ROBINSON REMEMBERED, BUT IS HIS LEGACY FADING?
Article from Mike Dodd, USA TODAY
More than 100 Major League Baseball players will wear No. 42 on their uniforms Sunday in honor of the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.
This would be outstanding except here's the rub - the percentage of African-Americans in the major leagues is the lowest it's been since the 1960s.
Today, only 8.3% or 72 players on opening-day rosters this month will be Black, according to a USA TODAY study. The percentage of Blacks in front office, managing and coaching positions hasn't increased much during the last decade either.Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, says her husband. "Would think the struggle is still on and he would not be satisfied with where we are."
MLB's scorecard for African-Americans shows no home runs:
•The percentage of players has continued to decline, dropping 50% since 1997. The overall figure was about 27% in 1975, 17% in 1997. •The percentage of African-Americans in MLB's central office has dropped from 13% to 10.4% since '97.
•There are two African-American managers this year - one fewer than in 1997. The percentage of African-American coaches has remained 14% to 18% over the last 10 years. Representation in the general manager's office is the same as it was in 1997: one.
MLB is trying to boost participation. They've opened a Youth Baseball Academy at Compton College in Los Angeles, given grants to Boys and Girls Club of America members, and will sponsored its first Civil Rights Game this spring in Memphis; with proceeds benefiting several charities.
Mr. Robinson, we know what you endured and we will never forget. But unless there's some seismic shift that occurs to get our people in the stands, we may have just struck-out.