Where Have You Gone, Mr. Robinson?

April 15th was the 60th (not 50th, as I mentioned earlier) anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the race barrier in major league baseball, when he became the first African American to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

This was not something Jackie Robinson could have done by himself. He was selected partly because he was an excellent player, partly because he had the kind of demeanor to put up with the kind of racism of its day. He opened up baseball so people of all backgrounds could play.

These days, 40% of players in MLB are non-white. Only 8% are African American, which is far smaller than football or basketball.

People claim that one reason that baseball has such few African Americans is because of the lack of role models in the sport. What they mean, of course, is the lack of very successful role models. I'm sure baseball has plenty of role models that are African American. Players who work hard, have successful careers, have personalities that kids could emulate. But they aren't the top 2-3 players in the game, and for some reason, we need winners, superstar winners to entice kids. Sad, but true.

Thus, many are inspired by Michael Jordan since he was the dominant player of his day, but not, say, Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson of the Pistons, or certainly not Mark Price of the Cavaliers, players who might have been likable role models, but well, they have to win too, don't they?

In any case, personally, I don't think that's the reason why African Americans have left baseball. Let's face it. Baseball is a slow game. How often do players do anything in the game? How often does a player come to bat? 4-5 times a game? And how much do they do out in the field? Pitchers? Play only once every few days.

But basketball? You're in every play, on offense, on defense. The only time you're out is if you suck, you're injured, or you're resting. Otherwise, a top player can be in every play. Football is a little worse, but if you're on defense, you're in every play. If you're a running back, you can be a huge part of the offense. If you're a quarterback, you initiate every play.

Simply put, you do that much more in either sport than baseball. Gilbert Arenas can get of 30 shots in a game. Even a so-so player can take 10 shots a game, or do things like rebound that help a team win.

So I don't think it's just about the lack of role models. It's that basketball and football are flashier sports that involve the players that much more often, and that, along with the incredible money, has to have some appeal to young players.