ERNIE BROWN JR. Why has Major League Baseball lost its appeal among blacks?

Spring and baseball. They go hand in hand, and there was no greater day in baseball history for black Americans than when Jackie Robinson stepped onto the baseball field April 15, 1947, as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Robinson was the first black player in the major leagues in the 20th century. Hundreds of blacks followed him into the majors, and blacks hold some of baseball's top records, including home runs for a career (Hank Aaron) and stolen bases in a career (Rickey Henderson).
Strangely enough, however, in the 21st century, black players are disappearing from the national pastime.
That decrease recently has been chronicled by members of the national sports press.
The numbers
Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald offered up this observation: "Come opening day, there's a strong possibility only three African-American starting pitchers -- three pitchers out of the 150 who will make up Major League Baseball's five-man rotations -- will be in big-league uniforms. [Dontrelle] Willis and [Darren] Oliver, both of whom pitch for the Marlins, are two of them. The other is Cleveland Indians hurler C.C. Sabathia."
Gordon Wittenmyer of the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota wrote this: "At a time when the international diversity of players in Major League Baseball has never been greater, the number of African-American players in the game has nose-dived to levels not seen since the earliest days of integration."
Wittenmyer's article says that from 1947, when Robinson started his career, it took 12 years until every major league team was integrated. "By the mid-1970s, 27 percent of major leaguers were African-American," he wrote. As of 2002, that percentage had dropped to 10 percent, he added.
Did you know that the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971 once put on the field MLB's only all-black starting lineup (seven blacks and two black Latin players)?
Sought feedback
Why has baseball lost its luster in the black community?
I asked my brother, Mark, 49, for some local feedback on this matter. Mark played baseball in the old Lincoln Knolls and Uptown Kiwanis little leagues, lettered in the sport three years at Youngstown's East High School, and played for Mount Union College.
He has been a Little League and Babe Ruth baseball manager and is treasurer of the Youngstown Babe Ruth League.
He wasted little time pointing out some key reasons for the lack of black participation in the sport in the Youngstown-Warren area.
UThe breakup of the black family. "There are too many single-parent homes, and a lot of kids can't get to practice," he said.
UThere are no viable Little League programs in Youngstown-Warren's predominantly black neighborhoods.
USoccer has eclipsed baseball as an entry-level sport.
UInstant stardom -- and riches -- in football and basketball has lured more black athletes to those sports.
Need for coaches
"On the local level, we need young black men, ages 25-45, who would be willing to coach baseball," Mark said. "I know the local sponsors, and the fields are there. But if we, as black men, fail to engage the 6- to 12-year-old black males in baseball, this sport for blacks in our area will slowly fade away."
He said that this summer, the Youngstown Babe Ruth League will have a total of 16 teams and slots for 240 kids between the ages of 13 and 15.
"My guess is that there will not be more than 10 African-American children on these teams. That's not one black child per team," Mark said.
The road to "The Show" -- as MLB is called -- also is long, and few black athletes choose to go that route.
Even stars like Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols and Sabathia had to toil in the minor leagues before making it to the big leagues.
I believe, however, that the main culprit is Major League Baseball. It has done a poor job of marketing its product to the black community.
About 20 years ago, MLB began a concerted effort to mine the rich baseball talent in the Latin countries, especially in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
The tradition-rich sport has been slow to develop similar programs in the nation's inner cities.
Sadly, I think baseball has lost its allure for most young black athletes, and I find myself wondering: What would Jackie Robinson say about that?
ebrown@vindy.com