The dwindling number of African Americans in Major League Baseball has understandably become a hot topic. You have to wonder why baseball is no longer looked at as the sport of choice for many black athletes. I’m not well enough informed about the many variables that may be contributing to the decline in participation, but I’m sure there are many factors.
What I would like to write about is my fond recollection of black players in baseball while I was growing up and how many of my favorites would eventually become some of the best players who ever played the game.
Once the color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947, it didn’t take long for African-American players to make a huge impact on professional baseball and many of baseball’s young fans, including myself. The world of professional baseball was enriched by some of the most talented players in history.
Having said that, I thought I would pry into my memory bank and put together an all-star team made up of my favorite players during my childhood years in the late 1950s through the sixties. Many of the picks are legendary African-American players.
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Starting with the outfield, it’s hard to imagine a better group than Frank Robinson in left field, Willie Mays in center field and Henry Aaron in right field. Some might argue for the likes of Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle or Stan Musial, among others, but the group of Robinson, Mays and Aaron was tough to beat in my book.
Moving on to first basemen, being a Giants fan may have influenced my choice, but during his prime, Willie McCovey was the man in my book. "Stretch," as he was affectionately called, was as tough an out in the clutch as most anybody and was solid with the glove.
As for second base, my favorite player was Rod Carew, hands down. There is no way I could leave him out of my lineup, even though he played a lot of first base later in his career. Maybe defense wasn’t Carew’s strong point, but he was certainly one of the great overall hitters in history.
As for my pick at shortstop, I’ll take Ernie Banks. Although he was forced to move to first base following an eye injury, he came to the majors as a shortstop. Mr. Cub, Ernie was and continues to be the face of that great organization and forever will serve as an ambassador for baseball.
As for third base, some of my earliest memories of baseball were that of the Milwaukee Braves playing the Yanks in the 1957 and 1958 World Series. And yes, Hank Aaron was the biggest star of that team, but it was third baseman Eddie Matthews who batted cleanup and provided protection for Aaron, who batted in front of him. Also a member of the Hall of Fame, Matthews had one of the best swings in his era.
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Behind the plate it would be hard to choose anyone besides Johnny Bench. Bench was just an amazing catcher with a great arm and swung a potent bat. It would have been interesting to see what type of career Roy Campenella would have had if he hadn’t been paralyzed in a car accident, but there’s no taking away from Bench. He just may be the best that ever played.
As for starting pitchers, I decided to select two left-handed pitchers and three right-handed ones. On the left side I would be hard pressed to choose any lefty ahead of Sandy Koufax. Koufax was the most dominant pitcher you could imagine during his hey-day. Yes, his career was cut short, but everyone who ever watched him pitch will testify to his greatness. My other lefty would be Warren Spahn. Spahn was tough and durable and was a pretty good hitter as well. He was not as dominant as some of the other pitchers in his era but he was a winner.
Choosing from the right side of the mound was tough for me but in the end I decided on Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Bob Gibson. Seaver was just a pleasure to watch, his pitching mechanics emblematic of how everyone should pitch. I can’t remember any pitcher losing more close, low-scoring games than Seaver. As for Ryan, I personally believe he is a one of a kind athlete the likes of whom we may never see again. He played for a number of poor teams, which help account for a lot of tough losses, but that does little to diminish his accomplishments.
Last but not least, Bob Gibson was the master of intimidation on the mound. Nobody dared to dig in against him and he was his best in big games. His heroics for the Cardinals in both the 1964 and ’67 World Series will never be forgotten.
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As you can see, many of my favorites over the years were of Afro-American decent. I have no explanation as to why the number of black baseball players has declined, but I’m sure happy that wasn’t the case when I was a young baseball fan.
I’m sure young people in this era are growing up idolizing a large number of Latino ball players representing the gradual globalization of baseball. There are going to be some great discussions in the future when you start comparing the likes of Albert Pujouls, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Riviera, Vlad Guerrero, Alfonso Soriano and others against stars of previous eras of baseball.
And how about Japanese players Ichiro, Dice-K and Matsui? Their day will come as well. After all, this is America.
