Aaron Heralds MLB’s Opportunities for Minorities

Hank Aaron and Jimmie Lee Solomon have spent countless hours and developed numerous theories in their search to determine why it has been difficult to persuade more African-American children to dream of playing in the Major Leagues.

{snip} Aaron and Solomon want to expose more African-Americans to the employment opportunities provided by baseball beyond those who have the special ability to play the game at its highest levels.

“There are so many other ways to make a very good living in the game of baseball,” said Solomon, who serves as Major League Baseball’s executive vice president of baseball operations. “It can provide you so many successes in society if you just avail yourself to it.”

This was the prevailing message conveyed during a symposium staged Tuesday evening at Morehouse College’s School of Medicine for students from Atlanta’s historically black colleges. MLB will coordinate many more similar events over the coming weeks leading up to this year’s Civil Rights Game, which will be pit the Phillies against the Braves at Turner Field on May 15.

{snip}

Aaron and Solomon addressed the students via a panel discussion that also included Andrew Young, a civil rights activist and formerly Atlanta’s mayor and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

At the heart of all of the activities surrounding the Civil Rights Game is baseball’s rich history with African-Americans and other minorities.

{snip}

“I just would like to see more communication between professional baseball and African-Americans because we paid the price,” Aaron said. “We paid our dues.”

As they continue to attempt to revive the game in this country’s urban areas, Aaron and Solomon also are committed to reminding young African-Americans that they can thrive in Major League Baseball as a player, umpire, broadcaster, trainer, front-office executive or any other position that interests them.

{snip}

Percentage of Black Baseball Players Drops Again

Associated Press, FOX News, April 21, 2011

The percentage of black players in the major leagues dropped again on Opening Day this year even as the sport again received a top overall grade for racial diversity.

Baseball’s grade for gender hiring declined slightly, according to the annual study released Thursday by Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida.

Baseball received an A for racial diversity in hiring, the same grade as last year, and a B-minus for gender, down from a B. Its overall grade remained a B-plus.

{snip}

The percentage of black players dropped to 8.5 percent on Opening Day this year, down from 9.1 percent at the start of last season and its lowest level since 2007. The percentage of Latino players dropped from 28.4 percent to 27 percent–baseball’s lowest since 1999’s 26 percent.

“This has been a concern of Major League Baseball and leaders in the African-American community,” Lapchick said. “However, the 38.3 percent of players who are people of color also make the playing fields look more like America with its large Latino population.”

{snip}

The number of black and Latino managers dropped from 10 at the start of the 2010 season to six, and the percentage of black and Latino coaches dropped from 31 to 29 percent. No blacks were team chief executives or presidents and only Houston Astros president of business Pam Gardner fell into that category.

Black and Latino general managers dropped from five to four, and at the team vice president level percentages declined for blacks (9.8 percent last year) and women (18.2 percent). For the VP level, teams received a C to C-plus for racial diversity and an F for gender diversity.

{snip}