When the Astros and Phillies take the field at Minute Maid Park for Game 1 of the World Series on Friday, a streak that dates back to Jackie Robinson’s playing career will come to an ignominious end.
Barring some unexpected roster moves, this year’s Fall Classic will be the first since 1950 to feature no American-born Black players. While there will still be a diverse set of participants on both rosters, it’s still a jarring realization for members from both teams.
Among the Black players who have played in the World Series in the years between Robinson’s debut and now is Astros manager Dusty Baker, who conceded that it’s a sad development but offered hope that the future of the sport’s Black representation is headed in the right direction.
“It looks bad, it lets people know that it didn’t take a year or even a decade to get to this point. But there is help on the way,” Baker said. “You could tell by the number of African-American No. 1 draft choices. The academies are producing players, so hopefully in the near future we won’t have to talk about this anymore or even be in this situation.”
Robinson debuted for the Dodgers in 1947, and appeared in that year’s World Series. The ’54 World Series began a streak of every single team to reach the Fall Classic had at least one U.S.-born Black player on its roster, a run that ended with the 2005 Astros.
“That is eye opening,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, per the Associated Press. “It is somewhat startling that two cities that have high African American populations, there’s not a single Black player.”
Still, Kendrick echoed Baker’s sentiments that the demographics of the game’s young players is changing, and was bullish about the future of Black players in the sport.
“I think surely but slowly, we’re going to see a pendulum shift,” Kendrick said. “The problem is we’re not patient. I don’t like instant grits. I’m from Georgia—I like mine slow cooked.”
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