On Wednesday, No42 pitched, caught, ran, stole, slid, fielded, bunted and hit – all part of Major League Baseball’s now familiar tribute to Jackie Robinson, who broke the sports color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers some 68 years ago. Players from all 30 teams, donning two of the games most prestigious digits in honoring an icon, one who helped both sports and society integrate during a crucial time in history. MLB has taken up the job of ensuring the moment isn’t lost to time passed by, retiring no42 league-wide in 1997, later declaring 15 April to be celebrated as Jackie Robinson Day on a perennial basis in 2004.
Another late but nonetheless significant step in integrating Major League Baseball arrived in 1975 when Frank Robinson made his managerial debut for the Cleveland Indians, another first for an African-American. Robinson hadn’t yet hung up his spikes, spending the tail end of a Hall of Fame career as a designated hitter while calling the shots from the dugout as a player-manager. On opening day at old Municipal Stadium against the visiting New York Yankees, Robinson hit a dramatic, first-inning home run that brought the crowd of over 56,000 to their feet. After earning his first managerial win with the help of a complete game from Gaylord Perry, Robinson said:
Of all the pennants, World Series, awards and All-Star games I’ve been in, this is the greatest thrill.
Robinson, who went on to manage for 16 seasons during which he also became the first black manager in the National League with the San Francisco Giants, had helped Jackie Robinson fulfill his wish to see a black skipper in the dugout, all while inspiring a new generation through his achievements.
Willie Randolph, who played 18 seasons, mostly with the Yankees, before managing the Mets from 2005 until 2008, was a rookie when Robinson got the job.
“I remember being totally in awe of Robinson, being on the same field with him and being intimidated by him because he was a no-nonsense guy,” Randolph told the Guardian. “After a while I got to know and admire him, and I had so much respect for him, ironically he became a mentor. When I got the Mets job, he was the first person I called to tell him, ‘Hey, I made it.’ And I would turn to him for advice because I knew I would always get an honest answer.”
Now, 40 years after Robinson made history in Cleveland, there is also just one black manager in baseball – Lloyd McClendon of Seattle – who managed his Mariners in the ninth annual ‘Civil Rights Game’ on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
“It stares you in the face every day that you’re the only African-American manager in baseball,” McClendon said during spring training. “But I don’t take my job description that way. I think I’m a pretty good manager and that’s why I was hired – not because I’m black. Having said that, you wish there were more opportunities for African-Americans out there. And hopefully there will be in the very near future.’’
Ron Washington resigned from the Rangers job towards the end of last season and Bo Porter was fired by the Houston Astros shortly after the final game. Now it’s just McClendon who calls the shots in a sport that has seen African-American participation decline to just 7.8%. Fredi Gonzalez is the only Latino manager in the game despite their making up a large portion of MLB rosters.
In a sport that goes out of its way to celebrate the reversing of one of societies great sins, such numbers can only be seen as an embarrassment. Back in 2008 there were 10 minority managers and seven years later, with some 39% people of color playing on MLB’s diamonds, there are just two, which represents the fewest since former Bud Selig became the ninth commissioner of baseball in 1998.
It was Frank Robinson himself who urged Selig to start a minorities hiring program back in 1999, and the then-commissioner addressed the issue with a letter to the owners.
If a club has an opening in any of these positions, the club owner must notify me personally. In addition, your list of candidates must be provided to me. I expect the list to include minority candidates whom you and your staff have identified. I will provide assistance to you if you cannot identify candidates on your own.
This offseason, five managerial positions and seven general managers spots were up for grabs. Dave Stewart finally got his shot at a GM job when Tony La Russa hired him in Arizona, and Farhan Zaidi was hired as GM of the Dodgers, joining Mike Hill, the African-American GM of the Miami Marlins. No African-American or Latino managers were hired.
Back in the 2012 offseason, longtime baseball columnist Murray Chass pressed Selig on why minority candidates were not being interviewed during a time where five spots were available, an act that ran afoul of his edict. Selig responded by saying he was “satisfied” with the process while refusing to provide details on the actual interview process. Three years later, with even more minorities being passed up, the process seems either completely broken or in bad need of repair.
Randolph, who came within a game of reaching the 2006 World Series with the Mets, and posted winning records during the three full years he managed in Queens, has not been interviewed since his last job as a bench coach with the Orioles in 2011. And while he’s disappointed by the lack of a second chance, the six-time all-star stays positive, believing that the phone call welcoming him back to the game could come at any time.
“I think we need to revisit the policy,” said Randolph. “It’s human nature that sometimes we can get away from things and take our eyes off the prize. There’s a lot of guys out there that deserve a shot, not just me.”
For Manfred, who assumed the role as commissioner in January, the issue of minority hiring is one of many he’s inherited.
“While Major League Baseball has become an enormously diverse institution, with players coming from all over the world, we want to improve the representation of African-American personnel on the field, in the dugout and in the front office,” Manfred told ESPN. “This is a complex situation that poses challenges that are not easy to solve quickly.”
Perhaps it does, but Major League Baseball have already had the 40 years since Frank Robinson filled out his first lineup card on an April afternoon in Cleveland. How much longer will it for its management to be more representative of the product on the field?
