Is that also leading to there being a lower number of black fans at MLB games? Yankees All-Star Curtis Granderson seems to think so, according to The Post Game.
During New York's three-game series at Texas back in May, the center fielder asked his teammates to start counting the number of African-American fans — not including employees — that are in attendance at their games.
The results were just as he thought they'd be.
"At first, it starts off as a joke," Granderson said. "And as the game moves on, you'll get to 10, or maybe 15. Depends on where you are, too. Places like Chicago or New York, other places it's easy. Here [in Texas], it's hard. So after a while it becomes, 'Told you so.'"
There have been many hypotheses as to why the percentage of black players in baseball, down to 8.5 percent on Opening Day according to the annual Racial and Gender Report Card issued by the University of Central Florida, continues to shrink.
On Tuesday, Granderson offered a theory: That there hasn't been a good enough role model since Ken Griffey Jr. fell out of the spotlight.
"If you poll a lot of African-American guys that are between 20 and 40 years old [about] what NBA player did you watch and want to be, they're all going to say Jordan," he told the Star-Telegram. "He was the best player and he looked like us.
"Baseball, you have a group of players that are playing right now who could say Ken Griffey Jr., but he's no longer in the game, and there hasn't been anybody to replace him."
