Jackie Robinson Day
Or, more accurately a reaction to the fractured logic behind Jackie Robinson Day. While Robinson was a great inspiration, and probably should be one of everyone's personal heroes, there's been something wrong with the grumping about "there aren't enough African Americans playing in the MLB."
Now, this is going to involve a little math. Most of you are smart enough to get this before I'm finished, but I'm going to go though the entire gorey detail on the assumption that I'm going to cut and paste this as I e-mail this to any number of sports writers who aren't as proficient in math.
"African Americans" according to US Census data, make up 12.3 percent of the total US population (or 14.1 percent, if you count people who multi-class their race stat).
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, 27.4 percent of all major league baseball players were born outside the US. The reverse of that statement is that 72.6 percent of these players were born inside US borders.
Now, baseball is claiming that there aren't enough African American players, and the number they cite is 8.4 percent. (This number and the previous number are 2006 numbers, to keep them consistent.)
Basic math: So what is 72.6 percent of 12.3 percent? If you said 8.9 percent, then you'd be right.
So MLB is getting in a snit about a racial group actually mirroring their percentage of the general population!
Does nobody pay attention to math any more?
Now, this is going to involve a little math. Most of you are smart enough to get this before I'm finished, but I'm going to go though the entire gorey detail on the assumption that I'm going to cut and paste this as I e-mail this to any number of sports writers who aren't as proficient in math.
"African Americans" according to US Census data, make up 12.3 percent of the total US population (or 14.1 percent, if you count people who multi-class their race stat).
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, 27.4 percent of all major league baseball players were born outside the US. The reverse of that statement is that 72.6 percent of these players were born inside US borders.
Now, baseball is claiming that there aren't enough African American players, and the number they cite is 8.4 percent. (This number and the previous number are 2006 numbers, to keep them consistent.)
Basic math: So what is 72.6 percent of 12.3 percent? If you said 8.9 percent, then you'd be right.
So MLB is getting in a snit about a racial group actually mirroring their percentage of the general population!
Does nobody pay attention to math any more?