Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp, pictured.
“Major League Baseball’s first Urban Invitational baseball tournament brought historically black colleges and universities to the plate. Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Bethune-Cookman University played on national TV, and several dynamic HBCU bands battled it out. UCLA and USC also played in the six-game tournament, one of several initiatives in place to help rekindle black enthusiasm for the sport.
“African American passion for baseball has waned: In the mid-1970s about 27% of all MLB players were black; in1991, 18% were black; and in 2006, 8.4% were black.
TheStateOf . . . Blacks in Baseball. Baseball is a “community game.” If kids don’t get together on the lot to play, they better have a well-organized league in its stead. I (J) plan to put Ike in baseball when he’s old enough, especially if he’s left-handed.
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