TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The 78-year-old man who’s spent much of his
life coaching baseball and grooming big league prospects listened
intently, slowly shaking his head as the smile on his face gave way
to a sad expression.

The number of black players in the majors declined last season,
and Billy Reed fears things could get a lot worse before they get
better.

“Man,” he said softly, digesting some of the latest numbers.
“We’re slipping again.”

In the African-American community, a growing number of kids have
lost interest in the game and that has trickled-up to the major
leagues.

At the pinnacle of a highly successful career, Reed mentored
eventual major leaguers Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Carl
Everett, Floyd Youmans and Vance Lovelace.

Reed impacted the lives of numerous others, including Derek
Bell, during four decades of involvement in youth baseball, 24
seasons as head coach at Tampa Hillsborough High School and the
Belmont Heights Little League program he founded in the 1960s to
build a pipeline for players who might wind up under him at then
all-black Middleton High.

A year after showing an increase in the number of black players
in the majors for the first time since 1995, a study in April by
the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and
Ethics in Sports reported the figure dropped from 10.2 percent to 9
percent — based on information on 2009 work force data provided by
MLB.

And of the 269 players on rosters at the College World Series,
just eight are African-Americans.

Reed and former major league pitcher Derek Aucoin have some
ideas about what can be done to rekindle interest in baseball at a
time when most of the best young black athletes are focusing on
trying to become instant millionaires in professional football or
basketball.

“They see guys like LeBron James. ‘Man, he went from high school
to pro.’ They look at him and think, ‘I can do the same thing.’
Except they don’t have the same talent,” Reed said.

“We think short-term too much, what can I get now. I tell
youngsters all the time: ‘Some guys are on the bench in baseball
making $1 million. NBA teams draft two players, only one guaranteed
big money. When are they going to draft you?’ In baseball, they’ve
got 50 rounds. If you can walk straight, you can get drafted.”

Lack of parental support and tight family finances are often
cited as part of the problem, too. Equipment and league
registration fees can be costly, and some kids are discouraged from
playing by parents who either lack the time or means to transport
them across town — or in some cases to the suburbs — for practice
and games.

That wasn’t the case between 1975 and 1981, when Belmont Heights
appeared — and lost — in the Little League World Series
championship game three times.

“We had a waiting list for players,” Reed said. “Most of our
kids lived in the same area, could walk to the park. Registration
was $2 because we knew our parents couldn’t pay the big fees. We
depended on sponsors for bats and uniforms. Parents have to do all
that themselves now. In this economy, it’s not happening.”

And it seems the African-American families that are able to
afford to shell out hundreds of dollars for their kids to
participate in expensive leagues are spending on something other
than baseball, such as AAU basketball.

Aucoin, who pitched for the Expos in 1996, is acutely aware of
the problem of diversity in youth baseball.

There haven’t been many black kids in his programs.

For 10 years, he has run The Baseball Center, a facility in New
York City where some major leaguers have worked out in batting
cages, and operated leagues and teams for boys and girls from 4 to
15 years old.

Aucoin started on a field in East Harlem and estimates 10,000
kids have come through his programs and facility.

There have been times when he’s seen a kid and a mom on the
subway with a glove and invited them to join his program, at no
cost. He’s also conducted youth events with Derek Jeter’s Turn 2
Foundation and the Players Trust, the charitable arm of the MLB
players’ union.

“The problem, I believe, is Major League Baseball has to get
involved at a younger level,” he said. “Baseball requires much
higher mentoring than the two other sports (football/basketball)
that compete for elite athletes.”

Aucoin, a hard-throwing right-hander born outside Montreal, was
the only French-Canadian player drafted by the Expos who eventually
played in the majors for them.

MLB has initiatives such as the RBI program and baseball
academies. But to attract more black kids and keep them interested,
they said, it takes a full-time commitment — more than just
providing equipment and fields.

Getting current major league stars such as CC Sabathia, Curtis
Granderson, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins to participate is key,
too.

“I’ve talked to some of these guys, they’ll do it,” Aucoin said.
“I was one of those kids. At 10 years old, I was a direct product
of shaking hands with Andre Dawson.”

Reed recalled skipping school as a youngster to go watch the
Cincinnati Reds in spring training. He said players have the
realize that as big leaguers they can make a difference by simply
being accessible to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity
to meet them.

“You can’t make one appearance in five years and feel like I
made my appearance. I think what they should do is bring groups of
kids to games, sponsor them and let them see you play. After the
game, talk to them. Tell them: ‘One day you could be like me out
here playing.'”

Aucoin said the common excuses for why it’s so tough in the
inner city to attract kids are not impossible to overcome.

He noted it’s important to make the game fun, to keep the kids
involved on every pitch so they don’t see the game as boring.

In Aucoin’s leagues for young kids, he has coaches pitch, so
hitters don’t have to wait long periods of see one over the plate.
And, he has parents stand in the field with their kids, offering
support and encouragement.

Reed feels parents should be more aggressive in steering their
kids toward baseball.

“You’ve got to encourage them and you’ve got to keep on them.
You can’t take no for an answer and just stop. Put him in the
program and let him learn. He may be better than anybody out there,
but never really had a chance to show his talent,” Reed said.

“Major League Baseball is trying to do something” about
diversity,” he added. “But they’re going to need help from the
people that they’re helping. They can’t do everything.”

___

AP National Writer Ben Walker contributed to this report.