So ESPN Decided to Talk About African Americans in Baseball...

Oh Christ, this can't end well. ESPN began the day on First Take by having a discussion about Rob Parker's latest article which talks about the fact that only 8% of all players in Major League Baseball are African-American, specifically Blacks who are not of Hispanic descent. Rob Parker went on Numbers Never Lie* later that day, which sparked an argument with Michael Smith over the reason why MLB is 8% African-American. Rob Parker claimed it was because MLB decided to "outsource" its training camps to Latin America and start recruiting talent from there, while Smith argued that baseball has a perception of being a White man's sport and as such, is not as preferable to football or basketball. Here's how the NFL, MLB, and NBA break down in ethnicity based on 2011's numbers:


NFL
African-American: 67%
Asian: 2%
Latino/Hispanic: 1%
White/European: 30%


MLB
African-American: 9%
Asian: 2%
Latino/Hispanic: 27%
White/European: 62%


NBA
African-American: 78%
Asian: 1%
Latino/Hispanic: 4%
White/European: 17%


Clearly, the numbers show that the NFL and NBA are dominated by Black players, while baseball continues to be dominated by Whites, despite the increased amount of Latinos.


During First Take, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark made a guest appearance and explained his own history with sports and how he always considered baseball his #1 sport, but his AAU team encouraged him to stick with just one sport, preferably basketball or football. Clark acknowledged that if were not for his AAU team, he probably would have remained primarily a baseball player.


Later on Numbers Never Lie*, Parker made a comment that was slightly racially charged against Latino players which I'm sure ESPN contributors Israel Gutierrez or Beto Duran will not let him live down. Parker claimed that David Ortiz is not black, because he is Hispanic; Ortiz is from the Dominican Republic.

David Ortiz (L), Rob Parker (R)

Uh... Is it just me, or is David Ortiz darker skinned than Rob Parker? Ortiz has a very thick accent, but without hearing him speak, I bet most people would immediately think of him as being Black... which he is. Rob Parker seems to forget that Hispanics/Latinos can be of ANY race. Pau and Marc Gasol are Hispanic, but they are clearly White. Rob Parker also claimed that European NBA players are not really White, which I have heard before, with him claiming that Dirk Nowitski is not a "White player"... despite the fact there are plenty of White athletes who are not from Europe that are not Anglo. Ben Roethlisberger, for example, is clearly of German descent, so by Parker's logic, he is not White.


This isn't the first time Rob Parker has made idiotic race based statements and he does a very poor job at hiding his contempt for the rise in Latinos in baseball. It's not like they're taking jobs away from African-American players. Black kids, especially in the inner cities, find basketball and football to be much easier paths to success since baseball tends to recruit kids straight out of high school rather than from college. By pursuing basketball and football, these kids get a chance to strive for playing professional sports while also getting a chance at an education.


Parker also stupidly suggested that kids in Latin American countries are crazy for baseball and all want to become baseball players. I don't know what planet Parker lives on, but in every Latin American country, the #1 sport is soccer.


Go look up more stupid shit Rob Parker has said over the years. The man makes Skip Bayless look sane.