Jimmy Rollins and the Fate of the Black Ball Player

When the Dodgers traded for shortstop Jimmy Rollins this past offseason, they not only got a World Champion and 4-time gold glove winner, they also received an outspoken defender of the game of baseball as social commentary. It’s no secret that representation of African American players in Major League Baseball has been on the decline over the past thirty years. According to the Society of American Baseball Research, participation rates of African Americans (as separate from Latinos) hit a high in 1981 of 18.7%. By 2012, the rate had dropped all the way to 7.2% with a slight increase last year back to 8%.

When he was with the Phillies, Rollins spoke openly about the decline of black participation in his favorite sport. “There are a number of factors,” the current Dodger infielder said in a New York Daily News interview in 2013. “It starts at home. If you’re growing up in single-parent homes, it makes it that much tougher to go play baseball…If you only have one parent, who has to work, you could have love for the game, but you just don’t have time for it.  And a kid can’t play baseball by himself.”

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Another factor he brings up is MLB’s marketing of black players. “I won MVP in 2007, and I wasn’t on anybody’s cover. No one’s. I’m not sure if CC (Sabathia) was on a cover, and he was Cy Young. If you want black kids to play, you have to market to the black kids.”

Still a third factor is the amount of time it takes to become successful in baseball as compared to football or basketball. “You get drafted, and you go to the jungle. The other sports, you get drafted and you’re going to the league the next year. In baseball, there is more service time.”

If young black kids are struggling to find a common parlance with the national pastime due to its lack of glamour or showmanship, what methods are available for those who want to see the game continue to grow within this vital demographic? What tactics can be used to pull some of America’s best athletes back to baseball and away from the slim rosters of the NBA and the short career spans of the NFL?

“‘Look at the history, the golden age of baseball.’ Kids don’t care about that stuff. They weren’t even born.” –Jimmy Rollins

Dodger left fielder Carl Crawford did an amazing thing for the Jackie Robinson West team during the Little League World Series last summer. Jackie Robinson West was an all-black team from Chicago. “They just reminded me so much of the Little League team I played on, being all black and everything,” Crawford said. Like Rollins, Crawford has deep feelings about African American participation in baseball, so much so that he told the Jackie Robinson West team that he would pick up all the expenses for the families, from airfare to hotel rooms to food. Carl’s brother Cory even traveled to Williamsport, PA, with the team to not only watch them play but to make sure the bills were taken care of.

Could marketing its young black stars be a solution to this perceived problem? Could supporting youth programs help as well? It will probably take both of these options and more. What I would love to see more of in baseball is more freedom given to players to express themselves in how they celebrate great plays, how they market or “brand” themselves, and also how they play the game itself.

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That Balls Outta Here

When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, he brought with him a style of play many audiences had never seen before. The creativity and innovations used in Negro League baseball brought many changes to the game that we now take for granted (playing under the lights, squeeze plays, and stealing home among others). Continuing to allow black players (or players of any color for that matter) to bring their own sense of style and creativity to the game not only will help keep the game relevant but it will also play a role in the choices made by young athletes who have other career options.

As Rollins points out succinctly, “Baseball, its history and numbers and all that…everything comes back to, ‘Look at the history, the golden age of baseball.’ Kids don’t care about that stuff. They weren’t even born. What’s happening now and today?”