Just for me to set the record straight though I don't know why I even play the game after the race cards been pulled. In response to this from the comments:
You damn right its a problem....
And you guys wonder why Black people are always bitching about inclusion....its a sad statement on MLB that there are teams with NO black players. It highlights the demise of the black MLB player and the lack of support MLB gives to the development of black players. Right now if you are black and you don't live in suburbia and you want to be a baseball player...good luck. Oh yeah there's the RBI program...I'd like to know how many RBI kids come to pros...and yes its about coming to the pros. The question itself is an insult. You should already know the answer.
-ARTHUR AVENUE ASSASSIN...KINDA PISSED. EXPECTED BETTER FROM SBNATION.
First off, my initial post was not directly in response to the supposed lack of black athletes in the MLB. Rather, it was poking fun at the Associated Press for releasing an article about race with the quote "The 'Stros have no Bros". To me, any intelligent discussion concerning race cannot begin with an article that blatantly makes light of the situation. That the article made it past an AP editor and into any publication was ridiculous as it mocks the entire argument. Indeed, very shortly after I had written the post, the AP article was taken down and changed on the two websites I found them on originally (Seattle PI and an NBC affiliate).And you guys wonder why Black people are always bitching about inclusion....its a sad statement on MLB that there are teams with NO black players. It highlights the demise of the black MLB player and the lack of support MLB gives to the development of black players. Right now if you are black and you don't live in suburbia and you want to be a baseball player...good luck. Oh yeah there's the RBI program...I'd like to know how many RBI kids come to pros...and yes its about coming to the pros. The question itself is an insult. You should already know the answer.
-ARTHUR AVENUE ASSASSIN...KINDA PISSED. EXPECTED BETTER FROM SBNATION.
Second, the problem, if there is one, of the lack of black athletes coming to baseball is one that I honestly have trouble viewing as any sort of latent racism on the parts of any particular team or the MLB. I would argue that the NBA and the NFL simply do a much better job of marketing their product on all counts. To most of America, football, in terms of entertainment value, outclasses baseball as a spectator sport. And soccer and basketball are quickly passing baseball as a participatory sport, if they haven't already. The lack of black athletes in baseball could therefore easily be a byproduct of general preference.
Arthur Avenue Assassin makes the point that if you're black and you don't live in suburbia that you have little to no chance of becoming a baseball player. I would argue that young athletes who are black and do live in suburbia are choosing basketball and football over baseball anyway so I don't see how taking them out of suburbia would change their opinion.
Finally, I'm not sure what made Arthur Avenue Assassin "kinda pissed" and expecting better from SBNation. If there was something particularly offensive in my post, then I apologize for it, but for my part, I can't see it. If somebody would like to point it out to me, then feel free. I'm more than happy to correct any shortcomings I may have. I also hope that nobody takes what we write as any sort of reflection upon the general mentality of the SBNation sites. (Because, to be honest, we're kinda funnier than a lot of those guys.)