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re: Chris Rock explains how baseball got so white and old

Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:36 pm to
Posted by WalkingTurtles
Alexandria
Member since Jan 2013
5913 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:36 pm to
The kids in the US in poor neighborhoods have Jordan's and iPhones, the DR all they have is baseball.
Posted by thesoccerfanjax
Member since Nov 2013
6128 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:37 pm to
Right. So it proves my point. They're not too poor to play baseball. They just don't want to.
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:37 pm to
Because kids in America are spoiled brats and won't go out and play with taped balls, box gloves, and sticks. It has to be a 150 under armor glove, 300 dollar maraucci bat, Oakley sunglasses, etc....
Posted by thesoccerfanjax
Member since Nov 2013
6128 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:38 pm to
You think kids in the hood know what a Marucci bat is?

Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
71775 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:38 pm to
quote:

in the DR, you have wide open fields where kids can play pick up baseball.

In the inner cities, it's tougher.


I'm not so sure about that theory. Kids used to play in alleys or streets. I remember using a manhole cover as second base.

There was even a commercial once where one of the fielders would yell "CAR!" and they'd all have to move out of the way.

You also don't need that many players per team. Anyone else remember "Ghost man on third"?
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:40 pm to
Plus an issue is... if your good at basketball in high school you can be a national recruit and go to the NBA to make money quicker, if your a stud football player you have a chance at a great football team and instant millions, baseball you can sign a rookie deal and then spend several years serving in the minors. This isn't what most top athletes want to hear so it is easier to focus on football/basketball to "get rich" if that is the end goal.
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:41 pm to
Nope because they don't use one or can afford one. In the "hood" they also have substandard fields and kids don't play baseball because people deem it not "cool" or "hip." So peer pressure can steer many inner city youth from baseball at an early age.
Posted by brmark70816
Atlanta, GA
Member since Feb 2011
9868 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:42 pm to
quote:

Baseball you need quite a few people and they all have to have gloves and bats and balls and cleats. Basically those in the poorer communities are price out from it and trend towards more football and basketball.


Rock addressed this on the video and he's right. The cost deal is just not true. Kids in poor countries do it. I used to play baseball everyday as a kid and played little league 6 years. All I needed was one friend to play (one to pitch, one to hit). It was harder finding enough other guys to play football and football equipment is way more expensive. Everybody in my neighborhood had a bat and glove and we were all lower income. The hardest one was trying to play basketball. No one had a rim. We had to ride bikes a few miles to a park with one and that usually meant fighting kids from that neighborhood. Maybe things have changed, but kids should still be able to play any sport they want. They just aren't as interested in baseball anymore, if they are interested in sports at all...
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:45 pm to
Baseball is the most expensive youth sport, so Rock is wrong LINK


Here they have football 3 and baseball 4
LINK
This post was edited on 4/23/15 at 8:48 pm
Posted by brmark70816
Atlanta, GA
Member since Feb 2011
9868 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:47 pm to
quote:

Plus an issue is... if your good at basketball in high school you can be a national recruit and go to the NBA to make money quicker, if your a stud football player you have a chance at a great football team and instant millions, baseball you can sign a rookie deal and then spend several years serving in the minors


Dude, you haven't been following baseball in a long time or just don't know.. baseball players make tons of money and way faster than most other sports (out of the big 3). The baseball draft has a bunch of rounds and hand out signing bonuses to 100's of guys. Players in the first couple of rounds can sign for millions. Plus careers are way longer and they have way less physical damage.
Posted by thesoccerfanjax
Member since Nov 2013
6128 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:50 pm to
Your link shows overall cost of equipment, but not necessarily cost to the player/player's family.

I mean, they listed backboard for basketball equipment costs.

Posted by thesoccerfanjax
Member since Nov 2013
6128 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:53 pm to
That's why poor kids don't play football.

OH wait...
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:55 pm to
the top 10 make millions after that a players is locked up for not millions. Players can get drafted out of high school and while they could make money the later you are drafted the less you make. By the end of round 2 players are pit of the "million" dollar range. Then these players spend on average 6 years in the minors.

article
This post was edited on 4/23/15 at 8:58 pm
Posted by brmark70816
Atlanta, GA
Member since Feb 2011
9868 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:57 pm to
Unless I'm reading it wrong, that 1st link just shows that people spend more money on youth baseball. Not that it is the most expensive. The 2nd one looks about right. Although I'm surprised tennis, gymnastics or swimming aren't higher. More advanced coaching and specialized circumstances/equipment make them even more pricey, I would think. Baseball should be one of the cheapest ones to play..
Posted by Backinthe615
Member since Nov 2011
6871 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:58 pm to
With every TV conference, College Baseball is taking off. The Little League WS had a young black girl as it's star. The NFL bagged their chance to get ahead on concussions. More kids will play.

I'm with him that Baseball needs to sell more heroes - whatever color, but today's game being too white for Rock doesn't make a great, great sport suddenly bad.
This post was edited on 4/23/15 at 9:05 pm
Posted by thesoccerfanjax
Member since Nov 2013
6128 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 8:59 pm to
quote:

Baseball should be one of the cheapest ones to play..


Even still, poor kids find their way on to AAU/travel basketball teams if they're good. Seems this type of thing doesn't happen in baseball.
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 9:00 pm to
Baseball equipment isn't cheap and Chris Rock is 100% wrong about "poor" kids playing. That was true years ago but now each MLB team has academies that supply gloves, bats, balls, and fields to these kids to play on. The best of the best end up latched onto a team at 14 and 15 now. In the next few years your going to see a drastic change in the Dominican players coming into the league.

Every sport is cheap if I decide to play it incorrectly. You don't need helmets and pads if playing with friend just a ball. That is 20-30 bucks unless you need the 70 dollar nike ball.
basketball you can play with just a ball 10-20 bucks and you can create a goal. We would play with a bucket and a soccer ball doesn't mean it was correct but it was cheap.
This post was edited on 4/23/15 at 9:07 pm
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
71775 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 9:12 pm to
quote:

Baseball equipment isn't cheap and Chris Rock is 100% wrong about "poor" kids playing. That was true years ago but now each MLB team has academies that supply gloves, bats, balls, and fields to these kids to play on. The best of the best end up latched onto a team at 14 and 15 now. In the next few years your going to see a drastic change in the Dominican players coming into the league.


And before the teams started building baseball academies, kids in the Dominican Republic would use a tree branch as a bat and make a ball out of tape. There's always a way to play.
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 4/23/15 at 9:18 pm to
And people used a paper ball and a bucket to play basketball.... again that is "cheap" but incorrect Way to play the sport as designed.

Clemente was born in Puerto Rico and while it is a commonwealth he did not identify as US player but a Puerto Rican player. Much like Beltran, Alomar brothers, and more. Of course we could just use Felipe Alou who was considered "black" as well.
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