Dusty Baker made history in Major League Baseball by becoming the first Black person to win a World Series as a player and manager.
But as Baker watched the Houston Astros he managed win baseball’s championship in October, he noticed a startling reality:
There were no African Americans playing on either team.
“Hell yeah, it bothered me,” Baker told the Clarion Ledger. “It bothers me every day, to see how small the numbers are of African Americans playing baseball.”
‘ASHAMED OF THE GAME’: Baker sounds off during World Series
That’s why Baker is hopeful events like the inaugural Cactus Jack HBCU Classic at the Astros’ Minute Maid Park on Friday through Sunday will contribute toward change.
Jackson State will open the season in Houston against Southern on Friday (7 p.m.), Mississippi Valley State on Saturday (11 a.m.) and Prairie View A&M (3 p.m.) on Sunday. The field also includes Grambling and Texas State, and JSU’s game against MVSU will air live on MLB Network.
“I think it is pretty cool that young men from HBCUs can play in a big-league stadium while they are still in college,” said the 73-year-old Baker, who won his World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981.
How HBCU Classic was formed
The HBCU Classic began with Baker’s blessing during spring training in 2022, according to MLB.com, and Astros owner Jim Crane, a progressive in diversity, also jumped aboard.
The showcase is important for baseball but especially minorities at HBCUs. Only two players from the Southwestern Athletic Conference were selected in the 2022 MLB Draft, both on the final day, a number that pales compared to bigger Power Five leagues. The SEC, for instance, had 86 players taken in the same draft, and Jackson State hasn’t had a player selected since outfielder Bryce Brown in the 15th round of the 2017 draft.
It all makes for a unique opportunity in Houston, with scouts expected to be in attendance.
“It is an honor for the kids to have an opportunity to do that play,” said JSU coach Omar Johnson, entering his 17th season. “We are excited about it.”
Opportunity is the start. Baker shudders at the dwindling numbers of Black players at all levels of baseball, but especially in the majors. While 38% of MLB players were of color on Opening Day rosters last season, only 7.2% of the players were Black, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
At the grassroots level, the biggest disparity Baker sees is kids learning and receiving better instructions at a younger age. But he also cites a lack of affordability for parents who can’t get off work to meet the demands of rigorous travel-ball schedules. Estimates vary, but the cost to compete in travel leagues can run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand — or more — depending on the league or showcase circuit.
“We have to make it affordable for young kids to learn the game and travel,” Baker said. “And give them the same opportunities to learn at the same age. The difference is in economics, (so) make it affordable for young people to go to showcases.”
For Baker, the advice he’d give to young Black players today is the same he would give to his son, 24-year-old Darren, a second baseman in the Washington Nationals organization: Be prepared, be on time, be twice as good as anyone else, and persevere.
“You have to have someone in authority that believes in you,” Baker said.
Hall of Fame future?
In some ways, the HBCU Classic is a full-circle moment for Baker, who made his professional debut on the heels of the Civil Rights Era in 1967.
Baker played 19 years in the big leagues, mostly with the Atlanta Braves (eight years) and Dodgers (eight years). He also spent a year with the San Francisco Giants and two years with the Oakland A’s before retiring as a player in 1986.
A two-time All-Star, Baker made his mark as a NL Championship Series MVP in 1977 and both a Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award winner in 1981. But while his playing career won’t ever lead to his enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame, his managerial career just might, with his 2,093-1,790 record and that historic World Series title in 2022.
Baker says he doesn’t think about the Hall of Fame, but hopes if it happens it’s during his lifetime. So he can savor it, and dream of what’s to come for Black players and managers after he’s gone.
“I thought I had to win the World Series,” Baker said, “to validate the faith in me and mankind because I talk about perseverance all the time. Without some success of perseverance, then people lose faith in you and their own perseverance to succeed. That’s what I felt needed validation.”
