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There will be ZERO US-born black players in the MLB World Series for the first time in over 70 years… but Astros’ manager Dusty Baker could become the third black manager to win the World Series
- For the first time since 1950, no US-born black players will be involved in the WS
- Although Astros’ African-American manager Dusty Baker could make history
- If Houston wins, Baker will become the third black manager to win the World Series
- The Astros host the first two games of the World Series starting Friday
- Click here for all your latest international sports news from DailyMail.com
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For the first time since 1950, there will be zero black players involved in the MLB World Series.
When the Houston Astros take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Texas on Friday, the rosters will be diverse, but no US-born black players will be involved in baseball’s top run…at least on the field.
Houston and Philadelphia will announce their 26-man rosters just hours before Game 1 on Friday night at Minute Maid Park, where Dusty Baker, a black outfielder for the 1981 champion Los Angeles Dodgers, manages the Astros.
“That’s an eye-opener,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
“It’s somewhat surprising that in two cities with a high African-American population, there isn’t a single black player.”
“It lets us know that there is clearly a lot of work to be done to create opportunities for black children to pursue their dream at the highest level,” he said.
For the first time since 1950, there will be zero black players involved in the MLB World Series
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has a chance to make history at this World Series
Breaking the MLB color barrier, trailblazer Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and played in the World Series that year.
Since then, the 1950 match-up between the New York Yankees and Phillies has been the only World Series without a black player.
Beginning in 1954, when Willie Mays and the New York Giants played against Larry Doby and Cleveland, every team that reached the World Series had at least one US-born black player until the 2005 Astros.
Jackie Robinson (L) was a pioneer who broke the color barrier in the Major Leagues in 1947
When the Dodgers defeated Tampa Bay in 2020, Los Angeles star Mookie Betts was the only black player in the World Series.
At this summer’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, Betts wore a T-shirt with the message, “We need more black people in the stadium.”
“It’s the exclamation point,” Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, said of the anomaly.
The Astros advanced to the World Series behind an emphatic sweep of the New York Yankees
“It’s a story that’s been going on since the late 1980s, the decline of black baseball players.”
The Phillies had no black players on their opening roster this year for the first time since 1959. Roman Quinn, a black backup outfielder, played 23 games before being released.
Despite the lack of black players on the field, Baker was able to join the shortlist of black managers who had won the World Series. He would be third behind Cito Gaston and Dave Roberts.
The first two games of the World Series will take place in Houston, followed by three and four games at Citizens Bank Field in Philadelphia.