'Game is better the more diverse it is': Tony Clark addresses MLB World Series' lack of Black players
HOUSTON —Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, strongly voiced his disappointment and frustration Friday that the World Series does not have a single American-born Black player on either team for the first time since 1950.
“I can say I’m disappointed,’’ Clark said. “I can say it’s unfortunate. And I can say I’m surprised.
“This is an issue that has been front and center for a long time. It’s not a new issue. I will continue to remain a glass half-full guy to suggest we can make improvements going forward.
“But it is truly unfortunate that any Black player may be watching these games is not going to see someone that looks like them. As a result, they may make a decision against continuing to keep playing our great game and move to something else. That is disappointing, and disheartening.’’
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MLB, which has implemented several programs and initiatives trying to help correct the problem, hiring Ken Griffey Jr. as the lead ambassador for the Joint MLB and MLBPA Youth initiative, believes progress slowly is being made. Four of the first five selections in the July amateur draft were Black for the first time in baseball history.
Yet, Black players represented only 6.8% of the opening-day rosters this year, with 11 of the 30 teams having no more than one Black player.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,’’ Clark said, “and I’ll leave it at that. …We’ve had our challenges of late and its manifesting itself for the first time since since 1950 that we’re not going to see a Black player in the World Series. That’s not a good thing.
“Our game is better the more diverse it is. …The challenges that we’re seeing on the field, manifesting themselves the way they are, isn’t in the best interest of the game.’’
Clark was one of about 30 Black players who met with then-commissioner Bud Selig in 2006 to discuss the diminishing number of Black players in the game. but 16 years later, there’s one of the smallest percentage of Black players since baseball was fully integrated in 1959.
“How we got here did not happen overnight,’’ Clark said. “There have been conversations about this topic for a long period of time. And as a result of us not getting to this place overnight, getting back out of it is not going to happen overnight, either.’’
The fact that it has become a hot topic at the World Series, Clark believes, can only be beneficial.
“As long as it remains in the forefront of people’s minds that we don’t have an African-American in the World Series,’’ Clark said, “there’s an opportunity to try to address it.’’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Series' lack of Black players alarms MLBPA chief Tony Clark
