WASHINGTON 鈥斅燭here has been plenty of hand-wringing over and column inches devoted to the ever-shrinking percentage of African-American players in Major League Baseball in recent history. But as much as the issue is discussed each year, the numbers haven鈥檛 gotten any better. More quietly, the opportunity for careers beyond the playing field, particularly in the front office, have arguably gotten even worse.
MLB has only two black field managers 鈥斅爐he Nationals鈥� Dusty Baker and the Dodgers鈥� Dave Roberts. It has just one black general manager with former All-Star pitcher Dave Stewart of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
That鈥檚 where the 聽鈥斅爌art of the week of programming leading into the annual Nation鈥檚 Football Classic game between Howard and Hampton universities 鈥斅爃opes to make a difference. The event starts 8 a.m. Friday at the Mayflower Hotel and includes panels featuring top executives from around the sports world, as well as a career fair featuring companies like Under Armour and teams like the Baltimore Ravens.
鈥淭he game has become very much a corporation, and it鈥檚 got a corporate-run attitude,鈥� ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant, who will be a moderator at the forum, told 草莓传媒. 鈥淚nstead of having players graduate from the minors to the big leagues to coaching to the front office, now the front office is being dominated by Ivy Leaguers. You have to have advanced degrees, and you鈥檝e got to have advanced degrees from very prestigious universities.鈥�
Although African-Americans make up roughly 14 percent of the U.S. population, Columbia University was the only Ivy League institution with black students comprising , with Cornell bringing up the rear at just 4.5 percent.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 not completely closed off, that pipeline has turned into a straw,鈥� Bryant said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not anywhere near something I think you could count on if you have really ambitious goals. If your goal is to get a job in baseball, it could work. If your job is to run a team, that isn鈥檛 happening.鈥�
One of the few black executives to advance up the front office ladder, from intern all the way to player development director, is Tyrone Brooks. A Maryland graduate, Brooks was one of the highest-ranking African-American executives in the game when he was hired away from the Pittsburgh Pirates by the league office for the specific purpose of heading up MLB鈥檚 new Front Office and Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program. He will be one of the speakers on the “View from the Top” panel, moderated by Bryant.
For its part, MLB has tried to promote the game in areas in which it has declined through initiatives like the RBI program: Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. Some clubs, like the Nationals, have opened their own youth academies. But while these institutions may help teach the game and provide structured sports environments where they were previously lacking, Bryant doesn鈥檛 believe they are the answer to the game鈥檚 growing racial divide.
鈥淚 never liked it, because I always felt that anything that comes out of a community relations budget is far more of a showpiece than anything that comes out of scouting and development,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think there may be opportunities from RBI, but I don鈥檛 know how much those opportunities are going to translate into being on the field.鈥�
The solution isn鈥檛 simple. But from his own experience, Bryant says it starts with the simple thought that seeing is believing.
鈥淭he first thing is that it鈥檚 really important 鈥斅燼t least it was really important for me 鈥斅爐o see people who look like me see what I wanted to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou are looking at the people that, in a lot of ways, are at the top of their profession. If you want to find out how they got that way, and to find out what you鈥檙e facing, and to take an interest in what is going to be your future, I think it鈥檚 a great opportunity to hear what people have to say.鈥�
Students interested in attending the forum can , which includes breakfast, entry to the career fair, and a ticket to the Nation鈥檚 Football Classic Saturday at RFK Stadium.
