Baseball's Demographic Shifts Bring Cultural Complexities : Code Switch : NPR

Baseball's Demographic Shifts Bring Cultural Complexities : Code Switch : NPR: This week, baseball fans celebrated Jackie Robinson Day, 67 years after Robinson became the first black player to participate in a Major League Baseball game. Coincidentally (or not), the racial, ethnic and cultural dynamics of the sport today are the topics of much discussion in this week's news.

Decline In Percentage Of Black Players

According to an article published this week by the Pew Research Center, the proportion of black baseball players in the major leagues has steadily declined in recent years. Jean Manuel Krogstad writes:

"The share of black MLB players reached a high of 18.7 percent in 1981, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. In 2014,  8.3 percent of players on opening day rosters were black. Before the most recent decade's decline, the last time baseball had such a small share of black players was 1958."