blogspot.com file photo: 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates who defeated the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS to advance to the World Series and the Bucs defeated the Baltimore Orioles for the Championship

1971 Pirates First All Black and Latino lineup

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

On September 1, 1971 the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded the first all-black and Latino line-up.

Rennie Stennett (second base) Panamá, Gene Clines (center field)USA (Bay Area native), Roberto Clemente (right field), Puerto Rico Willie Stargell (left field) USA, Manny Sanguillen (catcher) Panamá, Dave Cash (third base) USA, Al Oliver (first base) USA, Jackie Hernandez (shortstop) Cuba, 2019 Opening day rosters included players from the United States, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico México, Canada, Japan, Curacao, South Korea, Brasil, Colombia, Panamá, Aruba, Germany.

Honduras, Australia, Honk Kong, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan. Five teams have the most players born outside the US: Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico and México.

Today about 7. 7% of all Major League Baseball players are African-American and close to 29% are Latinos/Hispanics. In the country (total population) As of July 2019 Hispanics/Latinos made 18.3 percent of the total population, Black/African-Americans 13.4 percent. When it comes to African-American participation in the big three professional leagues in the US, baseball still way behind the NBA and the NFL. In the NBA 75% while in the NFL 68% are African-Americans.

Arizona Diamondbacks all-star outfielder Adam Jones fills in on his belief in this detachment between blacks and baseball. “The decisions made in baseball are white made decisions. The league has experimented with various rule changes to speed up pace of play and reach younger fans, but the racial politics of baseball are the most in need of an update,” claims Jones. Simply put, Jones feels the league can do a better job connecting with African-American social issues as the other sports have made a priority.

The MLB (RBI) Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities is sponsored by Major League Baseball and it is designated to promote the game to teenage boys and girls in disadvantaged areas. The RBI Program is in partnership with the Boys & Girls of America.

Note: This year (in progress) the 2020 US Census started in April 1 and will conclude in December.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Heritage Hispanic Museum located at the Oakland Coliseum and Catch That’s Amaury’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com