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Mets. Not one. He had to go to the MLB Network just
to stay around the game. "Look around. (Buck)
Showalter was out of the game. Bobby Valentine was
out of the game. Jim Leyland. Davey Johnson. They
got jobs just like that. It's a joke, man." African
Americans within the game have taken a grassroots
approach to reversing the trend. Still, despite the
obstacles, there are African­-American players and
executives trying to make a difference. LaTroy
Hawkins, one of 11 African­-American pitchers in the
major leagues, spoke Sunday in New York at baseball
clinics with Sharon Robinson, daughter of Jackie
Robinson. Tyrone Brooks, the Pittsburgh Pirates'
assistant general manager, got started in Hank Aaron's
internship program with the Atlanta Braves and formed
the Baseball Industry Network to help those trying to
get jobs in the game. Oakland Athletics scouting
director Billy Owens and Los Angeles Dodgers
assistant GM DeJon Watson constantly try to persuade
prep athletes to play baseball. "What I want to do is
hopefully give these people an opportunity that they
didn't quite know how to go about it," Brooks said. "If it
wasn't for the people that started that internship
program with the Braves, who knows if I would have
had a chance to work in this game." Making baseball
cool Baseball also constantly fights the stigma of being
a dull sport. Even former American League MVP Ken
Griffey Jr.'s son Trey abandoned baseball to accept a
football scholarship at the University of Arizona, and
Hall of Famer Barry Larkin's son Shane is playing
basketball at Miami. The lack of African­-American
players also affects diversity in the stands. Just 9% of
fans who attended an MLB game last season were
African American, according to a recent Scarborough
Marketing Research study. "It's what you grow up
around," Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew
McCutchen says. "For the African­-American
USA Today/ ­- News, Seg, 16 de Abril de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Civil Rights)
community, it's more basketball, it's more football. Just
the hype of it. It's what people like. Baseball is more of
a laid­-back sport. There's not a lot going on. "Growing
up, I really loved baseball, and it's something I
flourished at as a child. But look at the world now.
Technology is running the world. There are so many
different things people can do, so it kind of turns them
away from baseball." Said Dodgers center fielder Matt
Kemp: "We're definitely aware what's going on in MLB
as far as African Americans. I'm trying to make
baseball cool for African Americans and let
African­-American kids know that baseball can give you
the same opportunities as football, basketball or any of
the other sports. You get paid just as much, get to
drive those nice cars and do all of that fun stuff that all
the other NBA guys get to do. We're just a little bit
more low key." It's tough scouts and general managers
say, since colleges also are attracting few
African­-American athletes. Universities offer 11.7
scholarships in baseball, vs. 85 in football. "The lack of
full scholarships in NCAA baseball sways kids to other
sports," Oakland Athletics scouting director Billy
Owens says. "Plus there are more options athletically
and recreationally. Back in the '40s and '50s, baseball
was unequivocally the No. 1 sport in America. Now it's
extremely popular but not a monopoly. We should
embrace our past, promote the present and continue
to strive and make things better for everyone."
Williams says perhaps there's too much emphasis on
the lack of African Americans in baseball. The White
Sox GM is more intrigued with the additional benefits
of MLB's efforts. "I'm happy with MLB's efforts to bring
more young men to the game, but not why you think,"
he says. "It's the educational and motivational part of
the programs that hopefully lead to college
opportunities that most impress me."
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