Major League Baseball Wants African-American Presence To Grow

Image via Wikipedia

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Jimmie Lee Solomon knows all about the dwindling number of African Americans in baseball. He acknowledges that it's a concern, he understands that it could be a while before change in the opposite direction is noticeable and he believes that Major League Baseball is doing everything it can to reverse the trend. But he is also quick to point out an obvious yet often-ignored fact.

"Baseball is more diverse than ever," said Solomon, MLB's executive vice president of baseball development. "Forty percent of our players are from diverse backgrounds, from non-Caucasian backgrounds. So that's a good thing. But when the number of African Americans is declining, and you have areas from our country that are either underserved or unserved, now that is a problem."

In 2011, MLB once again will honor the history of African Americans in baseball -- a sport seen by many as a true pioneer in Civil Rights -- by staging its fifth Civil Rights Game in Atlanta, the central hub of the Civil Rights Movement. (The date has not yet been announced.) CONTINUE....