Sports, Ny Yankees, entertainment blog
The globalization of Major League Baseball is taking away from the US
This is my first blog here and I plan on doing one every week. The other day on the radio a sports talk host was talking about how Latin American prospects have no advantage over their American counterparts. I find that hard to believe and here's why. There is no age restriction in Latin America. Some of these kids are scouted at the age of 14 and signed to million dollar deals by the age of 16. They start their minor league careers at 17 and depending on the prospect, are seeing the bigs by 20 years old. Don't get it in your head that most of these kids are playing in dirt lots with subpar equipment. This isn't 15 years ago. They have organized leagues, acceptable used and new equipment. Almost every (if not all) Major League ball club have offices down there with scouts available 24/7.
Now lets take a look at US players. They might get scouted when they are 16, but none are signing million dollar deals at 15 or 16 years old. Maybe 17 or 18 and lets face it, to be drafted out high school and sign a deal like that..you have to be a damn good player. For the kids that don't get drafted out of high school they do their college time and before you know it their 20-21 years of age and doing on the average of 1-3 years of minor league ball. So the median age is around 23-24 for American prospects.
I can't argue over laws and ethics in other countries but I can argue that Major League Baseball should put those organizational efforts like they do world wide into their own backyard here in America. Baseball is quickley losing youth interest to football and basketball. Why? Easy...nowadays you can't go on your local high school or little league ball fields because of insurance and upkeep expenses. You can go anywhere and find a local basketball court and run pickup games all day long. You can go to a soccer or other large fields and get a pickup football game going. When was the last time you ran a pickup baseball game? I'll tell you when I did, 1995.
Major League Baseball needs to take it to the urban streets. Inner city kids have almost no fields to play on due to the size requirements so naturally basketball courts are almost everywhere. You go to any mid to large size suburban town or county and chances are their little leagues are a pretty big deal with tons of kids playing. Baseball participation by races other than Latin American players is going down, and a big drop in African American participation from little league all they way to bigs. Major League baseball should be concerned about this and prevent more future alienage.
I would love to hear what you guys think about this.
Now lets take a look at US players. They might get scouted when they are 16, but none are signing million dollar deals at 15 or 16 years old. Maybe 17 or 18 and lets face it, to be drafted out high school and sign a deal like that..you have to be a damn good player. For the kids that don't get drafted out of high school they do their college time and before you know it their 20-21 years of age and doing on the average of 1-3 years of minor league ball. So the median age is around 23-24 for American prospects.
I can't argue over laws and ethics in other countries but I can argue that Major League Baseball should put those organizational efforts like they do world wide into their own backyard here in America. Baseball is quickley losing youth interest to football and basketball. Why? Easy...nowadays you can't go on your local high school or little league ball fields because of insurance and upkeep expenses. You can go anywhere and find a local basketball court and run pickup games all day long. You can go to a soccer or other large fields and get a pickup football game going. When was the last time you ran a pickup baseball game? I'll tell you when I did, 1995.
Major League Baseball needs to take it to the urban streets. Inner city kids have almost no fields to play on due to the size requirements so naturally basketball courts are almost everywhere. You go to any mid to large size suburban town or county and chances are their little leagues are a pretty big deal with tons of kids playing. Baseball participation by races other than Latin American players is going down, and a big drop in African American participation from little league all they way to bigs. Major League baseball should be concerned about this and prevent more future alienage.
I would love to hear what you guys think about this.
Total Comments 11
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I agree with alot of your points. Basketball and football are considered to be "poor" mens sports. Its so easy to grab a ball and find a hoop somewhere or a field to play in. Baseball is a more expensive sport to get into. You must have a glove and a bat ect ect. You need a field thats marked and like you said, upkeep on those fields costs money.
But I also think that baseball in general has just lost alot of its appeal due to all the cheating accusations and strike talk that has gone on for the last decade. It especially hurts when you have Hall of Fame players being exposed for using performance enhancing drugs. Also I really believe that Latin American players in general are better then most US players. I don't want to sound racist at all but its kind of the exact same thing that goes on with basketball. African American athletes dominate pro basketball. The amount of talent coming from these Hispanic countries and players is insane. |
 
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i respectfully disagree. the vast majority of latin american players who sign with big league clubs do so without seven figure bonuses. only a few very special prospects receive these bonuses, which is similar to talented prep prospects in america.
major league baseball has also done magnificent work in recent years reaching out to the inner cities with their rbi program and the urban youth academy. we're just starting to see players who've participated in these academies making their way to the minor leagues, and should see an influx into the major leagues by the end of the next decade. it also is not major league baseball's fault that most of these fields are falling into disrepair, but the respective city council and school district's fault for not allocating the proper resources. |
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Like the previous comments, what about basketball? Kids are getting recruited in Elementary School for college!
Not to mention that the NBA is mostly african-american. Should we start putting basketball courts near farms?  Good post though, keep em coming! |
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Jerome, I have to disagree...The RBI program is vastly overrated in urban cities.
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i personally came through an rbi affiliate by way of the boys and girl's club of america, and i must say it worked wonders for me. i don 't know how you could say it was overrated.
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because it hasnt done anything significant in the big cities. especially in the NE. There was a huge discussion about this the other day.
Quote:
In contrast to 9 percent participation in MLB, African American player participation in the NBA and NFL is at least 65 percent
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the program is still in its infancy. these things take time to be established, and once they are, the impact of these programs will start to become evident in the major leagues. as stated previously, we are already starting to see players who've participated in the program move into the minor leagues. in the next decade, we'll see are larger percentage also proceed to the major leagues. one of the programs graduates, coco crisp, has also done his part to expand the programs reach. it's only a matter of time before this thing snowballs.
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First of all I would like to say that Latin American players are better than U.S. born players, that is just a fact. This is mainly caused by the economy of these countries. These kids have nothing else to work hard for, their governments can't support them with good enough jobs. So they work harder and are extremely motivated to play baseball and excel at it. I know this sounds racist, but I'd rather be a realist than not state my opinion. Most americans don't have these kinds of problems. I know first hand what its like, I go to colombia every year and see kids excited and motivated to play, they trully love the game.
American kids dont have that kind of pressure because they know mom and dad will help them and there are tons of jobs here in america. My father was an immigrant and when I played school sports I didn't feel that this is it, I must be great or else I will live in poverty for the rest of my life. In a way Im glad I don't feel that way because I am allowed to enjoy the game more. As for children liking other sports, its based upon society today. Kids love to see a great slam dunk and watch their athletes "fly", or make an insane tackle. Thats what excites us americans, we enjoy that thrill, and to some that thrill just isn't there in baseball. But I will still have a love for the game no matter how many other people enjoy it. |
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The RBI program started in 1989, thats not infancy
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I wouldn't go as far as saying Latin Players are better than than American born players.
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Yea but its pretty close.
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Recent Blog Entries by Chubz
- No Respect: The Story of the 2008 NY Giants (10-07-2008)
- Yankee Stadium, not only the House That Ruth Built. (09-23-2008)
- The globalization of Major League Baseball is taking away from the US (06-02-2008)
