Can you name 1 BLACK Houston Astros Player??

Niether can I.


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Changing diversity: Astros first Series team in half-century without black player</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By BEN WALKER, AP Baseball Writer
October 26, 2005

HOUSTON (AP) -- Joe Morgan worries about the face of baseball. Watching the World Series, the Hall of Famer is troubled by what he sees. His old team, the Houston Astros, is down 3-0 to the Chicago White Sox, but it's not their lineup that concerns Morgan. It's their makeup. The Astros are the first World Series team in more than a half-century with a roster that doesn't include a single black player.

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``Of course I noticed it. How could you not?'' Morgan said while the Astros took batting practice before the opener in Chicago. ``But they're not the only ones. There are two or three teams that didn't have any African-American players this year.''
Morgan said it's a predicament and a challenge for Major League Baseball. While more players from around the world are making it to the majors -- Japan, Korea, for example -- the number of blacks is declining.

``It's a daunting task to get African-American kids into baseball, and I don't see the trend changing,'' he said.

The last World Series team without a black player was the 1953 New York Yankees. It wasn't until 1955 -- eight years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 -- that Elston Howard became the first black in Yankee pinstripes.

Black players accounted for just about 9 percent of big league rosters this season.

``We know that we have to work to do,'' Commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday. ``We'll continue to intensify our efforts. I'm very aware, I'm extremely sensitive about it, and I feel badly about it. But we need to get to work to change things.''

Astros general manager Tim Purpura agrees.

``I think it's a huge, huge problem for baseball,'' he said. ``The pool of African-American players just isn't there. And as baseball becomes more college-oriented in its draft, there aren't a lot of players to pick.

``The African-American athletes are going into other sports,'' he said.

The most recent survey by the NCAA, taken during the 2003-04 season, showed that only 6 percent of Division I baseball players were black. Half of the men's basketball players were black, as were 44 percent of football players.

Houston has a half-dozen Hispanic players -- it was the first team to open a baseball academy in Venezuela, about a dozen years ago. Bench coach Cecil Cooper is black.

Outfielders Charles Gipson and Charlton Jimerson, both black, played for the Astros during the regular season.

The White Sox have three black players on their Series roster: Jermaine Dye, Carl Everett and Willie Harris, along with coaches Tim Raines and Harold Baines.

They also have eight Hispanic players and Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi.

``We're diverse because we're looking for the best in talent and character,'' general manager Ken Williams said before the Series started. ``It just happened that way. I could care less what the makeup of the club is as long as it works as a whole.''

Williams is the only black general manager in the majors. A former big league outfielder, he joined the White Sox in 1992 as a scout, confident he could find players in the inner cities. After a year of trying, Williams felt as if he'd failed.

Morgan is disturbed by what he's found, too.

A two-time NL MVP, Morgan helped Cincinnati win two straight championships. In 1976, along with fellow black teammates Ken Griffey, George Foster and Dan Driessen, the Big Red Machine swept a Yankees team that had 10 black players on its roster.

Just 10 years ago, Atlanta and Cleveland each had five black players when they met in the World Series.

In 2003, Derek Jeter and the Yankees lost to Florida. Jeter's father is black and his mother is white; the All-Star shortstop has said he considers himself both black and white.

``There's a perception among African-American kids that they're not welcome here, that baseball is not for inner-city kids,'' Morgan said. ``It's not true, and I hate that the perception is out there.''

ok????? lack of blacks in mlb or lack of whites in nba never cross my mind. i just enjoy the games regardless of color.

Does Astacio and Tavarez count as black?

freebie said:

Does Astacio and Tavarez count as black?

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thats what i thought

Maybe they can do some studies in the NBA to see why there are mostly all black players. I hate this type of pure BULLS>>>.
I like both sports and don't check race balance before deciding a play!! What a damm mess if baseball starts to mandate some numbers!!

The point of the story is not to encourage a quota for blacks in Baseball, they are just pointing out how baseball has plummeted in popularity among black youngsters, and wondering how to get them interested.

I was a big brother to a young black kid, and I went to see one of his baseball games in Inglewood. You would have barely recognized it as a baseball game. There were about 18 players on each team, and instead of setting up substitution patterns, they just put all 18 people on the field at the same time. They wouldn't even let the kids (10 year olds) pitch to each other, each team's coach pitched to his own team. They also didn't keep a tally of how many outs were recorded, each team simply batted until everyone in the order had come up to the plate in a given inning. There was no umpire there either. The kids weren't learning anything about how the game is really played, and most of them were just standing in the field twiddling their thumbs. It's no wonder these kids aren't interested in baseball, if this is their exposure to it.

The Dominican and other Caribbean players are HispanicLatino regardless how black their skin.

Its nice to watch a major sporting event with plenty of white players on primetime television.

I figured so many white players on television would bother the people who are over obsessed with one sided racial ideas.

freebie said:

Does Astacio and Tavarez count as black?

Click to expand...

of course not, since morgan himself is a racist, he doesn't count dark colored people who speak spanish.

There may not be a dumber human being, that thinks he is so smart and gets credit for being smart, than joe morgan. He always has something stupid to discuss.

Like earl said, i could care less what the color of the players on my team are, as long as they play well. Back in the "old" days, most of the players in basketball were white, now there are a few whites. Do you hear bill walton complaining that the number of white players is so low?

Why cant people enjoy sports without turning it into a race issue?

this is a racist comment


"``Of course I noticed it. How could you not?'' Morgan said while the Astros took batting practice before the opener in Chicago. ``But they're not the only ones. There are two or three teams that didn't have any African-American players this year.''
Morgan said it's a predicament and a challenge for Major League Baseball. While more players from around the world are making it to the majors -- Japan, Korea, for example -- the number of blacks is declining.

``It's a daunting task to get African-American kids into baseball, and I don't see the trend changing,'' he said. "

Would Joe Morgan have a comment if there were no white players on the Astros?

The number of african american players in baseball is dwindling to a very few. All of the top notch athletes realize they have a better chance of making it as a shooting guard or a cornerback.

Also, the whole idea of the minor leagues where you make $1000/month is not what someone who wants to make a quick million is looking for.

Jimmy Hoffa said:

Would Joe Morgan have a comment if there were no white players on the Astros?

Click to expand...

Hell no, are you kidding. A few years ago, Morgan also said he would have preferred playing for a black manager.

I didnt mind his comment, for at least he was being honest.

However, what would happen if an ex-player, turned announcer said he preferred playing for a white manager???

DAWOOFDADDY said:

However, what would happen if an ex-player, turned announcer said he preferred playing for a white manager???

Click to expand...

He would be GONE! See Jimmy the Greek and Al Campanis and soon to be Fisher DeBerry. A white person mentioning race is the kiss of death...

It was very pathetic when Paul Hornung retracted his comments.

He should have stood his ground regardless of the fussing and whining from the political correctness crowd.

The political correctness circles are are the true minority, as most Americans (all races), do not agree with their nonsense.

Why is it such a big deal for people to accept that in some sports blacks comprise the majority of best players.

I like seeing the white players do well, but I respect and enjoy the game, regardless of the appearance of the players. For the most part, today the best player gets on the field.

If Latino/Caribbean players dominate baseball...so be it as they work hard and have the skills. Either Americans and other players (regardless of race), have to improve or will play minor league ball.

noticed this a long time ago

I never said anything, I have been waiting for someone else to notice.

Make you say, "hmmm"!

the black athlete does not play baseball to a large degree anymore, they play basketball.

How about JR Richard:

it's always been like that.....

a white man mentions race and all hell breaks loose....when a black person does it..its nothing

black people are more racist than white people.