Baseball playoffs lack African-Americans
Fred Jeter | 10/26/2023, 6 p.m.
Players of color have been in abundance on baseball’s bright playoff stage, but only two are African-American.
Of 40 primary starters (nonpitchers) in the now-completed American and National League Championship Series, only Tommy Pham of Arizona and Texas’ Marcus Semien are African-American.
Rightfielder Pham was born in Las Vegas of Vietnamese and African ancestry.
Semien, the Rangers’ leadoff hitting second baseman, was born in San Francisco.
All the other minorities are from the Caribbean, South and Central America. Here is a list of other players of color on the “Final Four” rosters:
Philadelphia: Johan Rojas, centerfield, from Dominican Republic.
Arizona: Ketel Marte, second base, Dominican; Gabriel Moreno, catcher, Venezuela; Lourdes Gurriel, centerfield, Cuba; Emmanuel Rivera, third base, Puerto Rico.
Houston:Jose Altuve, second base, Venezuela; Mauricio Dubon, second base, Honduras; Yordan Alvarez, designate hitter/leftfield, Cuba; Jose Abreu, first base, Cuba; Jeremy Pena, shortstop, Dominican; Martin Maldonado, catcher, Puerto Rico.
Texas: Adolis Garcia, rightfield, Cuba; Leody Taveras, leftfield, Dominican.
None of the starting pitchers are African-American.
The first African-Americans to play in World Series were infielder Jackie Robinson and pitcher Dan Bankhead with the 1947 Brookly Dodgers. Robinson went 7-for-27 at the plate while Bankhead was used only as a pinch runner.
