Labels of African American Ballers: A Historical and Contemporary Investigation of African American Male Youth's Depletion from America's Favorite Pastime, 1885–2000

"I wish I was a bailer, I wish I was a little taller. I wish I was like 6'9 so I could get with Leoisbi, yo she's really fine." (Skee-Lo 1996) To Be Equal, Be Better The position of Negroes in professional baseball is much better today than it was a generation ago when -by gentleman's agreement-they were totally excluded. Today some of the game's superstars are Negroes. Nevertheless, the Negro ballplayers, to be treated equally, must be better. The distribution of both player and nonplayer positions in the baseball hierarchy is different for the two races. Discrimination appears to operate for managerial jobs on the field and in the front office as well as for player positions below the star level. Thus, as organizations become integrated, Negroes appear to be more readily accepted in follower rather than leadership positions, where integration appears to take much longer. How much longer is not known. (Rosenblatt 53) Introduction Over the past decade, little scholarly attention has been given to African Americans in organized baseball (Gerlach; Harrison, "Life"; Korr; Nathan). Through various research perspectives, attempts have been made to understand the virtual invisibility of African American baseball players in youth leagues, high schools, and at intercollegiate and professional levels. Studies have highlighted how "racial stacking" has maintained the low numbers of African Americans on team sports like baseball and football (Edwards, Sociology; Martin; Nightengale; Smith and Harrison; Smith and Henderson; Wiggins). Patterns of racial stacking were evident through the mid-1980s, when African Americans were relegated to playing positions based on their race/ethnicity instead of their playing abilities (Smith and Henderson). Plaschke suggests that there are greater numbers of African Americans who play basketball and football because these sports have an abundance of role models, youth leagues, and cultural appeal. This increased interest in basketball and football contributes to fewer African Americans who play organized baseball. Rhoden suggests that a lack of youth baseball programs and scarcity of full scholarships in college baseball are reasons for the decline of African American participation in organized baseball. Early contends that ever since the establishment of the Negro Leagues, black interest in the game has not been intense. Further, he states that "African Americans experienced the game through flawed Americanism, imposed on them by whites, and this is why they are somewhat alienated and distant from the game today" (41). Despite these authors' viewpoints, our understanding of the underrepresentation of African Americans in organized baseball remains limited. There is a tendency to overtheorize the core and crux of this issue and ignore widespread perceptions and beliefs among African American male youth. It is essential to understand the complex elements that shape and influence the socialization process of African American youth (Edwards, "Crisis"; Harrison; Sailes; Sellers, Kuperminc, and Waddell). Specifically, racial demographic differences among football, basketball, and baseball require investigation into the environmental conditions that impact the selection of sport by participants (Sellers). A lack of empirical studies that examine the decline of African Americans in organized baseball and the use of anecdotal evidence provide only a minimal, exploratory understanding of this issue. Therefore, drawing from various sociohistorical references to African Americans in organized baseball at the intercollegiate and professional levels, this article details the empirical patterns and trends of African American participation from 1885 to its steady decline in the late 1990s. In addition, this article seeks to extend labeling theory (Becker, Raalte, and Linder; Goffman), which has been used occasionally in sport scholarship to frame and analyze symbolic interaction (see Coakley, Sport). …