Black Players in Brewer system

[homer]

I know there has been some concern that the percentage of black American players in baseball is way down but it seems to me that the Brewers have a ton of black players in their system (relatively speaking).

 

At WV there's Ford, Brantley, Caulfield, Brewer - I wonder how many other minor league teams have four American black starters? Not to mention Cain, Jeffress, and of course picks like Weeks, Fielder, and Gwynn. Does anyone think this is a conscious effort by the organization or just the way things played out for them on draft day?

[madjeff66]

I don't think it's concsious, but in terms of player procurement Melvin and Ash seem to like to zig when everyone else zags. Examples would include not having a Dominican academy and drafting a lot of Canadian players. Drafting a significant number of African-American players could be interpreted this way as well.

[colbyjack]

I think madjeff66 summed it up well, as this is a topic I have been thinking about recently. If the team made drafting black players a priority, they probably would have taken Cameron Maybin over Ryan Braun in 2005, even if there were some financial issues in taking Maybin.

 

I do agree that it is interesting that the Brewers have quite a few talented African American prospects in their system to complement the guys they have at the big-league level, but I'm not sure if it is completely a conscious effort or just how the cards have fallen.

[pogokat]

I asked lorenzo cain about this over the winter, and he told me the players dont see it as an issues, or think about it really...

[colbyjack]

I'm sure the players don't think about it much, but I wouldn't be surprised if the teams do, and more importantly, if the commissioner's office does.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised one bit to learn that the commissioner's office has asked teams to increase their effort scouting and drafting African American players. When more young black players see other black players making good money, not to mention making a career out of baseball, it may prompt them to pursue a similar avenue.

 

I'm not trying to make a social commentary on this in the least, but the draft is the one thing the commissioner's office has some control over since collusion doesn't apply since the players involved are not subject to the player's union.

 

I doubt the commissioner's office would penalize teams for not taking black players, but there may be some incentives for the teams that do.

[DHonks]

it's noticable. In the AFL in three years I maybe met 6 black players, with most coming from the Dodgers. We only had 2 black coaches/trainers those years, out of 10, too.

 

I don't think most see it as a problem. The bigger issue is why in HS kids aren't playing baseball. For inner city blacks and minorities (and whites, too), it can be a chance to better their lives. Having never lived in an innercity, I cannot explain why the students are not pushed towards baseball. It has much more immediate rewards than the other sports, more opportunities (several thousand professional baseball players in the US vs several hundred in basketball), and is a sport where you will get noticed by scouts not based on what you do, but what you CAN do.

[homer]

I'm hoping this thread doesn't go in the direction of "why blacks aren't playing baseball" as that was not my intent. My original post was more "ok, if blacks aren't playing baseball, why are there a lot playing at different levels for the Brewers?"

[greeg35]

I would guess the brewers have around an average number of black players in the system. One of the things I hear mentioned is that black players have a lot lower chance of being major league backups than their white peers. So there are higher numbers of black players in the minors for every team that just never make it to the show for an extended period of time unless they are starters/stars.

[dadofandrew]

The Brewers might be focusing on historically black colleges and cities than others. I don't think their Canadian push helps them out here, for the most part.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Mark James (recently released) and IF/OF Terrell Alliman (being followed as a DFE this spring) are black, and they were Canadian draft picks, so your little smile on that last comment, Al, was a tad incorrect, although you said 'for the most part" http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif .

[brettac1]

I'm positive it's just the way it's worked out.

[dadofandrew]

Mass, there are some black Canadians, as the NHL's growing number would seem to indicate. However, I gotta believe Canada is a lower % than the USA.