CNN
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Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker said it “seemed bad” that there were no American-born black players in the 2022 World Series.
On Wednesday, the Associated Press announced there would be no American-born black players in the World Series for the first time since 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson broke color barriers at the Major. League Baseball.
Baker, who is one of two Black MLB managers, was asked to comment on the AP report during Astros media day on Thursday. “Well, I don’t think that’s something baseball should really be proud of. It looks bad,” Baker said. “It lets people know that it didn’t take a year or even a decade to get there.”
Ahead of Game 1 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, the Astros and Philadelphia Phillies announced their 26-man World Series rosters on Friday, and neither team includes American-born black players.
Astros outfielder Michael Brantley, a black player, likely would have been on the roster, but suffered a season-ending shoulder injury earlier in the season.
Meanwhile, the Phillies had no black players on their opening roster this year for the first time since 1959. Roman Quinn, who is black, was a backup outfielder with the Phillies this season, but was released after played 23 games.
Despite the reality, Baker offered an encouraging take highlighting recent draft numbers and MLB academy players. “But there is help on the way. You can tell by the number of African American No. 1 draft picks. Academies produce players. So I hope that in the near future we won’t have to talk about it or even be in this situation, ”concluded the skipper of Astros.
In the 2022 MLB Draft, for the first time in draft history, four of the top five selections were black players, according to MLB. All four players are alumni of the DREAM Series, which is a diversity-focused development program funded in part by MLB and USA Baseball, the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States. A total of nine black players were selected in the draft, the most by total percentage since 1992.
Additionally, between 2012 and 2021, 56 of the 319 players selected in the first round of the draft were black or African American, with a significant percentage coming from MLB-run youth and amateur baseball development programs, according to the Major League. Baseball.
MLB reported that 38% of players on opening day rosters this season were players of color, of which 7.2% were black or African American.
Although no players are American-born African Americans, there will be black players in the Fall Classic, including Afro-Cuban slugger Yordan Alvarez of the Astros. Players from eight different countries will be represented in the World Series this year.
