By A.J. Hayes
It may seem overly dramatic to call Giants rookie shortstop Emmanuel Burriss a member of baseball's "lost generation" -- but if you have any doubts just look at the numbers.
The fact that Burriss is young, African-American and playing professional baseball makes him a rarity in today's game. It's no different in college baseball.
Emmanuel Burriss
Sixty-one years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line, the influx of new black in the sport's elite ranks has all but dried up.
"It's sad," Burriss, 23, said. "I don't think many young African-Americans kids would even know who Willie McCovey or Reggie Jackson is today."
Born and raised in Washington, D.C. before playing three seasons at Kent State University, Burriss is the first product of the District's public school system to be drafted by a major league baseball club since 1989.
A "sandwich" pick (33rd overall) by San Francisco in the 2006 amateur draft, the speedy Burriss batted .360 and led the nation with 42 stolen bases in his final collegiate season.
Now, less than two seasons later, Burriss has already graduated to the major leagues. In 22 games, the middle infielder has batted .255, and has demonstrated a sturdy glove and strong arm.
"I didn't even know they had baseball in D.C.," said the former African-American big league infielder and current Giants cable television commentator Bip Roberts, with a sadness tinged sigh. "When I watch Manny the thing I notice is that he has good baseball instincts. He has ability that a manager likes. He's a switch hitter, has great speed and instincts to play shortstop at a high level. I can see why they kept him up here."
Burriss also has a sense of social consciousness to match his high baseball I.Q. If Major League Baseball is really about making baseball attractive again to inner city kids, Commissioner Bud Selig should make it a point to pick Burriss' brain ASAP.
For a number of reasons, including the skyrocketing costs of playing organized youth baseball, lousy promotion of the game's top black stars and competition from other sports, baseball's popularity in the inner city has dropped off the charts over the past 20 years in the inner city.
The Giants currently have four African-American players on their active roster. Across the bay, Oakland has three.
Burriss said it was so rare to run into an African American player in college his first two seasons of minor league ball, that he immediately forms a bond with them.
"I always thought it was exciting whenever I've run into another African-American on the field. It's like 'Wow there's someone else. I'm not alone in this," Burriss said. "I always make it a point to meet them and talk about the fact that we are African-Americans and that we have to work hard to keep the population up in baseball."
Burriss' love affair with baseball began as a mere lad of five when his dad began playing catch with him. That led to his first taste of organized ball at the age of eight. It was that early exposure to the game that fueled Burriss baseball dreams.
"It's not an easy sport to get started in. The fields in the District were not very well maintained. Plus, I think you need someone to teach you about the sport at an early age. I had my father and my mother's family laid the ground work," Burriss said. "You have to start early. It's a frustrating game to play. There's a lot of failure and when you're older you don't accept failure as much as you do when you're younger."
Though baseball has made strides in recent years to attract younger black athletes - including the establishment of a baseball academy in the Los Angles area - much more work is needed.
Historically Major League Baseball hasn't helped matters with its lackluster promotion its African American stars. While the super starts of the NFL and NBA were hyped by during the 1980s and '90s, where were the commercials starring Ozzie Smith, Andre Dawson and Rickey Henderson?
"Baseball did not promote us to our community, and that's a detriment to the game now. It's tragic," said the Oakland-raised Roberts who played in the majors from 1986-1999 and now coaches baseball at his alma mater, Skyline High School in Oakland "A lot of kids I see around town they don't know who we are. Whereas as a kid, I could tell you who Willie Mays was, I could tell you Bert Campaneris was. I could tell you who most of the players in the major league were."
It may be no coincidence that baseball management and the players association went through a series of strikes and work stoppages in the 1980s and '90s. Was the sport afraid that if they promoted their top attractions as much as the football and basketball that wider exposure would result in higher salaries?
"When I was growing up late 1980s and early '90s baseball in African American communities and in the inner city just died out. Personally, I think it has a lot to do with the influence that Julius Erving and Michael Jordan had on the game of basketball," Burriss said. "African-American kids saw them on the commercials and being constantly on TV. Where was the top baseball players? Where was Reggie Jackson? Where was Ozzie Smith, the greatest shortstop ever? Those guys were not recognized for their greatness and that had a ripple effect in the era that I was raised in."
Some critics have blamed the pedestrian nature of baseball for its decline in the inner city. That's it's just too slow a sport or not cool enough. Burriss disagrees. He says there is an interest in the sport, but the avenues are just not available. He said he never felt peer pressure to drop baseball for another sport.
"It's funny, it was the complete opposite," Burriss said. "I would tell my friends that I was serious about baseball and they got excited. They knew there wasn't too many black baseball players and they really encouraged me to play my best."
Last winter, before he even made his major league debut, Burriss staged a few baseball clinics in D.C. for children. His idea was just to give kids a feel for the game at a formative age like he experienced.
"Whether you're black white or whatever, if you don't pick up baseball early its going to be hard," Burriss said. "Baseball is easy to love. If you're around it from an early age you'll always love it, no matter what."
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