The Houston Astros were the first World Series team in more than a half-century with a roster that did not include a single black player.
This did not pass by commentator and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.
“Of course, I noticed it.” Morgan said. “How could you not? But the (Astros) not the only ones. There are two or three teams that didn’t have any African-American players this year.”
Morgan called the situation “a predicament and a challenge for Major League Baseball.”
“It’s a daunting task to get African-American kids into baseball, and I don’t see the trend changing,” he said.
The last World Series team without a black player was the 1953 New York Yankees. It wasn’t until 1955 – eight years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 – that Elston Howard became the first black in Yankee pinstripes.
Black players accounted for just about 9 percent of big league rosters this season.
“We know that we have to work to do,” said noted used-car salesman and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.
“We’ll continue to intensify our efforts. I’m very aware, I’m extremely sensitive about it, and I feel badly about it. But we need to get to work to change things.”
By the way, columnist Alvin A. Reid noted that Houston was the whitest team in baseball in June 2004 in one of his Cardinal Commentaries.