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Jackie Robinson: 67 Years Ago, Today


OFFNY

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67 years...only 67 African American players in the major leagues. Work was done and it was good, but baseball under Selig has really lapsed at promoting the game among black youth. I also blame the media.

With players like Jones and McCutchen at the top of the game, MLB and the media need to do a better job of highlighting their accomplishments to build the national exposure of these positive role models.

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67 years...only 67 African American players in the major leagues. Work was done and it was good, but baseball under Selig has really lapsed at promoting the game among black youth. I also blame the media.

With players like Jones and McCutchen at the top of the game, MLB and the media need to do a better job of highlighting their accomplishments to build the national exposure of these positive role models.

78% play in the NBA.

66% play in the NFL.

So maybe it's nothing Selig has done wrong, but a decision that the youth make at an earlier age about which sport they liked better?

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Camden_yardbird said:

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67 years ... only 67 African American players in the major leagues. Work was done and it was good, but baseball under Selig has really lapsed at promoting the game among black youth. I also blame the media

 

With players like Adam Jones and Andrew McCutchen at the top of the game, MLB and the media need to do a better job of highlighting their accomplishments to build the national exposure of these positive role models.

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Redskins Rick said:

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78% play in the NBA.

66% play in the NFL.

So maybe it's nothing Selig has done wrong, but a decision that the youth make at an earlier age about which sport they liked better?

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Also, pick-up basketball games (anywhere from one-on-one to five-on-five), and pick-up football games (touch or tackle, and you can play 3-on-3, 4-on-4, 5-on-5, etc.) are easier to get going than pick-up baseball games.

That was the case when I was growing up, anyway.

I haven't done any research on the subject, but I would imagine that that would be a factor in kids choosing a primary sport, also.

 

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Also, pick-up basketball games (anywhere from one-on-one to five-on-five), and pick-up football games (touch or tackle, and you can play 3-on-3, 4-on-4, 5-on-5, etc.) are easier to get going than pick-up baseball games.

It was when I was growing up, anyway.

I haven't done any research on the subject, but I would imagine that that would be a factor in kids choosing a primary sport, also.

I know where I grow up, most of the baseball fields that I played on, are gone, or controlled by the rec league, and hard to have a pickup game.

My son played a lot of pickup basketball and football, and I don't ever remember him playing baseball outside of when he was on the rec league.

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Heres something you may or may not have considered. Travel teams in the inner city are expensive and require vans, automobiles, even mini buses. Many can't afford that level of transportation. Also,

it costs about 400 bucks to outfit a player with equipment.An aluminum bat cost about 250 bucks and a glove is another 100 dollars. Its EXPENSIVE to play on a high level inner city baseball team.

I'm not

saying its all about the money, but its a major factor. A basketball team requires a ball and shoes.

Football players are outfitted by youth leagues and are often sponsored.

My child played all three sports, and all three cost me money and travel. :)

Football didn't cover Jersey, arm pads, cleats and multiple socks.

Basketball didn't cover Jersey, shoes and socks.

Baseball didn't cover, shoes, shocks, Bat or Glove, but to be honest, lower end aluminum for $50 was what we used, I am sure they went up in price, but I suspect cheaper than 250 can be found.

The most expensive sport was my daughter and cheerleading, ouch, the money spent on that was crazy, compared to the boy sports, but thats another topic. :)

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  • 9 months later...

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20 years ago, MLB permanently retired Robinson's Number 42.

 

The players whom were already wearing that number (Mariano Rivera, Mo Vaughn, Jose Lima, Michael Jackson, Scott Karl, Lenny Webster, Butch Huskey, Tom Goodwin, Buddy Groom, Kirk Rueter, Jason Schmidt, Dennis Cook, and Marc Sagmoen) were allowed to continue to do so until the end of their careers.

 

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/april-15-1997-jackie-robinson-50th-anniversary-13240011

 

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