Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who joins Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker as the two Black men to hold Major League Baseball managerial positions, used Jackie Robinson Day to rip MLB for its lack of African American players.
The annual Society of Baseball Research report on the number of Black players on MLB rosters on Opening Day was released April 15, the day Robinson is honored league-wide for making his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It concluded Black players represented 7.2% of the league when the 2022 season began, a decrease from 7.6% in 2021.
“It’s really hit me in the face,” Roberts told the L.A. Times.
“When you’re talking about African American ballplayers, we need to do better. I think about it all the time. It’s really getting uncomfortable.”
Roberts said MLB is reducing opportunities for “undeveloped, raw, talented African American players” by cutting the number of rounds in the June draft and eliminating minor league teams.
“When the draft is shortened, it just doesn’t give those same guys the opportunities. It also doesn’t give the organizations the opportunity to seek those guys or identify those guys,” Roberts said.
Roberts’ honesty is appreciated, especially because he does not spare himself from criticism.
Roberts’ Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, earning him the privilege of managing the 2021 National League All Star team. MLB moved the game from Atlanta to Denver after Georgia passed draconian, unneeded voter restrictions.
Before the game was moved, Roberts announced he was considering skipping the event, and “blowback” against his comment was immediate.
“In years past, I probably would not have even voiced that,” Roberts said.
“But it’s bigger than just my job. If Jackie Robinson were just a baseball player, I wouldn’t be here today, and the world would look different. I encourage our players to speak up and be advocates about the issues they believe in, and I have to follow that.”
During the 2020 season, many Dodgers did not want to play the evening after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot by a Wisconsin police officer. Roberts joined his players in protest, and the game was postponed.
“In years past, it would have been, ‘My job is to manage, and everything outside that is not my concern,’” he said.
According to SABR, 18.5% of all players were Black in 1975, an all-time high.
Baker’s career began in 1968, and he played with the late Hank Aaron for seven seasons. His final year was 1986, when Black player participation was at its highest.
“Today, you can count (Black players) on one hand, and before it was two or three hands,” Baker told mlb.com.
“We made a lot of progress, and in a lot of areas, we haven’t made that much progress. … We’ve already regressed enough; it’s time for some progress.”
The Reid Round
The St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 2022 induction class and it includes some guy named Curt Flood. After a stellar 12-season career as a St. Louis Cardinal, which included three World Series, two championships, three All-Star Game appearances and seven Gold Gloves for defensive excellence, Flood is not in the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. After challenging MLB’s reserve clause in a landmark lawsuit in 1972 which, while unsuccessful, led to free agency for players and his getting chased from the game he loved by vindictive owners, I repeat, Flood is not a member of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. …Joining Flood in the 2022 class are Ottis Anderson (football); Don Bliss and Carol Fromuth (golf); Mark Buehrle and Danny Cox (baseball); Eugene “Deke” Edwards (wrestling); Nikki Ziegelmeyer (ice skating) and Frank Cusumano (media)…Notre Dame will play Tennessee State University in its second football game of 2023, marking the first time the school has played an HBCU team and its first FCS opponent. Both teams have Black coaches. Former Ohio State and NFL star running back Eddie George leads TSU and Marcus Freeman, who was hired in December after Brian Kelly bolted for LSU, guiding The Fighting Irish…The MLB Network is airing a new show called “Off Base,” which is aimed at younger baseball fans. Hosted by Lauren Gardner, panelists including Hannah Keyser and Xavier Scruggs. The show originates from the network’s New Jersey studio, and Scruggs also contributes to ESPN and SiriusXM baseball coverage. This makes me wonder if he remains the Cardinals Diversity and Inclusion consultant, a job he was hired to in April 2021.
