Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker meets with the press before game 1 of the 2022 World Series has expressed deep concerns as to why there are no US born black players for the first time in 72 years (AP News photo)

2022 World Series: No US-born Black Players – First time in 72 Years

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

In 1947 Jackie Robinson’s first year in Major League Baseball, his team, the Brooklyn Dodgers faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. Since then, the 1950 match-up between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies has been the only World Series without US-born Black players.

Until this year when the Houston Astros face the Philadelphia Phillies. Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, a black man born in the US says he is “deeply disturbed” there will be no US-born Black players taking part in this year’s World Series.

In 2022 the majority of players in MLB are white, while Latino players make up around 30-33% of all talent in the Major Leagues, and black players born in the US 6.8%. Dusty Baker has a reason to be deeply disturbed. In the NFL 70% of all players are black-US-born, while in the NBA is 73% of all players.

The NHL is predominantly white, by 97%, the other 3% is made of different ethnicity. Of that 3%, twenty-six players are black. However, twenty of the twenty-six black players in the NHL are from Canada and only 6 are from the US. Mike Grier the general manager of the San José Sharks, is the first Black General Manager in National Hockey League history.

In the MLS 25.6% are black players, but not all from the US, they come from 36 other countries and four Continents. This is the most racially balanced professional sports league in the United States. But it makes sense because Fútbol (called Soccer in the English-speaking world) is played in more countries than other sports.

Major League Baseball continues to spend a lot of money as well as developed many programs in inner-cities all over the country for African-American communities, Major League Baseball through its affiliates is trying. But the black youth continues to gravitate towards basketball and football and one of the main reasons is pure convenience. In basketball, you do not require a lot of equipment for multiple players.

All you need is a ball and a basket/hoop. You can play by yourself, one-on-one, or just a few friends up to 5 vs. 5. There are basketball courts in most high-density neighborhoods in the US. You do not need a lot of money for basketball equipment, elementary and high schools have basketball floors to play and kids take it early and develop much faster than in other sports. While baseball and football are much more complicated, they require several pieces of equipment, several players, and large places to play.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com