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Baseball working to reclaim lost ground

Star Tribune

African-Americans, including Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford, are playing prominent roles in the 2008 World Series.

The star power on display in the World Series should help major league baseball's efforts to attract more African-American players, whose numbers have dropped in the past decade.

By WORLD SERIES INSIDER JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: October 25, 2008 - 9:23 AM

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WORLD SERIES • GAME 3 TAMPA BAY AT PHILADELPHIA

7 tonight • TV: Ch. 9 • Series tied 1-1

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PHILADELPHIA - Torii Hunter has long felt Major League Baseball needed to market its African-American players more, especially with their numbers in steady decline.

Then along came this World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays feature several of the sport's top young African-American stars: Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies, and B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and David Price of the Rays.

"That's marketing right there," said Hunter, the former Twins center fielder, who now plays for the Los Angeles Angels. "It doesn't get any better than that."

The series is shaping into a potential thriller, with the teams tied at one victory apiece heading into Game 3 tonight at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

Twins outfielder Denard Span has been watching from his offseason home in Tampa, Fla.

"You flip the TV on, and the star players for both teams are African-Americans -- Howard, Rollins, Crawford, Upton," Span said. "I've been watching this series, hoping it could inspire others who want to play this sport."

African-American players account for just 8.2 percent of all major league players, according to an annual diversity study conducted six months ago by the University of Central Florida. In 1997, the same study showed 17 percent of major leaguers were African-American.

For the casual fan who tunes in only at World Series time, the numbers might have seemed even lower.

The 2005 Houston Astros reached the Series without a single African-American player, and the 2007 Colorado Rockies got there with one, former Twins reliever LaTroy Hawkins.

The Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, but the only African-American player on their AL Championship Series roster this month was Coco Crisp.

"When you turn on the TV, and you don't see any African-Americans play, it's probably not too motivating to want to play the game," Span said, relating experiences he had watching Kirby Puckett, Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis play as a child.

This World Series shows African-Americans playing all sorts of roles.

Howard, the 2006 NL MVP, hit 48 home runs this year. Rollins, the 2007 NL MVP, stole 47 bases.

Those two are a combined 2-for-19 with seven strikeouts so far in the Series, and Tampa Bay's ability to keep them at bay has been a big part of the story.

Like Rollins, Crawford took part in a MLB sponsored program called RBI -- Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities.

Now Crawford, a two-time All-Star, is the Rays' longest-tenured player. He averaged 54 stolen bases for five seasons before injuries limited him to 25 this year.

Another Rays speedster, Upton, hit seven home runs in the first two rounds of the playoffs, leaving him one shy of Barry Bonds' postseason record.

UCF's latest study showed only 3 percent of all major league pitchers are African-American, but Price has burst onto the scene this month. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft out of Vanderbilt, he's thrown fastballs clocked at 98 miles per hour on Tropicana Field's radar gun, and sliders at 91 mph.

The lefthander got the save against Boston in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series, then protected Tampa Bay's lead for the final seven outs in Game 2 of the World Series.

Throw in Cliff Floyd, a former star who now gives the Rays a veteran presence, and African-Americans have a big presence in each game.

"It's one of the most pleasant aspects of this World Series, for me," Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters before Game 2. "We lost a generation [of African-Americans]. Hopefully, young African-Americans will be watching and see all these players."

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com

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