On the eve of the release of the new film "42" about major league great, Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball has announced a major effort to increase diversity by recruiting more black players.
According to The Associated Press, Major League Baseball has created a task force that will study how to increase diversity in the game, especially among black players. This latest initiative was announced by Commissioner Bud Selig on Wednesday.
This announcement comes as Major League Baseball prepares to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier during the same time the new movie titled "42" focuses on the Hall of Famer's life and trials.
The task force will consist of 18-members, which will include representatives from club ownership, the players' union, minor league and college baseball, the Major League Baseball scouting bureau and other areas. Hall of Famer, Frank Robinson, and former major league manager, Jerry Manuel are among the members.
There are fewer black players today, in 2013, than there were from the 1970s through the 1990s. According to statistics from Major League Baseball, there is only 8.5 percent of players on this year's rosters who identified themselves as African-American or black. That's around half the number from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s.
In Selig's statement about forming the task force to recruit more black players, he said, "As a social institution, Major League Baseball has an enormous social responsibility to provide equal opportunities for all people, both on and off the field."
Other on the task force include: Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and Detroit Tigers president Dave Dombrowski who will help run the committee; Southern University head coach Roger Cador, Chicago White Sox Executive Vice President Ken Williams, MLB Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations Kim Ng, union official and former big leaguer Tony Clark and Arizona Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall are among the other members.
Major League Baseball continues to run important programs that support getting blacks in to baseball. They include the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program and has seven Urban Youth Academies that are either running or are in development. Commissioner Selig said: "I am proud of the work we have done thus far with the RBI program and the MLB Urban Youth Academies, but there is more that we must accomplish."
Selig went on to say, "We have seen a number of successful efforts with existing MLB task forces, and I believe we have selected the right people to effectively address the many factors associated with diversity in baseball,"
Major League Baseball and Commissioner Selig should be commended for this latest effort to include more diversity in the game. And what away to open a new season of baseball, along with the premiere of "42" which depicts the life of one of Major League Baseball's greats, Jackie Robinson.
Jackie Robinson, a great baseball player who paved the way for many blacks in America's greatest pastime.