also, MLB represents the American population very well.

 

Whites are the majority in america, with blacks the largest minority, but hispanics will pass as the largest minority within 5 years I believe. So baseball is ahead of the curve like it was back when Jackie Robinson came in. Took 10 years until segregation started coming down.

Write them letter saying "hey we want more blacks in the game" ?

sure, you could do that

Here is a the first phase of MLB's new campaign to bring blacks back.

 

Major League Baseball declares April 15 Jackie Robinson Day

Jackie Robinson Day will be celebrated every April 15 beginning this season

 

Ticket information

 

To honor the enduring impact of Jackie Robinson and his legacy, Major League Baseball has established April 15 as "Jackie Robinson Day" throughout the Major Leagues, it was announced today.

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig made the announcement with Sharon Robinson, daughter of Rachel and Jackie Robinson, and former National League President Leonard C. Coleman, the Chairman of the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

 

The announcement further honors Robinson's legacy by establishing April 15 as a day each year when every Major League Baseball Club will recognize the important social contributions Robinson made to our country. Jackie Robinson Day is one of the first programs to result from The Commissioner's Initiative: Major League Baseball in the 21st Century. The Commissioner's Initiative, which was formed last year, has been charged with examining the current state of Major League Baseball and determining ways to improve it for the fans.

 

"I have often stated that baseball's proudest moment and its most powerful social statement came on April 15, 1947 when Jackie Robinson first set foot on a Major League Baseball field," said Selig. "On that day, Jackie brought down the color barrier and ushered in the era in which baseball became the true national pastime. Fifty years after that historic event, in April 1997, I was proud to join Rachel Robinson and President Bill Clinton at Shea Stadium to honor Jackie by retiring his uniform number 42 in perpetuity. By establishing April 15 as 'Jackie Robinson Day' throughout Major League Baseball, we are further ensuring that the incredible contributions and sacrifices he made -- for baseball and society -- will not be forgotten."

 

"On behalf of our family and the Jackie Robinson Foundation, I would like to extend my thanks to Major League Baseball for creating an event that ensures Jackie's legacy will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of each new generation of Major League Baseball players and fans," said Rachel Robinson, wife of Jackie Robinson and Founder of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. "April 15, 1947 was a day of great significance, not only for Major League Baseball, but in the fight for equality in this country. It is only fitting that the anniversary of this groundbreaking event should become a day for celebration and reflection at Major League ballparks."

 

On April 15, 1947, Robinson became the first African American player in Major League Baseball, shattering a barrier that had kept players of color from playing in the Major Leagues for more than half a century. Robinson's courageous act opened the door for others, and by the late 1950s every Major League Baseball team had players of African and/or Latin descent. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Robinson breaking the Major League color barrier, Robinson's uniform number 42 was retired throughout the Major Leagues.

 

As part of Jackie Robinson Day 2004, special pre-game ceremonies are being planned for each ballpark hosting a game on April 15. Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to each game. Other details about Jackie Robinson Day events -- including a national celebration planned for Shea Stadium in New York that will air on MLB rightsholder TBS -- will be announced later this month.

 

Founded in 1973 by Rachel Robinson, The Jackie Robinson Foundation is a public, not-for-profit, national organization that awards four-year college scholarships to academically gifted students of color with financial need. Jackie Robinson scholars also participate in the Foundation's comprehensive support system that includes leadership development, mentoring programs and career counseling. The graduation rate among Jackie Robinson scholars is 92 percent. Major League Baseball supports scholarships to select Jackie Robinson/Major League Baseball Scholars and contributes to the Jackie Robinson Foundation scholarship endowment campaign. (http://www.jackierobinson.org)

 

In addition to its support of The Jackie Robinson Foundation, Major League Baseball operates and/or supports a number of other youth programs focused on game development and educational initiatives, including: Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life, Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Initiative and Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

 

Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life is a multi-curricular character education program developed by Sharon Robinson in conjunction with Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Player's Trust for Children, and Scholastic Inc. The program utilizes baseball-themed features, activities and lessons to teach children in grades K-12 the values and traits they need to deal with the barriers and challenges in their lives. Using baseball as a metaphor for life, the curriculum is based on nine values demonstrated by the late Baseball Hall of Famer and barrier breaker, Jackie Robinson: Determination, Commitment, Persistence, Integrity, Justice, Courage, Teamwork, Citizenship, and Excellence.

 

Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a youth outreach program designed to promote interest in baseball, increase the self-esteem of disadvantaged children, and encourage kids to stay in school and off the streets. Managed in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, RBI programs exist in more than 190 cities worldwide, giving more than 120,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play baseball and softball.

 

The Major League Baseball Urban Youth Initiative is a comprehensive program to grow the game of baseball, promote diversity, make meaningful contributions to inner-city communities, provide safe and organized recreational activities for urban youth, and prepare high school players for college and professional baseball and softball. A major component of the Urban Youth Initiative is the Major League Baseball Youth Academy program. The first baseball academy is being constructed on the campus of Compton Community College in Compton, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles. Major League Baseball contributed $3 million to build four fields on more than 20 acres on the Compton Community College campus.

 

Boys & Girls Clubs of America is the official charity of Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball has generated more than $15 million in direct and indirect funding for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1997. (http://bgca.org/)

a small number of black pitchers isn't so odd... it's consistent with the nfl, which has a small number of black QBs.

 

apparently the white folks are better at throwing things.

Baseball has stopped being a sport blacks in this country. There are a few reasons why, but they are all intertwined.

 

The NFL and the NBA both commercialize their black athletes. Sure, ESPN gives alot of attention to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but make no mistake about who rules the NFL. Who gets the most pub? TO, Randy Moss, Jason Taylor, Mike Vick. The biggest of the stars in the NFL, while there still remains a few white stars, are becoming majority black. Arguably the best player at a position usually dominated by whites (QB) is black (Vick). The NBA is a little luckier in the sense that almost 100% of their stars are either black or not American. The biggest names right now (Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Melo, Jermaine O'Neal, big Ben Wallace). Not far behind are other blacks, like Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, and Stephon Marbury. Also up there are international players, such as Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, and Peja Stoyakovic (I won't pretend that I spelled that right). What is the best white guy you can name off the top of your head that plays in the NBA? If you say Mark Madson, you prove the point.

 

Baseball just isn't "it" anymore for younger blacks (for the most part, there are exceptions). Take Miami baseball for example. Who are the best players right now in the city's High School Baseball? Gio Gonzalez, Gaby Hernandez, and Columbus' catcher (name starts with a G, I'm having a brain fart). Not a black guy in the bunch. In recent years what are the big names in baseball that have been drafted in the baseball draft that happened to be black? Delvin Young (Dmitri's brother) and Prince Fielder (Cecil's son). The only reason those two were playing baseball and not another sport is because they have baseball in their blood.

 

The way baseball's system is set up deviates attention as well. The minor league system in baseball is brutal. Granted, it is designed to weed out pretend talent from major league talent, and it does a very good job of doing this. It just isn't appealing to alot of people who have different options. Latins stay with the game, because they've done it all their lives. You grow up with baseball if you happen to be of Hispanic blood much the same way Europeans grow up with soccer, so talent in the Hispanic pool is going to be brewing for quite a while. There will be even more talent once Cuba breaks free of its shackles, but that is still a while away. Back to the point, having to run the gauntlet of the minors isn't appealing to a black athlete when more often than not they have equal or more ability in football or basketball. Both of those are sports where you can get to the pros early, and both of those sports have very healthy college participation. What I mean by this is college football and college basketball get PLENTY of attention. You can make a name for yourself in college in either sport. You can't do that in baseball. Even if your team makes the college World Series, it remains very difficult to make a name for yourself there.

 

Add to all this that you don't make the majors until you are usually around 24-26. Somtimes earlier, granted, but often times alot later. In the NBA, players are making serious impacts at 21 and 22, sometimes earlier. In the NFL rookies can come in right away and start, though that is not the norm. However at around 22 or 23 players can already get significant playing time if not start.

 

Also, baseball just isn't viewed as "The Way Out" for blacks anymore. Hispanics view baseball as a way out of poverty and/or oppression. We aren't normally very tall, so unless you have the random PG or SG there won't be very many stud Hispanics playing basketball. Sure, there are the ocassional exceptions, but the norm is that isn't our sport. We try our hand at football, but it just isn't our thing. Too violent/messy and stuff. We would be good at soccer if we tried that, just looking at other countries in Latin/South America shows this. However the Caribbean children are born with baseballs in their cradle. It is just the way they go about things. While other countries play soccer with just a small ball, Hispanics play baseball with a small stick, some rocks or anything else that is semi-round, and random landmarks as bases. And if you can become good enough at playing it, a Major League scout could find you and sign you. Your family would be set.

 

This isn't the case for blacks anymore. They hear all about all these players playing basketball and football that got out of the ghetto. They don't hear anything about baseball players that do this. Why? It just doesn't happen anymore. Baseball isn't the way out of the ghetto, because most stars don't come out from there. Gary Sheffield did. Barry Bonds, however, did not. Dontrelle Willis did. Darren Oliver did not (according to what I have read). Some do manage it, but no one hears about them anymore.

 

The White trend in baseball will continue, I think. They will try and fight the Hispanics as long as possible to be able to hold on to baseball. Why? They have completely lost basketball and are barely holding on to what is left of football. What is left for them? Hockey? Too cold for most of them, outside of the north of the States it isn't played that much. Soccer? Barely gets any attention. Olympic sports? Sure, if you want people to recognize you once every four years. White Americans stick to football and baseball. Alot of whites are very good at football, just when they start playing with blacks the blacks usually outclass them completely. So they try their hand at baseball. But Hispanics are starting to catch up in the American version, and in the next 10 years I think you will see not a change in majority quantity wise but I think you will see a change in majority quality wise. The hitter battle is going to the Hispanics right now. While Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi are being nailed for using roids, Albert Pujols continues to shatter everything in sight. Mike Lowell, if he can come close to last season or somehow surpass it, will be the outright best third baseman in baseball. The best catcher is Puerto Rican. Some Dominicans are battling over who is the best at second baseman. Carlos Delgado, while having to battle Todd Helton and co., is making huge strides at first. Rafael Palmeiro is also a beast at first, he could reach 600 homers. The best shortstop (well, now he is third base techincally, but he'll always be a shortstop) was born and raised in Miami, but don't deny the fact that he is Hispanic. Nomar has Hispanic roots (oh come on, with the name Ramon backwards and a last name like Garciaparra can you actually deny this?). Chavez and Tejada are huge, and latin. Sammy Sosa, the biggest Hispanic right now of them all, is breaking records left and right. Arguably the best starter in baseball is Dominican. The best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera, is Hispanic. Name all the big names you can, and I guarantee that list will be 35-50% Hispanic at least. Slowly but surely the stars are changing races. And think about who is on the way as well. Miguel Cabrera, Denny Bautista. I'm sure there are a few prospects that will be hearing from soon coming from countries young now. If the Hispanics start catching up in the Starters department, the Anglos could be out of sports offly soon.

 

The bottom line is this. Baseball needs help, and it apparently doesn't know what to do. Here is what I believe it should do:

 

- First and foremost, get the draft on TV. At least the first 3-5 rounds. Why? Because this will popularize the college game significantly more. Fans will want to get a heads up on who is who in the baseball draft, and they'll want to start watching college baseball. The popularization of college baseball will take time and effort, and will be gradual, but it is only in the sincerest interest of MLB to make it as popular as possible. Let people like Roger Clemens and Pat Burrell tell the world how much fun they had in college. How awesome the games were. Get people's attention. After a while, the networks will put more games. Maybe a Thursday Night College Baseball Game of the Week or something. Imaging if baseball even sniffed the popularity of basketball and football at the college level. It would do wonders.

 

- Know how, what, when, and who to advertise. They need help in this department, they need it bad. Liberty City and Carol City should be getting commericals about how awesome Dontrelle is and what he did for the Marlins, as well as his buddy and partner in Studness Juanpy. Calle Ocho, Hialeah, and basically most of all of remaining Miami should be getting commercials about Mikey, Miguel, and Luiy are the best of the best at what they do. Bring more attention to that side of the game. And the other areas should hear about Josh Beckett, Jeff Coning and Brad Penny, and all the amazing things they can do. Bring more attention to players like He Who Soup, so that the asians can get big on teams as well. Advertise Admin Walker and Eric Gagne to the Canadiens, show them that there exists a sport for outside of winter. And show off people like Jack McKeon to everyone, because every culture has funny old people. The advertising department now seriously blows. Some ad points:

- Advertise local stars. Advertise about ARod in Miami, about Dontrelle in Cali, about Pujols in Latin America. Have cities and towns have someone to embrace and to root for. Make games about city, town, and country pride. There is no more important emotion that pride in cases like this.

- Advertise Heavily Internationally. Beat the NBA and the NFL to the punch in other countries. Pore in millions and get the machine rolling in the Pacific Rim, Europe, and all of the Western Hemisphere. Hell, advertise in Africa. What is there to lose? In some of these places baseball barely exists. The only attention baseball gets there is the World Series. Make sure people don't believe baseball only has 7 games and the two teams that play for the championship are the Yankees and an NL team picked out of a hat.

- For God's sake, start advertising individuals! You can't just stick with the nostalgia feeling anymore. People aren't buying the "watch baseball now because it was so good back in the day" slogan anymore. And think about it. Sure, everyone remembers the 27 Yankees, the Dodgers when they actually beat the Yankees, and the 69 Mets. Those were great teams. But who is remembered mostly? Individuals. Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan. The list goes on and on and on. Why not advertise the individuals now? ESPN shows the accomplishments of individuals everyday. I mean, come on, we all love the team deal, but that is best saved for the playoffs. Look at the NFL, they have mastered the science. Advertise the individuals as much as possible, get as much attention to the Mike Vicks and TOs of the league. But then when the playoffs roll around, they split it up. You have on one side these larger than life giants created by the ad machine, but on the other side you have the machine advertising teams like the Panthers and Patriots, teams that have new players step up every week and lead the charge on. Baseball had the team for this in the Marlins last year, and instead of talking about this as well as other stuff they gambled on the Red Sox/Cubs. Both teams lost out and baseball was left with a lackluster series compared to the standards of the two pennant series. Granted, this was fueled by outside sources as well, but baseball played a big part in the advertisement here. And that is another one of baseball's faults, they are putting ad money in the wrong areas. Please hire real ad people!

- Advertise the accomplishments of players off the field. The NFL and the United Way make the NFL players out to be saints. When in reality I would say a big chunk of crimes by athletes are committed by Football players. Why doesn't baseball say "OK, let's find the players that do all these good things and make it more known."? I'm not talking about the end section of baseball articles. I'm talking full page ads, 30 second spots, etc. Baseball doesn't have Kobe Bryant on trial for rape, or Jayson Williams on trial for murder, or the Lewis' exhanging appearances in court. That isn't how that major leaguers are. But the public needs to know this! Show them how baseball players help out in the community! Make baseball players out to be saints just like other athletes have the perception of being.

 

- Universalize all levels. Get little leaguers using wood instead of aluminum, that would help universaley accept the game and make sure there wasn't the adjustment period between high school/college and the minors. This in turn would cut down on minors time slightly, getting a higher quantity of of younger players in the league. This would lead younger players just starting out to have a higher interest in the game, because hey they can make it quicker. Also, if college baseball becomes popular, it would be a dropoff going from "PING!" to "WHACK". I prefer the ping sound better, even though I'm not a big fan of aluminum bats. Get rid of those and make everyone use wood, and it'll be more universal. That is what baseball is supposed to be, a universal game.

 

- Spread the Game. Send Major Leaguers to areas where baseball either doesn't exist or doesn't thrive and get pickup games going. If people see major leaguers showing up at random to their neighborhood, they'll be inspired to play baseball. There isn't any better ambassador then the player himself, because he is on TV playing everyday. Baseball has that advantage over other sports, that you can see a hitter play everyday of the week. You like a reliever? He could be pitching 2-4 games a week. A starter? Usually once a week, but sometimes you'll get to see him twice that week. Major Leaguers will come and young kids will get inspired to watch them. They'll start watcing them on TV, slowly understanding the ins and outs of the game, and falling in love with it. It's a process, but it needs to be kick started. It can't just happen.

 

- Take advantage of all publicity, no matter good nor bad. Steroids bothering you? Then take the chance and show how baseball won't be pushed around. Reform the system completely. Actually put punishments. Make results public. Make it known that if you are caught with steroids once, you are done for a full year. No matter what. Get caught again? Another year you sit on your butt. And in the spirit of baseball, get caught three times and you are out. For good. Life time banishment and removal from eligibility to the Hall of Fame and other such honors. "Excommunicate" steroid users, make sure they know there is no place for them in the halls of such a hallowed game. Because the MLB right now is giving the impression of a league allowed to be pushed around.

 

I have more ideas, but I'll save the space for now. Besides, why write this much. I don't work for MLB or anything.

Another thing I forgot to add, that I think should be noted now. Advertise the wierd ticks about the game. Show how some players are wierd in a funny way. Show Dontrelle's kick all over the place. El Duque's kick. Show the pranks on national TV. Show Pedro going crazy (well, his good crazy).

 

And you know what else? Show the fights, when they happen. Show how teams fight together. Show how no one is left on the bench. And best of all, show how baseball isn't the wussy sport NFL and NBA people covertly make it out to be. Because honestly, I'd rather get tackled by Ray Lewis then get hit by a Billy Wagner fastball in the ribs.

Everyone here knows I'm a football guy.

 

And I'll say this much.

 

The NFL doesn't advertise its players as much as one may think. In fact ESPN.com did a poll last August and the most recognizable players by face and voice in sports were....

 

1. Basketball Players (Shaq, Kobe, MJ, KG, AI, LeBron, & Melo)

2. Golfers (Woods, Mickelson, Els, Singh)

3. Baseball Players (Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Griffey)

4. Football Players (Moss, Favre, Faulk, TO, McNabb)

 

What football does is market their teams on a local basis like you all see with wherever you live, like for example, the Packers run ads year round in Wisconsin and to great avail.

 

"The Packers Pro Shop" makes more money then any other team store in America beause the Packers Pro Shop has a store in every county in Wisconsin and also advertises on TV and Radio.

 

Baseball as was also pointed out needs to televise the draft, but they can't just televise it. Who watches the Hockey draft? Nobody. Football and Basketball hype up their drafts, especially football, with what they do with the combine and TV Interviews. Baseball's gotta make the draft big time, important, not just televise it. Because Hockey televises their draft and nobody watches it because Hockey doesn't market as well as the NFL or NBA.

 

Thats what MLB should do for starters.

I'm not sure how interested people would be in watching the baseball draft. I say this because a lot of the players don't sign, you have never heard of a lot of the players unless you read baseball america or something, and the players are years away from being at the big league level.

To the comments on my draft point:

 

My opinion is this. The NHL doesn't get any pub for the draft for two reasons: A) Hockey is a distant fourth in terms of the Big Sports in America, and B) College Hockey is irrelevent. Baseball's draft would immediately have a good amount of interest because of the fact that it is baseball. Have the draft, instead of in June, sometime in November or December, and watch the interest spike up. Baseball will get its name back out there during football and basketball season, allowing some attention to go back to baseball. But also, baseball needs to work with college baseball bring it up to the forefront. The NHL and NBA drafts are extremely popular because of their counterparts in the college ranks, and the sooner College Baseball can get going the sooner the draft will be a huge ticket.

 

The question for the MLB is this: Do they want to just televise the draft already or do they want to work on getting college baseball more popular first? One will benefit the other, but one has to happen for the other to benefit. Tough call either the way.

 

Something of note, in case it is brought up later on: Yes, there are alot of high school players in the MLB draft. But, Moneyball philosophy has taken over. And what is Moneyball philosophy? To take players out of college. If more teams adopt this, more players will be coming out of college. Also, players might want to go to college to get their draft ranking higher up, since it will be on TV now and it will matter more.

 

Things like this lead to each other, but they have to start somewhere.

Everyone here knows I'm a football guy.

 

And I'll say this much.

 

The NFL doesn't advertise its players as much as one may think.

that's not true.

 

it's not an issue of the NFL not marketing their players... the NFL actually markets their players more than other sports leagues do.

 

however, players become recognizable primarily from sponsorship face-time and from standing out on the field.

 

football is a team-centered sport in which you can barely even make out the individual player's face. i watch a helluva lot of football and i haven't a clue what several of the dolphins starters look like in person.

 

NFL players stand out less and are barely recognizable in helmets. companies seek recognizable faces to endorse their products. thus, NFL players typically get much fewer endorsement deals because their faces just aren't recognizable. it's a vicious cycle.

the NFL actually markets their players more than other sports leagues do

That was what I was getting at.

 

Just because if most people bumped into Marvin Harrison on the street they would just apologize (well, not most of the time) and move on without thinking twice doesn't mean that everyone doesn't know his name. Just because alot of people might not recognize Randy Moss doesn't mean that they won't go to a game to see the guy with "MOSS" written on the back of his jersey making sick plays and stuff. Just because you wouldn't recognize Mike Vick from his brother or anyone else for that matter doesn't mean you don't want to go to the stadium when the Falcons come to town just to see what the man can do. They advertise the players alright, just less the faces and more the names. But if you think about it, the names are the most important part. You want your players to get name value, so people are drawn into the stadium constantly by the name, and then get drawn into the team and the game.

And I'm sure schoolyards downtown having no space and money for a backstop might have something to do with it too.

But they hold on to football or basketball programs while cutting other sports (like baseball) because of money problems.

what about White kids on basketball teams ... there are teams that are 100% black ... geez if the heat didnt have Zhi Zhi Wang (who doesnt play so i should count him out) than they would be all black as well. If it wasnt for European players than basketball would be ruined, because no one can shoot.

 

About Blacks in baseball i think its fine, yeah they are by far the minority amongst the top 3 (hispanic , white, black) but still they have huge players in Sheff, Bonds, JR, P.Funk and now you can add DTrain, ect. I really dont think its a problem, i think theres a far bigger problem in the NBA.