Right now, the number of Black professional baseball players is at an all-time, historic low. But, new Major League Baseball (MLB) development pipeline programs are trying to change that for the future.
Outside of the National Hockey League, the MLB has the worst percentage when it comes to Black professional athletes as compared to the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and Major League Soccer.
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) issued a report card last June. TIDES found that “Black players represented just 6.2% of players on opening day rosters, down from last year’s previous record low of 7.2%. Both figures are the lowest recorded in the study since it began in 1991, when 18% of MLB players were Black.”
The 2022 World Series marked the first time since 1950, which was three years after Jackie Robinson made his MLB debut in 1947, integrating the league, “that did not feature a single Black person born in the United States.”
After winning the World Series that year, Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker said “What hurts is that I don’t know how much hope that it gives some of the young African-American kids. Because when I was their age, I had a bunch of guys, [Willie] Mays, [Hank] Aaron, Frank Robinson, Tommy Davis — my hero — Maury Wills, all these guys. We need to do something before we lose them.”
Baseball coach Stephan Knight attributed some of this to the fact that “We don’t have the representation from college on up.” “Kids like to imitate what they see, and if they’re not seeing us in the major leagues, now it’s, ‘I’m gonna go shoot this basketball, I’m gonna go run this football,’” continued Knight.
In response to these low numbers, MLB has been investing in diversity pipeline programs. Del Matthews, vice president of baseball development for MLB, said “We are really doubling down on what we’ve done…because we are producing kids that are going to college, that are getting internships within the sport. We see more kids playing at the Division I college baseball ranks, and we see more kids being drafted into the minor leagues. And so we’re just flooding that through the various programs that we’ve had.”
The DREAM series, “a development experience event focused on the dynamics of pitching and catching for a diverse group of elite high-school athletes, predominantly African-American players, from across the country during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend,” is one of these development programs.
Lee Allen Jr. is a DREAM series alum, and junior infielder playing for Prairie View A&M. Allen participated in MLB’s Andre Dawson Classic along with 200 plus other standouts from HBCUs who dream of a career in pro baseball and “perhaps help usher in a new generation of African American stars.”
“Being able to be out here and showcase my talents in front of these scouts and other guys who’s looking at us at the next level,” Allen stated, adding “it feels great for me because I know that those are goals that I can reach, and they’re there.”
While the results of these initiatives are not overtly being seen yet, there are some positive signs that progress is occurring. “Between 2012 and 2021, 17.4% of first-round picks were African American players. That number spiked to 30% in 2022, when four of the first five selections were Black players for the first time ever — and all four were alumni of at least one MLB diversity initiative. In 2023, Black players made up 10 of the first 50 draft selections, or 20%,” NBC News reports.