This year, for the first time since the 1995 season, major league baseball takes to the fields across the nation with African American players making up more than ten percent of the player numbers. The actual figure is ten point two percent.

Under Commissioner Bud Selig, the baseball league has undertaken several initiatives aimed at bringing up the numbers of African American players in baseball and also seeing that all minorities take on a greater presence in the management and administration of baseball.
For some years African American and minority representation in baseball have been in decline. In 2007 for example, the average baseball team could boast only a little over eight percent of black players.
The current statistics reveal that fans at a baseball game this season will see that black pitcher numbers have grown from three percent to five percent and that in the infield black representation has risen from seven percent to nine percent.
The figures have been researched and released by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Ethics and Diversity in sport. In the report, which is released annually, sports are graded for diversity.
Major league baseball received an A for race hiring for the first time in this year’s report, up from and A- last year.
The game’s administration also came under scrutiny. The report points to ten minority team managers in place for opening day. They are made up of five African Americans, four Latinos and one Asian American.
In the ranks of General Managers, two Latinos and three African-Americans show a growth in minority hiring diversity.
The report highlights that Commissioner Selig has led by example. The employee ranks in his office show a rise in represented minorities from twenty eight percent to thirty four percent.
The report card on gender hiring, however, can only manage a B, although it should be noted that it is an increase from the C+ in last year’s report.
Putting all these factors together results in an overall report grade of B+ for America’s favorite pastime.
The report was aptly released on Jackie Robinson Day. This year the commemoration marks sixty two years since the famous game in which Robinson destroyed the major league colour policy. At Citi Field the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was dedicated in a ceremony headed by Rachel Robinson.
But the report also notes that, although baseball has made encouraging progress in race hiring, it still lags far behind the NBA.

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A report released by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Ethics and Diversity in Sport shows positive growth in race hire diversity in Major League Baseball.
Improvements in terms of percentage of workforce are shown in player numbers, administration and management of the game.