Baseball's Big "Concern"

U.S.-born, black baseball players. It's not a new topic, but for some reason or another it's a growing "concern" becoming more prominent today.

So after I heard Angels outfielder Torii Hunter mention black latino players as "imposters" in Major League Baseball in regards to the lack of black African players, I once again had to ask myself the question, "Why is this even a concern in baseball?"

I thought America was a place where race didn't matter, so why is it a problem if black athletes want to play sports other than baseball? What, are people going to start forcing African-Americans to play the game? So many would rather play football or basketball. Big deal.

In 2007, the MLB consisted of 8.2 percent of U.S.-born, black athletes. That number inflated to 10 percent last year.

Now, I in no way consider Hunter's opinion as my own, but you know what? I think regardless of race, baseball is going to play whoever the best player is. If they happen to be black Latin players, so be it.

Hunter's comments also indicated he believes Latinos are getting the edge over black players because teams can sign them for, "a bag of chips." In the bigger picture, Americans as a whole, whether black, white, blue, purple, etc. are becoming less prominent in the MLB. The fact that Latino players can be signed from 16 years old without having to go through the amateur draft may be a reason.

You think the National Hockey League would like to see more black players in their game? You betcha. The thing is, at least for hockey, is that it just doesn't appeal to the urban community. For one thing, hockey is more expensive to get in to, as equipment can cost upwards to one hundred dollars. Baseball isn't as expensive, but it's a lot easier to play basketball or football in the urban community because all you need is a small basketball court or any type of field for football. Baseball diamonds are harder to find because of their size and hockey rinks are going to be extremely rare.

So if baseball wants to fix their "problem" they'll need to go out and "fix" it themselves through building fields and introducing it to the urban community, among other things.

MLB: "Wait, but that would cost money. Well, we can't have that. I like having all my money and I want more."

Well, it may be your only option if you want to "correct" this.