I recently went to a Houston Astros home game at Minute Maid Park. Yes, I know some of you are shaking your heads asking yourself, “WHY?” But as a die-hard baseball fan who always loves a night out at the ballpark, WHY NOT. The lack of excitement at the pre-game watering hole was apparent. In between shots of Jack Daniels, I realized something awkward, perhaps my long time hiatus to major baseball markets like Philadelphia and New York, or my trips to the World Baseball Classic, but I’ve never been in such, how do I say this politely, a homogenous ethnic environment.
Growing up I went to countless games at the Astrodome to cheer on Jose Cruz, Mike Scott, Glenn Davis and the rest of the boys in their Orange and Blue uniforms. But something happened right around junior high, the Houston Rockets became my team of choice and I lost the desire to attend a baseball game. I know it had a lot to do with my friends, mainly black and Latino who played and followed mainly basketball and football. Another factor was of course their not being many players of color in baseball being endorsed by Nike or Gatorade. Endorsements matter, especially to teens that buy products based on trends and players who make the nightly highlight reel.
So what happened to baseball and how did it lose a generation of black and Latino fans so quickly? It wasn’t the lack of history or role models in the sports, after all Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Josh Gibson, Roberto Clemente, Luis Aparcio, the names are timeless, each of them Black or Latino and Hall of Fame inductees. But there was disconnect and all of a sudden baseball became an old white men sport. It didn’t matter Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla were smashing homeruns in Pittsburgh, or Ozzie Smith was playing shortstop in a way never seen before, the perception of baseball had changed. Yes, Little League was still popular and full of kids and parents enjoying weekend games and after game pizza parties, but the lack of excitement in junior high and high school was apparent.
Baseball suffers with young teens in black and Latino communities because it is perceived as being slow and lacking in scoring and excitement. Put against the NBA’s up and down style of play and loud arenas, with slam dunks and 3 pointers raining down, of course baseball seems much less interesting. What the NBA did so well, was enter into licensing agreements with a variety of products that bombarded our generation. From team apparel to shoes, hats, socks, a generation of kids wanted to play and dress like their favorite NBA players. The NCAA did a great job of promoting March Madness, giving college basketball athletes the opportunity to shine in front of nationally televised audience. College baseball is non-existent as a platform for exposing a national audience to young talent. Minor league games aren’t televised at all. Most importantly, basketball players during the 80’s and 90’s became Pop-icons. All I have to say is #23 from the Chicago Bulls and 99% of kids from my generation know whom I’m talking about. Names such as Shaq, Penny, Kobe, Dream, Iverson, all of us grew up identifying with these athletes. Baseball dropped the ball when it came to making its stars into pop icons.
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Jeter became the 28th player in baseball history to reach 3,000 hits on Saturday, with a home run in the third inning at Yankee Stadium off the Tampa Bay Rays’ David Price.
Before there was LeBron, Kobe, or Tiger there was Griffey. The “Kid” was bigger then the hype and never once did any scandal or drugs tarnish his image. His swing was emulated by tons of kids, and his shoes were worn by us all.
