to get 18 nikkas together, let alone 18 nikkas WITH EQUIPMENT. So as much as I loved the game, playing it as a full team game was hard. If you was fortunate enough to find nikkas with gloves, you would just share gloves with a dude on the other team.

Whereas, if I just had a basketball, I could go to the courts by myself, shoot around. Another nikka might come after awhile and shoot with me, and then a third, now we can play Utah or something. Another nikka comes, now we got a 2 on 2 game going. After awhile, you running a full.

Another poster alluded to the fact that some folks wouldn't put you on. I have funny remembrances of playing softball with some of the old head Puerto Rican dudes, and them nikkas would stay batting me last, or putting me at some wack position like short center. This in spite of my friends saying "yo, put him in LF or CF, bat him 3rd or 4th" and they would be like . But then I would get up to bat, put in some work, or run something down in the outfield, then be like "Cono, the morenito can play! Ju play fo me next tine, alright papi?"

 

[King Theo]

And these dudes are really arguing that it's harder to get paid in baseball? It's literally the worst "Big 3" sport you can play.

ya if i have a son we are gonna be in the batting cages everyday and if he whines imma be like and show him that

 

[locoloco87]

who said minor leaguers get paid well? most minor leaguers get paid peanuts except if your drafted in the top 6th rounds other than that you might get a 5k bonus and get paid maybe 1,000 a month for 4-5 months them nikkas got a regular job during the off season

 

[The Amerikkkan Idol]

Michael Jordan and the lack of fathers.

The correct answer


Also, I'll just put this out there.

Major League Baseball doesn't WANT Black players.

Think about it.

The perceptions of the NBA and NFL is that they are filled with "thugs".

Now we know why that is and the racist reasoning behind it.

Part of baseball's lore with it's fanbase is that it's pure (meaning culturally White).

It hasn't been "tainted" by Hip-Hop the way that the NBA and NFL have been.

The players aren't thought of as gangstas and thugs.

Also, because of the Latin influence, they can actually hire Black players (Ortiz, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, etc. . ) without having to deal with the "inner city" aspects of our culture. If the guys in Latin America are doing crazy shyt (like Pedro Martinez and them cockfighting), nobody cares because it's not in Amerikkka, so it's a minor story in comparison to Michael Vick dogfighting.

Baseball just doesn't want us around.

They'll never admit this, but it's a country club environment for people who think that the NBA & NFL are filled with ungrateful nikkaz who are "too big for our britches"

They like the atmosphere of White boys and Latinos and Asians who are "grateful" and barely speak English.

 

[Big Blue]

I think the question should be why don't more Americans play soccer? Those Europeans get some major paper?

 

[mozichrome]

The correct answer


Also, I'll just put this out there.

Major League Baseball doesn't WANT Black players.

Think about it.

The perceptions of the NBA and NFL is that they are filled with "thugs".

Now we know why that is and the racist reasoning behind it.

Part of baseball's lore with it's fanbase is that it's pure (meaning culturally White).

It hasn't been "tainted" by Hip-Hop the way that the NBA and NFL have been.

The players aren't thought of as gangstas and thugs.

Also, because of the Latin influence, they can actually hire Black players (Ortiz, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, etc. . ) without having to deal with the "inner city" aspects of our culture. If the guys in Latin America are doing crazy shyt (like Pedro Martinez and them cockfighting), nobody cares because it's not in Amerikkka, so it's a minor story in comparison to Michael Vick dogfighting.

Baseball just doesn't want us around.

They'll never admit this, but it's a country club environment for people who think that the NBA & NFL are filled with ungrateful nikkaz who are "too big for our britches"

They like the atmosphere of White boys and Latinos and Asians who are "grateful" and barely speak English.

this is just.....

 

[ManBearPig]

them white people are getting good.

 

[tremonthustler1]

Baseball just doesn't want us around.

No, this is just a defense mechanism used to justify not liking something.

CC Sabathia = from Vallejo

Upton Bros. = Norfolk, VA

Carl Crawford = Fifth Ward Houston

Jimmy Rollins = Oakland

Ryan Howard = St. Louis

Adam Jones = SE San Diego

Those Latin players that don't have to deal with the inner city (whatever the fukk this meant, as if Latin players don't grow up in more fukked up surroundings)

Manny Ramirez /Pedro Alvarez = Washington Heights

Robinson Cano when he first moved here = Newark, New Jersey

Good to know you think that these guys not being considered gangstas or thugs is a bad thing