Race and Ethnicity in American Baseball Reaction Paper

baseball and the ethnic/racial issues sport is faced with. In the first part, I have compared baseball with football and basketball on race/ethnic issues. I have also given a detailed account of the several stereotypes still present in the society regarding ball players. I have also given an account pertaining to the baseball fans. Moreover, I have given the current statistics of front office/management. I have also discussed World Baseball Classic.

According to the 2011 statistics, the percentage of the white, African-American, Latino and Asian baseball players was 61.5%, 8.5%, 27% Latino and 2% respectively. The other minorities constituted the remaining one percent. The percentage of African-Americans in the baseball has raised concerns as it has reduced to half as compared to the 17% in 1990. With every passing year, there has been a decrease in the percentage of African-American players and there are more teams now with few or no African-Americans. According to the 2011 Racial and Gender Report Cards of National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and National Football League, the percentage of African-Americans in NBA, MLB and NFL was 78%, 9% and 67% respectively. As far as Latino and Hispanic ethnicities are concerned, the percentage of players in NBA, MLB and NFL was 4%, 27% and 1%. There were 17% whites in NBA, 62% in MLB and 30% in NFL. The Asians were not a major part of any of the sports with 1%, 2% and 2% for NBA, MLB and NFL respectively ("Racial Breakdown of NFL, NBA, MLB - Ethnicity in Baseball, Football, and Basketball Infographic"). Thus, the comparison crystal clearly demonstrates that the whites dominate the Major League Baseball as compared to the other races and ethnicities. Thus, the mentioned facts and figures clearly reflect the fact that baseball has more clout than other renowned sports in America as far as ethnic and racial issues are concerned.

The researchers have proposed several theories regarding the diminishing of African-American community from baseball.One of the main theories suggest that as baseball is a sport with slow pace and requires long hours; the new generation especially teenagers find basketball and football as more thrilling and exciting due to the fastness and shorter time periods of the two sports. However, it is not the only problem. One of the main problems is the draft of the Major League Baseball that is just meant for the amateur players. This means that if an overseas player is needed by a baseball team, it simply makes him a part of the team without going through the draft. This is the reason why huge investments have been made by Major League Baseball for the development and exploration of outside the country. This exaggerated dependence and attention to the foreign athletes consequently results in the negligence of the local talent. In previous times, huge investments were being made in the development of talent in the localities but now the convenience proposed by the draft has shifted the focus of the investors to the international athletes who could be signed for the team without having any draft. Another major cause that is contributing to the lesser number of African-Americans in baseball is that colleges offer only a small number of scholarships for baseball as compared to football. However, Latino players have been benefitted as there were 27% Latino players in the Major League Baseball in 2011. It is expected that the number of Latino baseball players will continue to increase as the investors focus on international players. However, this does not mean that the game is only supported and liked by the growing Latino population. Baseball is equally liked by the growing Asian population that has got passionate fans of the game. In recent years, Asian players are also being signed to represent the national baseball team though the number of Asian players is still very less as compared to other.....