“Where Have the Black Players Gone?:”

The Decline of African-American Players in Baseball

By Justin Kasprisin

April 15, 1947 has become one of the most memorialized dates in the history of professional sports. During the winter between the 1946 and 1947 seasons, Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed the first African-American player to a Major League ball club. Former Negro League star Jackie Robinson made his major league debut in Ebbets Field in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform on the fifteenth of April. This occurred seven years before Brown vs. Board of Education, making baseball one of the first private businesses to desegregate. African-Americans played the game in the Negro Leagues, their “separate but equal” league, for many decades, but now a new business had opened itself to them. Jackie Robinson not only broke the color barrier, he excelled, winning Rookie of the Year honors by displaying remarkable glove work at second base while maintaining a .297 batting average, stealing 29 bases, and scoring 125 runs.[1] Little more than a decade later, the face of major league baseball had changed dramatically.

By 1959, all major league baseball teams included African-American players. The last team to desegregate was the Boston Red Sox, who brought journeyman middle-infielder Pumpsie Green up to the big leagues in July 1959.[2] Many black players excelled in the big leagues, becoming league leaders in nearly every offensive category. Numerous black players entered the majors and distinguished themselves throughout the 60s and 70s.[3] Stars such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Frank Robinson became household names. However, this upward trend sputtered during the 1970s.

The percentage of blacks playing in the majors peaked in 1977 at 24%.[4] Since then, the percentage of African-Americans has declined to an all-time low of 10% since the integration of the big leagues. Simultaneously, the percentage of Latin-American born players increased steadily; the number of Asian players increased as well. Other professional sports leagues, particularly the National Basketball Association (NBA), have seen an increase in the percentage of black players. What has happened to Major League Baseball? Why are black athletes looking elsewhere?

David Ogden and Michael Hilt have looked at African-American culture and noticed how it has taken hold of basketball and claimed it as its own. It has become part of the black collective identity, the culture and ideas that bring together African-American culture and define socially what it means to be a black person in the United States.[5] Basketball has become an increasingly popular form of entertainment and athletics for African Americans, who comprise 78% of the players in the NBA and 61% of players in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).[6] Blacks constitute less than 13 percent of the population, so these numbers suggest a strong cultural pull toward basketball. Dan Hartmann contends that “basketball has become a crucial social space for the development of an African American identity and aesthetic.”[7] Black baseball fans are becoming fewer in number as well.

However, this same cultural identity had originally existed for blacks with baseball. Baseball provided a significant unifying force for African-Americans; it had been their source for entertainment and leisure. Changing demographics, namely the tremendous population shift from the rural South to urban areas, caused many African-Americans to leave baseball and look to basketball, a sport more conducive to cities.

Baseball Before Integration

Baseball had been an adaptation from games played in Great Britain and brought over by immigrants to America. By the Civil War, professional teams were beginning to form, usually traveling from town to town. Teams began to join together to form leagues, and by 1845, the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, the first organized baseball league formed under the leadership of Alexander Cartwright.[8] The first national baseball league was the National Association of Baseball Players founded in 1871. By this time, all teams had professionalized, hiring players from factories and farms to play instead of the amateur athletes that once dominated the sport.[9]

Most teams formed near cities, but America was still a largely rural nation; much of the American population lived on farms. Cities were necessary for supporting teams because they provided the fan base and financial support that could keep a team in competition as well as forming a connection to a community.

Many African-Americans have had the opportunity to play baseball since its introduction to America. Like their white counterparts, they played in large fields, generally found in the South, and in pick-up games, and soon organized into their own teams. These teams began to barnstorm other towns, playing any competition that was willing to face them. In 1920, the first all-black baseball league formed, drawing over 10,000 fans per game.[10] Before baseball integrated in 1947, black players participated in the Negro Leagues. This “separate but equal” league gave black players an opportunity to play baseball professionally. The first organized Negro Leagues formed in the Midwest and South, composed of players mostly from these regions. When Major League Baseball officially formed, black athletes were beginning to have their own teams and would soon form a league of their own. Between 1920 and 1947, Negro League teams competed against each other in from of large crowds. African-Americans identified with the players on these teams, helping to make the sport their own. Once Major League Baseball began to integrate, it was the beginning of the end for the Negro Leagues. The integration of Major League Baseball left the Negro League little more than a potential labor pool. African-American players had greater financial opportunities in the majors than in the Negro Leagues; virtually all of the league’s stars joined the majors.

Population shift

Today, black Americans represent a large portion of the population in urban areas throughout the Unites States. This had not always been the case in America. Prior to World War I, almost 90% of African-Americans lived in the rural South, mostly working on farms.[11] During World War I, the first major population shift occurred as blacks moved to Northern cities to work in factories that were short on labor. The United States had been heavily involved in trade with the warring nations of Europe; additional workers were needed to keep up with the production. When the United States entered the war in 1917, many white factory workers were sent overseas, creating an opening in the labor pool readily filled by black workers. This was the period when Harlem became an important center for the black community. It should be noted that it was during this first migration that black teams began to form and play each other and, shortly after World War I, the first Negro League formed. The Negro Leagues formed just after World War I because of the migration to the urban areas. The sizeable African-American population in urban areas could support black baseball teams.

Migration slowed after World War I, but began again for the same reasons during World War II. World War II caused the second black migration north to the cities to fill the labor void left by the war. Between 1940 and 1960, nearly three million blacks left the rural South and moved to urban areas around the United States.[12] After 1960, the black migration slowed, though it still continued up to the 1970s, at which point migration halted due to the lack of economic opportunities offered in cities.[13] Blacks moved to urban centers to take advantage of its economic and social opportunities. They were also fleeing the South as farms mechanized, eliminating jobs held by blacks. The dramatic shift in the black population changed the way the black culture developed, influencing the music and sports pursued by new generations. This migration to urban areas continued after 1960, the year after baseball became fully integrated.

Baseball and the Decline of Black Players

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the percentage of blacks in baseball had hovered around 20%.[14] Today, the levels have dropped to around 10%. From 1990 to 2002, the percentage of blacks dropped from 17% to 10%.[15] What has happened to cause this drop in the percentage of black players? This has occurred while the total number of major league teams and total number of major league players has increased through the addition of four expansion teams, adding 100 major league players during the regular season. The percentage of black fans has also decreased; by the 1990s, only one of every 20 spectators at Major League parks was an African-American.[16] This is far below the national population and surprising considering that all baseball teams are located in urbanized areas, many of which have large African-American communities. Have African-Americans simply lost interest in baseball?

David Ogden and Michael Hilt agree that African-Americans are no longer attached to baseball the way they had been in the past. During the era of the Negro Leagues, African-Americans felt a greater sense of participation in the game; it was part of who their identity. African-Americans understood the game through teams of black stars and drew other black stars in to the game. Children followed Negro League stars like Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell. “African-American youth grew up in a culture which supported baseball.[17] ‘Black youths did not have to become acculturated into the American sporting tradition because it was already a part of their own culture.[18]’” The end of the Negro Leagues in 1960 ushered in a new era for blacks. Without the Negro Leagues, African-Americans fans, particularly young ones, lost interest in the game. For a while, everyone was interested in baseball. “There was a time, right after Jackie Robinson, when everybody was interested in the game of baseball, and you had sandlot ball-clubs everywhere.”[19] Interest among African-Americans remained high, but their interest in the game began to decline. Players from the Negro Leagues played their entire careers in the majors, bringing the fans with them, but they would not be followed by future black athletes. The stars and young players in the Negro Leagues were now playing in the Major Leagues, but as many retired in the late 1970s the era of decline ensued.[20]

The African-Americans that played in the Negro Leagues provided a major wave of black stars; once they left, fewer black players have followed them. The lack of African-American star power paralleled a decline in the number of African-American fans. Youths were not seeing the game and never had a chance to look at the game. However, other problems were occurring during this time. Young African-Americans could see major league stars thrive, especially Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, but many chose not to play baseball. Waning interest is part of the explanation, but, along with the loss of collective identity in baseball, blacks did not have the opportunities to play the game as many blacks now lived in the cities, unlike their baseball heroes.

Baseball is a difficult game to organize, requiring many participants and a large area to play. Pick-up baseball does not occur the way it once did.[21] At a young age, baseball is highly organized in the suburbs. For example, in the Midwest, “Omaha no longer provides administrative support for the leagues, nor the upkeep on the baseball fields in northeast Omaha, whose population is predominately African American.”[22] The upkeep of these feeder programs has been left to the private sector. “Parks and ballfields are well developed in the suburbs, but North Omaha is shy of fields.”[23] Cities often lack the resources necessary to fund extensive youth baseball leagues. In the early years of integration, the majority of African-American players came from the South and rural areas, where large fields to play were abundant and the weather was warm year round. Year round warm weather helps baseball areas since it allows for outside games year round and encouraged athletes to play games outside in the fields. The movement of large numbers of African-Americans to urban areas moved many members of the community away from favorable conditions for playing baseball regularly. The environment of a city proved far more conducive to basketball.

The Great Migration caused a shift in the sports culture. Looking at the trend in blacks with baseball and the major population shifts show connections between changing populations and changing interests. The two major changes in black baseball, the formation of the Negro Leagues and integration, both occurred during the black migration to the cities. The number of African-American professional basketball players increased dramatically.

There was a general decline during the 1990s of African-American college baseball players, but the percentage of black players has increased in the past few years. The downward trend was consistent with the changing demographics in baseball. College baseball provides a major breeding ground for the big leagues, but fewer blacks were playing baseball in college. There is a systemic problem in baseball, not just at the major league level. Black players at all levels of the game, from little league to the majors, are disappearing.

The Effect of Basketball

While baseball has seen a large drop in African American players, basketball has seen a remarkable increase. In the past decade, the percentage of African-American players in professional basketball remained consistently between 75% and 78%.[24] Basketball has become the sport that many African Americans have turned to, and it is strongly connected to their environment.

Basketball had been growing in the cities because of the structure of a city. It originally formed to be the ultimate sportsmanship game, teaching teamwork and other “Christian” essentials. It formed in gymnasiums, mostly through the YMCA. It was an exciting, fast-paced sport that could easily be played in cities. Basketball could be played indoors and outdoors, so weather was no longer an issue. Also, the areas available for sports were mostly back alleys and small areas on concrete (or gymnasiums such as the YMCA), and basketball is easily played in those areas. On top of this, basketball is much easier to play as a pickup sport, just requiring two players who want to play. Baseball is very difficult to play pickup, especially in densely populated areas..

Basketball also has another draw to black athletes. Many members of the African-American community view basketball as a way out of poverty. “Basketball, for black males at least, not only embodies dreams of success and possible escape from the ghetto, but in a growing number of communities pickup games are played for money much like cards and pools.”[25] Basketball offers African-Americans a chance to get out of the inner cities where the game was born and make money. This puts pressure on young African-Americans to perform since many youths see basketball as their only chance to improve their economic standing. African-American baseball stars do not have the same stature. David Ogden argues that basketball has become a part of black collective identity, much like jazz or hip-hop. Black collective identity has placed basketball as a central force for changes in status in society. “Black youths’ use of basketball for self-expression and empowerment; and, blacks’ views of basketball as a vehicle for social mobility.”[26] Basketball has taken over for baseball in these areas.

Black migration to cities explains this change in collective identity. Baseball was originally part of the collective identity, but when baseball could no longer be played, blacks looked for another area to be an outlet for social mobility and self-expression. While many African-Americans looked to other forms of recreation and entertainment, other groups have moved onto the diamonds of the big leagues. Going back to the previous two charts, we notice the Latin American demographic growing both in Major League Baseball and in the college levels. What accounts for such a rise?

Latin-American Players and Baseball

The past decade has witnessed significant increases in the number of players from other minority groups. Asian-born players are on the rise, signed by Major League clubs right out of Japan and other Asian countries. Japan has long had a thriving major league system of its own. Many American-born players move to Japan to play baseball, which is widely seen as one of the best leagues in the world. However, the Japanese population in Major League Baseball is still only around 2%, accounting for 23 total players at the Major League level, but growing thanks to the open mobility of Asian stars to the United States and other players following.[27] Hideki Matsui, star outfielder for the New York Yankees, was heavily influenced to come to America because of the success of previous stars, including Ichiro Suzuki. However, the Latin American population in baseball has seen the largest increases in the number of Major League players over the last decade.

The number of Latin American players has increased at all levels of baseball. Latinos are now the second largest group in Major League Baseball and are consistently growing. On opening day of the 2003 MLB season, approximately 28% of players on MLB rosters were born outside the United States: 86% are from Latin America and the Caribbean. At the start of the 2003 minor league season: 46% of players signed to minor league contracts were born outside the United States, with 78% of those players coming from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.[28] Even at the college level, there have been increases in Latin Americans playing baseball. Today’s stars hail primarily from the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Cuba.

Athletes that live in Latin America have had the opportunity to play in larger rural areas with year round warm weather, similar to the areas blacks had when they lived in the South. Urbanization has not taken all the stars from Latin America out of baseball, and the governments of Latin American nations are more favorable to baseball. As Tim Wendel said, “for Cuba there may not be much, but there is always baseball.”[29]

Baseball has been an important for the Latin American community and an important aspect of their culture. Baseball has been part of the collective identity for Latin Americans in the same way basketball is for African-Americans. They still have their individual teams in their countries, and these players thrive at the Major League level. The environment many Latin American players grew up in allowed the continuation of baseball while governments encouraged baseball through their national teams. This presence in the Major Leagues and what baseball means in the Latin American culture explains its rise in popularity and why so many Latin Americans move to baseball, even if they are not living in Latin American nations and are now living in the United States.

Latin American players broke into the majors shortly after Jackie Robinson did, but they have stayed in the game. The first Latin American player in Major League Baseball was Luis Castro of Columbia in 1902, but he was allowed to play because of his light skin. It was not until 1949 that a dark skinned Latin American player was allowed to join (Orestes Minoso with the Cleveland Indians). Roberto Clemente was one of the most popular Latin American players and has been credited with bringing many young Latino players to Major League Baseball.[30] Latin Americans have been involved with baseball for over a century, mostly due to the climate in their native countries.

Baseball has proven as a way out of poverty for many Latino players, similarly to the way contemporary African-Americans have viewed basketball. Also, the cost of developing Latin American players is far less than developing players in America. “Baseball’s popularity in Latin America and the low cost of developing players there has provided a fertile feeder system for Major League Baseball.”[31] American teams do not need to go through the same “red tape” to sign Latin American players that they do to sign players from Japan. Japanese players are under contracts from their teams in Japan and can be kept in Japan until free agency. American-born players also have to wait until free agency before they can decide on whether or not to go to Japan or sign with another team. Latin American players, however, are not under the same contractual constraints. Major League Baseball and Japanese leagues have players signed to multiyear contracts for large amounts of money, and these contracts are controlled by law. This is not always the case in Latin America, where contracts do not always exist, are not always enforced, and large amounts of money come in from Major League teams to pay for the development of players in Latin America.

This approach has come under fire in recent years.[32] The cheaper cost of talent has convinced Major League teams to turn much of their resources to Latin America. Latin American players have filled minor league rosters at lower costs since major league teams did not need to pay them large signing bonuses or go through the draft to get them. Big League teams have tended to just scout them and sign them, and at lower rates than most American born players because of the lack of agents and the lack of wealth of Latin American nations. Baseball has begun to invest heavily in this region, creating a “player pipeline” to the United States.[33] Major League teams have been building facilities and running academies in Latin America in order to bring baseball to those players and then sign them when they are ready. This accounts for their rise, and further explains reasons why African-Americans have left baseball. Latin Americans rose in baseball for the same reasons African-Americans did when they had the Negro Leagues. However, a change is occurring as baseball has recognized this as a problem.

Solving the Problem

Major League Baseball recognizes the declining number of black players as a problem. Commissioner Bud Selig discusses this issue regularly and has pushed major league teams to make it a priority. Jesse Jackson has even said that this was a priority for him because of the importance baseball has in the culture of young adults. Ralph Wiley and many sports reporters have said that part of the loss of black interest was the increased professionalism in the sport, namely the way children are pushed early on to succeed in baseball. Families, pushing their children to succeed, invest more money in their children’s sports, many even paying for professional clinics and national tournaments. This has kept blacks out because they tend to not be able to afford these special privileges and the added attention.[34] African-Americans are alienated from the game this way, further pushing them away from baseball. Major League Baseball is using the same strategy it used in Latin America to help build baseball in the inner cities. It has tried to bring baseball back to the inner cities where the population is predominantly African American.

For the past decade, Major League Baseball has run the RBI program, Rebuilding Baseball in the Inner Cities, as a way to bring baseball back to black youths. A network of youth leagues for kids ages 13-18 has developed, which has spread to 190 cities across the United States and Puerto Rico.[35] Some evidence shows that this program has been a slight success. The program was begun in 1989 with many young players. At the beginning of the 2004 season, Commissioner Bud Selig took another bold step by opening up new Urban Youth Academies in Los Angeles as well as open up facilities at the Compton Community College in 2005.[36] However, the RBI program is undergoing a little problem.

Changing demographics have caused the percentage of blacks in the RBI program to drop from 61% four years ago to roughly 55% today, mostly because of the influx of Latin American youths into those programs.[37] Also, the African-American fan base remains fairly small, but these academies are being used to help promote the game for blacks. RBI and the new academies have had success in bringing baseball to underprivileged areas, but whether they are getting to black athletes is another issue. Inner city stars like Manny Ramirez help to promote the game, while the rise of new stars like Dontrelle Willis, an African-American player from Oakland, infuses the game with a fresh crop of urban-born stars.

As long as baseball tries to promote the game and give opportunities to the underprivileged in the United States, is the decline of blacks a problem? Baseball believes it is. Major League Baseball has recognized that baseball is a sport that is not conducive to the cities, but it is looking for ways to make it a better fit for those areas. It has recognized a core issue in why blacks have been leaving the game, and it is actively trying to change situation and bring the game back to blacks and inner city people, typically disadvantaged groups.

Baseball is not a city game. Baseball is more conducive to rural or suburban life, where there are more parks and warmer weather to play in, and generally more community support to promote the game. Baseball, once one of America’s most unifying sports, has seen a decline in black players from the Major Leagues down to the Little Leagues in the Midwest. African-Americans have been leaving the game of baseball since the 1970s.

The changing interest among African-American players is consistent with the change from rural to urban areas. The population shift caused a shift in black collective identity. Basketball took on the role once held by baseball. During the black migration to the cities, blacks had to give up the game they had mostly been brought up with and look for other ways to play sports, especially since they could no longer play in the Negro Leagues. The Negro Leagues were filled with players that had been playing in the fields in the South where they had the chance to play everyday. However, the shift to the city forced them to no longer play the game. The Negro Leagues were born and succeeded in the South and Midwest, but grew weaker when black players had the opportunity to play Major League Baseball.

The death of the Negro Leagues perpetuated a decline in interest among African-Americans, in part because of the loss of community identification with Negro League teams. Simultaneously, basketball grew in popularity. Basketball became a more important means for social mobility rather than baseball. Since the demographic shift, basketball has become an important aspect of black cultural identity and continues to be seen as a method of social betterment. Baseball has since turned to Latin America, where the game remains wildly popular. The environment in Latin America ensures the continued success of the game, and, thanks to the stars leading the way, has been seen as a means of social mobility and success.

Urban segregation explains the shift from baseball to basketball in part, but in last decade, Major League Baseball has tried to change this. It has brought baseball to African-American urban centers. The success of programs like RBI will not be known for years as more players go through the program, but the recent upswing in college players shown in the 2003 Race and Gender Report Card offers some hope that the programs are working well. If these programs succeed, baseball may look more attractive to more African-American youths.

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[1] Walter Leavy. “Baseball: Blacks in Sports: 1947-1992: The Legacy.” Ebony, August 1992, v47 n10 pg 56(3)

[2] Walter Leavy.

[3] Walter Leavy.

[4] Associated Press. “MLB fighting to rebuild baseball as a city game.” ESPN.com. Tuesday, July 13, 2004.

[5] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[6] Richard Lapchick. 2003 Racial and Gender Report Card. Boston; Northeastern University, 2003 Pages 14-15.

[7] D. Hartmann. “Rethinking the relationship between sport and race in American culture.” Sociology of Sport Journal. V. 19 no. 3. 2000. Page 240.

[8] "Cartwright, Alexander Joy." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004.  Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
1 Nov. 2004 <http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article?tocId=9020563>.

[9] "baseball." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004.  Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
1 Nov. 2004 <http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article?tocId=30432>.

[10] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[11] Faustine Jones. “Black Americans and the City: A Historical Survey.” Journal of Negro Education. Summer 1973. Page 265.

[12] Faustine Jones. Page 272.

[13] Page 289.

[14] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[15] Associated Press. “MLB fighting to rebuild baseball as a city game.” Tuesday, July 13, 2004. Espn.com.

[16] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[17] David Ogden and Michael Hilt.

[18] S. Reiss as quoted by David Ogden an Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[19] David Ogden and Michael Hilt.

[20] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[21] David Ogden. “African Americans and Pick-up Ball.” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. Volume 9, Number 1&2, Fall 2000/Spring 2001

[22] David Ogden. “African Americans and Pick-up Ball.” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. Volume 9, Number 1&2, Fall 2000/Spring 2001 Page 202

[23] David Ogden. “African Americans and Pick-up Ball.” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. Volume 9, Number 1&2, Fall 2000/Spring 2001 Page 202.

[24]Richard Lapchick. 2003 Racial and Gender Report Card. Boston; Northeastern University, 2003. Page 14.

[25] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[26] David Ogden and Michael Hilt. “Collective Identity and Basketball: an explanation for the decreasing number of African Americans on America’s baseball diamond.” Journal of Leisure Studies. V 35 I. 2, Spring 2003.

[27] Richard Lapchick. 2003 Racial and Gender Report Card. Boston; Northeastern University, 2003. Page 14.

[28] Arturo Marcano and David Fidler. “Baseball’s Exploitation of Latin Talent.” NACLA Report of the Americas. Vol. 37, no. 5. March/April 2004. Page 14.

[29] Tim Wendel. The New Face of Baseball. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2003, Page 2.

[30] “A Look Back at the Impact of Latino Baseball Players on America’s Pastime.” San Francisco Examiner. February 8, 2001.

[31] Associated Press. “MLB fighting to rebuild baseball as a city game.” Tuesday, July 13, 2004. ESPN.com

[32] Arturo Marcano and David Fidler. “Baseball’s Exploitation of Latin Talent.” NACLA Report of the Americas. Vol. 37, no. 5. March/April 2004. Page 15.

[33] Alan Schwarz. “Inner-city game getting a big boost.” Tuesday, February 17, 2004. ESPN.com

[34] Ralph Wiley. “Squeeze Play: Baseball’s Troubling Issue.” July 15, 2003. ESPN.com

[35] Alan Schwarz

[36] Alan Schwarz. “Inner-city game getting a big boost.” Tuesday, February 17, 2004. ESPN.com

[37] Associated Press. “MLB fighting to rebuild baseball as a city game.” Tuesday, July 13, 2004. ESPN.com