Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker grew up watching Black stars shine in the World Series, paving his path to a life devoted to baseball. When he leads the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, the AL and NL champions are expected to play without any U.S.-born Black players for the first time since 1950, shortly after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball colour barrier.
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr. ahead of Game 1 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Oct. 27, 2022, in Houston. Dusty Baker grew up watching Black stars shine in the World Series, paving his path to a life devoted to baseball.
“What hurts is that I don’t know how much hope that it gives some of the young African-American kids,” Baker told The Associated Press on Thursday. “Because when I was their age, I had a bunch of guys, Mays, Aaron, Frank Robinson, Tommy Davis — my hero — Maury Wills, all these guys. We need to do something before we lose them.”
“I don’t think that that’s something that baseball should really be proud of,” said Baker, who won a World Series as an outfielder with the Dodgers in 1981 and is seeking his first championship as a manager. “It looks bad. It lets people know that it didn’t take a year or even a decade to get to this point.”
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.