Ephraim Salaam Breaks Down Why Baseball Has Lost Its Appeal With African-American Kids 

It's a social media thing too, youth football and basketball are huge on RU-vid etc, it makes the kids want to emulate what they see.

Man i dont trust nobody to throw a 100 mph ball at me with out hitting me 😂 especially my opponent

Generation X was the last generation where we ALL played organized baseball.

In high school, my baseball games looked like practice 😂 There was hardly anyone watching except a couple of parents. Now that I’m in college at a D1 HBCU, I thought more people would come to the games, but the stands are still empty. I don’t think black people really care about getting into the sport, to be honest.

There is no mixtape culture in baseball…

As a 41 year old man i remember when i was a kid you would see the highlights on espn now baseball doesnt get any coverage until the playoffs. So blacks kids dont see it

David Justice was on Keyshawn Johnson’s podcast and broke it down perfectly. Basically this is what MLB wanted it was all part of their plan it’s documented

my best friend who is white, his son plays baseball and is very good. he was considering taking his son out of it as it was becoming too expensive to play. fortunately for him, his son has become so good, coaches and scouts have been sponsoring and playing for the kid to play on teams and tournaments.

The popularity point was 100% correct. In high school, kids and especially black youths, crave popularity, that gets you the girls and attention. Playing baseball is considered corny in the black community. Theres no world series parties or cookouts. And soccer is out of the question

Expensive as hell for equipment and it’s a definitive learning to curve to the game

There's layers to it. Baseball is not intertwined with Hip-Hop as basketball and football. Basketball/Football allows for athletic flash you can't display in baseball. It can become expensive over time as well. While football does have a lot of equipment most of it is provided by the school or the league so parents just buy the cleats. Baseball not so much, you have to buy cleats, the gloves, and sometimes the bat, and pants. Marketing also has a lot to do with it as well. The news media dont really talk about baseball as much as Basketball/Football.

Because its boring and all they want to do is be NBA players, NFL players, rappers.

Expensive, hard to play with a group of friends in neighborhoods now, no highlight culture or cultural impact anymore, seen as boring for many

Ephraim sounds so much smarter than anyone else in the sports talk space. He backs up every take with a logical foundation.

What Ephraim said is common. At my high school the baseball team played during classes as well.

Baseball is an expensive sport to play when you are young. The equipment and the travel is expensive

I’m 41, I grew up in DC until I turned 12 then we moved to the VA suburbs. I didn’t even think about playing baseball until we moved to VA and some of our neighborhood friends invited us to play basically whenever there wasn’t a basketball game going on. We both loved playing baseball, and had natural skills, but both very raw. Some of the Dad’s in the neighborhood encouraged us to try private training and a travel league, but my folks couldn’t afford It. My brother probably could have played in the minors if he kept going…but once we got to high school, football and basketball took over and even track leapfrogged baseball. It’s a fun sport to play but it’s brutal to watch, very slow game with not a lot of scoring.

Baseball is an expensive sport. Bats, gloves, equipment are thousands of dollars. Being from Detroit growing up in the 90s all we needed was 1 basketball and 1 football and we had motion

Plenty of black people play baseball still .. they just speak spanish so yal don't count them lol

The top black athletes are playing basketball and football. Baseball is slow and boring. You have to be patient to watch baseball. Kids today are not patient.

My dad and I were talking about this the other day. Unfortunately, baseball has no clout in the hood. Youngsters see basketball and football players in endorsements, with shoe deals, highlights etc. Baseball players aren’t very popular in the hood and the path from the minors to the majors takes time. When you’re drafted in basketball and football, especially in the lottery, you’re in the league immediately. The Latin and oriental population love baseball so I’m all about those who want to play like Ohtani.

It really comes down to youth leagues and where the investment is. Baseball has done an absolutely terrible job putting pipelines in place in the US for players here. Not to mention playing pick up games gets you yelled at for not being insured (in a league game or practice) and kicked off the field. In the US you are basically left on your own until you hit Division 1 college. Outside of that you have no help getting better at all anywhere. I watched in my high school years as the 15 best kids every year got no direction or help. The kid who ended up making it to Triple A was a left handed pitcher, and probably was the 14th best pitcher in the league. There is so much talent left to waste away in the US.

I was born in 1990 we all grew up playing baseball first & we were all black. Most of us stopped playing baseball by middle school or high school because it just wasn’t fun compared to other sports like basketball or football

Cant believe they didnt mention the #1 reason, Social Media. Baseball might be the worst sport for social media compared to football, basketball and even soccer. Baseball doesn't really produce exciting highlight reels, and its kinda hard to have 1v1 in Baseball.

top 5 episode. great guest

All of our parents stopped wanting to be around people who brought racial tension. It was uncomfortable for us as kids and especially for our parents.

Not to mention the absurd amount of money baseball costs to play. From just the equipment to the little league price and the travel money it's crazy stupid

You’re getting no 🐱 if u playing baseball in high school.

Baseball is too slow paced for a lot of adults but for kids especially they get sick of just basically sitting around watching/waiting for something to happen. It’s the only sport I believe that practice is actually more fun than games because in practice your constantly getting to hit, throw, catch, run, do something; whereas, in the games 95% of what you do is sit/stand and watch.

People dont realize how expensive organized youth baseball is to play. Football and basketball are much cheaper and easier to get into.

I'm black and my son will definitely play baseball. You don't have to be 6'8 to play it or run a 4.3 just gotta be skilled.

Why is underrepresentation in baseball an issue but wild OVERrepresentation in basketball and football not a problem? 🤔

I’m a Black woman in my 40s who loves many sports and honestly it took me a while to get into baseball, now I love it….for the past 15 yrs. I grew up around it because my grandparents and other relatives loved it, played it, and watched it. Now I wish they were here so I could enjoy it with them. Also, learning about the Negro Leagues and the prowess & resilience those players had increased my love. So, I hope the tide changes soon because Black people used to love baseball and going to games was such a big deal. It’s an acquired taste but if you give it a fair shot you’ll be pulled into the magic of it all (at a stadium). And there’s certainly nothing like playoff baseball.

Cuz they don’t want to? Why is this conversation always about Africans and only African it makes no sense. Like there’s something wrong if they’re not 80% of the league like the nba or nfl

A great breakdown from the gentleman. Of course, the more obvious question is, "Does baseball owe it to black Americans to increase their numbers in the sport?"

It’s a sport that is not “cool “ for them. Not popular enough and some little leagues are savagely expensive.

Baseball fields in my area haven't been played on by any race of kids in years

The MLB doesn’t do a good job of reaching out to other states or places in the United States. If they reached out I would say there would be more players

It's just human nature to gravitate towards something more predominant in your culture. I just think black Americans parents watch and digest or play more basketball and football.

Walking or getting on base because of an error is not failing in baseball.

The MLB is almost a majority international players league. Black people have stopped playing baseball and the White players are getting their jobs took by international players. Last years all star game roster was almost 50% international.

Baseball is comparable to watching paint dry

Where I’m from in Houston baseball has always been king, we have a all black league and many pros have came from the league players like Carl Crawford and Michael Bourn and many division one players as well

Good banter guys❤

Baseball has become a pay to play sport. So expensive. Private pitching and hitting coaches. Expensive travel leagues. Parents must have weekends off to travel to other cities and stay overnight for tournaments. Too expensive for some.

Because you need a father to play catch with and unfortunately most black kids dads are locked up in jail. Single moms and grandmas don't play catch.

As an aussie, it's so interesting getting an in-depth explanation of the US youth sports culture. Over here, sports at school is pretty much a means to an end. For kids to get some activity in for most high schools. Wished Australia was more like the US sports culture when I was a kid 😅😢

Nobody wants to get hit by an 80 mph fastball anymore, especially black people. Just my opinion 🙂.

You can play basketball by yourself. You can't play baseball by yourself unless you go to the batting booth and practice hitting. And baseball is a very slow sport. Basketball and football are much more action packed.

Great points by the guys. I would like to hear Rob Parker’s view on this subject being he’s a baseball guy.

Even going further, there isn't any Baseball draft coverage like Football and Basketball on ESPN.

As a kid I watched great black ballplayers and could see myself in them. Willie Stargell, Rickey Henderson, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Dave Parker, Reggie Jackson, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson .. Bring the swag back to baseball.

Because it's harder to make the majors than being an nfl or nba player. You don't get sent to the minors immediately as an nba or nfl player

Most sports are boring if you don't engage. I've known people who thought watching basketball was pointless until the last two minutes. I've known people who don't care about football because of all the stoppages or unless they're betting on it. If people were being honest, because of the speed, skill, and physicality, they'd have to admit hockey makes all these other sports look boring asf. But I enjoy all of them because I can appreciate each of them on their own merits.

Great conversation

Well college baseball is popular depending on the region (south). Sadly Ephraim brings up a point that kids want the instant gratification but does this say something about kids choosing path of least resistance?

Baseball is an expensive game.

Very cool stadium. The history is amazing.

I’m 43 and from Los Angeles. I grew up playing little league at Baldwin hills park. The league was majority black. I think the rise of the nba ( mainly Micheal Jordan) in the late 80’s through the 90’s had something to do with the beginning of the lack of interest. The NBA and the nfl aggressively marketed itself to the younger crowds with certain shows. MLB wasn’t trying to market itself to anyone because it already dubbed “the national pastime” so u would only see a show like TWIB (this week in baseball) which was very straight laced and didn’t market itself to the younger generation. At the same time travel ball (equivalent to AAU) became a big deal in the 2000’s and that’s where people talk about the cost of playing because travel ball is expensive and you may need a sponsor. While this is happening the MLB put more focus on grass root development in the Caribbean. If there were MLB academies in major metropolitan areas that would begin to create more opportunities as well. Yes the game is slow paced at times but that doesn’t seem to bother the kids in the Caribbean.

Because in the 90s everyone wanted to be like Mike.

I’m nearly 42 years old, and grew up a huge baseball fan. I still like it, but not like I used to and it’s amazing to see how much the sports popularity has plummeted. There’s not the buzz, shows hardly talk about it. It makes sense why so many athletes chose to play other sports. It sure seems like many more kids will play and watch soccer instead.

I agree with someone in the comments who said what David Justice said! It's the MLB'S master plan to leave Blacks out of baseball! They don't Market to Black kids what so ever!! *Now baseball changed the game to don't care about Stolen Bases and Batting Averages! They just care about Exit Velocity of the bat!! You can play in the Big league if you can hit 20HRS, HIT .230, and Steal 10 bases in 165 games. They've watered down the the product and made baseball unbearable to Watch! *Lastly, when have you ever seen a baseball player, or even a Minority banal player do a National Commercial??? TRUTH IS REAL!!

I don't know what it's like for others, but the place where I grew up, most of the baseball fields got replaced by other things. Mostly soccer fields.

Multiple reasons .. 1. It cost too much to play travel ball .. 2. Takes too long to get to the show with single double and triple A .. 3. The equipment cost to much .. vs basketball and football

If you do not live in one of the rare cities and suburbs that have a good to great baseball community, the game is absolutely boring unless you are pitcher, up at bat or in the dug-out.

Speed the game up by putting in a pitch clock, 8 seconds +/-, then you will have more scoring & the games won't run so long .

Support Marquis Grissom and Lou Collier. They doing great black youth baseball work in Georgia.

I grew up in Puerto Rico, where baseball is part of the culture, and played in Little League. Today, I have a six year old son and live in the West Coast. As a parent, you have a choice to make when it comes to extra-curriculars. The time and money add up quick. So around here, it comes down to soccer and baseball as far as organized sports are concerned. Despite growing up with baseball, I had to choose soccer. Reason being, soccer has 11 players per side on the field at any given time while with baseball your kid is going to be sitting in a dugout half the time. Soccer simply offers more active participation per player throughout the game. Im not trying to sit under the sun on the bleachers and I cant even see my kid half the game, except for an at-bat every couple of innings and him standing around in the outfield getting distracted the rest of it. Except for cultural heritage, baseball doesn't make a whole lot of sense as a parent.

Basketball harden than soccer? In what world is using your feet easier than your hands? A kid can score a 3 pointer easier than a screamer outside of the box.

It’s also a game of failing in the that you can be really great all around player and still be a on terrible youth team. In other sports, it’s easier to take over when you’re good but you cant help it if the left fielder on your team cannot catch a routine fly ball.

As a former little league coach, I watched how city parks and school districts stopped funding and supporting local baseball. At the same time, MLB was spending millions supporting baseball academies in countries like Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, etc. Sadly, the former baseball stars (Reggie Jackson, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, etc.), Black leaders (Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc.) and business leaders, failed to push for policy changes to require investment in city baseball leagues across the country. As a result, traveling club teams have replaced city and high school teams. These club teams are expensive (registration alone can exceed $1500). Most Black Americans that were denied the ability to obtain generational wealth (due to slavery/Jim Crow) are unable to participate on these club teams. Remember, Black American baseball players had a lot of swag and "popularity" with fans and had access to attractive women up until the early 2000s. Players like Derek Jeter had millions of dollars, fame and dated some of the hottest women on stage and screen. Ken Griffie Jr., Ricky Henderson, Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson and so many others were on cereal boxes, in videos, and in commercials to the point it isn't even funny to think about. Bottom line- the influx of international players was created by design by baseball owners to bring in talented (cheap) players from other countries that did not command the kind of salaries of Black American players. We are watching the same thing happen in the NBA and NFL for the same reasons it happened in MLB. The new sports team model is to replicate what international soccer leagues do. Everything is based upon metrics (e.g., "Money Ball" the movie) where success is based primarily upon team play and not individual star power. The result is a rather bland watching experience. However, fan engagement (which equals bigger profits) is increased by embedding sports gambling into the sports entertainment industry. This is why you will see Draft Kings, FanDuel, etc. sponsoring so many sport events going forward. They are simply now paying a goodbye tribute to Black American players as the MLB moves forward toward being an international money-making machine tied to sports gambling. We will watch the same thing occur with the NBA over the course of the next 5-10 years as Lebron and Steph retire. The cost of AAU traveling teams means Black Americans will eventually stop playing at a high level in basketball as well. The NFL will move a little slower due to current NCAA football structure, but the influx of international college players, high cost to play upper-level high school football, means the loss of Black American players in the NFL is also inevitable.

Black kids will play but we as parents and a community have to support them. How many black households put on baseball for the family can watch together?

Baseball is so boring

Idk about everybody else but in my area it came down us being held back. Somehow the kids that always made the Allstar team and played on the AAU could never make the school team even tho it was the same group of kids. And if you did get on the team they just wanted you to run bases. If you were a pitcher you never pitched again. If you were in the infield, you were put in the outfield.

Bryce Harper was on SI as a high school player. Popularity is not the reason there are no Black players

Football and Basketball is where the money at!

College baseball is literally on ESPN every day during the season

David Justice gave a great point in south America MLB invest but not in urban areas of USA.

Because basketball and football gobble all of the best athletes. In High School, no one attends baseball games except parents and grandparents.

As a 23-year old man, I’ve never played baseball growing up and never even sat through an entire game or cared to know the rules. I grew up on basketball and football and baseball just seemed boring and kinda dangerous tbh (I’ve seen some line drive compilations and I was like naw I’m good lol)

Cuz no club gives a f about a baseball player if you just on the team. Also if you can pitch- you might as well be a quarterback.

It's getting more expensive and difficult to get into all of the leagues. The leagues are recruiting globally now. Also a lot of ex players are putting huge money into their children etc. I see it getting worse in all of the leagues eventually.

Because blacks finally gave up and stop trying to be in a league that doesn’t want them in it.

Ephriam is right about the high school baseball thing. The high school team would leave early to go to games. I just thought they had a long trip. I left school early that day and saw the baseball team playing a game and I was like wtf? 😂

David Justice broke it down way better then they did on Keyshawn Johnson show about Africa America in baseball

I think it has something to do with puberty starting at the same time kids transition from little league to *baseball*. Or you can choose to run track, which is co-ed...

I heard it from a pro baseball Hall of Famer...when travel ball came into play thats when it got real....real expensive!!!!

When you in your adolescent years it’s just boring nobody’s wants to pay attention that much once you get in your 20s you appreciate the game a lot more

BIGGEST MISTAKE WE'VE MADE IN SPORTS. IT'S A WHOLE LOT OF MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO GET PAID & STRAIGHT FROM HIGHSCHOOL 🤷🏿‍♂️

Feel like this is a fairly recent change.. When I grew up in the 80s/90s most of the best baseball players were black.. Bonds, Griffey, Tony Gwen, Frank Thomas, Rickey Henderson, Strawberry, etc.. Now I don’t think I can even name 2 .. Mookie Betts, That it

I really want to love baseball but it’s a tough sport to get into. You can be just okay at basketball and still make an impact and have popularity.

Ephraim is absolutely correct. Baseball was played during school when I was in high school over 25 years ago. Nobody cared. No pep rallies or announcements about upcoming games. Nobody even knew if the baseball team won the championship. Also, this sounds silly, but there's no "cool factor" in a slow game that lacks the kind of athleticism and wow-factor moments that make men envious and women swoon. A homerun or a good catch is not going to give someone the same level of clout (though fleeting) that dunking on someone in a packed gym or juking someone out on the football field can provide.

A better question is why is anyone playing baseball? Outside of school ball, there are few affordable options to play in middle school and high school at least where i live.

Could it be that essential baseball items are harder to acquire these days with things being nicer yet more expensive. A bat, a nice glove and ball is more than just a basketball or football. Also we live in the era of being inside on smart phones instead of socializing outside. You need more than just 1 person to successfully play baseball, where as you can shoot hoops alone.

We were functional athletes back then, we went by the season. By 12 everyone had a curveball because brotha's had dad's back then. We played "strikeout" against the walls of buildings with tennis balls.

To the Lebron comparison... Bryce was on the cover of SI, so someone of that level does get that

Baseball, Olympics and boxing were the first sports where you could get paid significantly and become a celebrity/ hero. Also basebal requires a lot of work and failire to succeed. If you're just fast,strong or tall naturally, that works for basketball and football bc you can get on the team just because of your potential. Can't rely on just that for Baseball.

I remember as a kid playing baseball on the field. 5 on 5 and making it work. Playstation replaced sports. You just dont see kids play period

Amazing take by Mr salaam

Baseball needs another Ken Griffey Jr to inspire young black boys to play. Kids need stars to look up to