Dusty Baker ‘hurts’ seeing no Black players compete in World Series

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker said ahead of Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies that it hurt him to see the 2022 World Series lacking the participation of Black players.

This year’s World Series will be the first where two major league contenders compete without Black players since 1955. That year, Jackie Robinson helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win their first World Series. Previously in 1947, he became the first African-American MLB player, breaking the color barrier.

“What hurts is that I don’t know how much hope that it gives some of the young African-American kids,” Baker told The Associated Press. “Because when I was their age, I had a bunch of guys, (Willie) Mays, (Hank) Aaron, Frank Robinson, Tommy Davis — my hero — Maury Wills, all these guys. We need to do something before we lose them.”

Robinson’s participation in the MLB marked a significant milestone in the league. It had been without a Black player for half of the 20th century. To facilitate the country’s neglected baseball talents, the Negro leagues were established. Black players would still be denied entry to the major league until Robinson debuted with Brooklyn in 1947.

Houston and Philadelphia will announce their final 26-man rosters hours before Game 1 this Friday. While both teams have big-hitter Latin players, including Jose Altuve and Jean Segura, the projected absence of a Black player in the final is “eye-opening” for Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

“That is eye-opening. It is somewhat startling that two cities that have high African American populations, there’s not a single Black player,” Kendrick said. “It lets us know there’s obviously a lot of work to be done to create opportunities for Black kids to pursue their dream at the highest level.”