Sherman Johnson was relishing his trip to the College World Series when someone asked if he had noticed an increasingly common trend.
In the sport that gave us Jackie Robinson, where are all the African-American players?
“You don’t really notice until people start talking about it,” said Johnson, a third baseman for the Florida State Seminoles and a rarity in Omaha, Neb., because of his skin color. “Then you’re like, ‘Wow, that team doesn’t have any people of color, and that team doesn’t.’
“It is quite astounding,” he added.
Eight teams made it to the College World Series. Three of them—TCU, Oklahoma and Florida—do not have any Black players. Three others—UCLA, Arizona State and South Carolina—have only one. Florida State (three) and Clemson (two) were the only squads that had more than one African-American on the roster.
That’s a total of eight Black players out of 269.
Those numbers are disturbing to those who believe African-Americans have largely turned away from the sport, whether it’s because of financial limitations, cultural issues or simply because they find football and basketball to be more exciting.
