Chinni/Bronston: All-Star Game returns to a changed Washington
From Dante Chinni and Sally Bronston at NBC News on July 15, 2018, with mention of SABR members Mark Armour and Dan Levitt:
Of all the nation’s major sports, baseball holds a special place. It’s been a part of American summers for well over a century, marking time through the nation’s history and changing along with it.
That last point is especially true when you look at some of the numbers around Major League Baseball as it comes to Washington on Tuesday night to play its first All-Star Game in the city since 1969. MLB returns as a different league — demographically, geographically and financially — and it reflects the differences that have remade the country during that time.
The most obvious difference in the game between then and now may be who’s in the field and the names in the box score.
In 1969, about 74 percent of the players who appeared in a major league game were white, according to data from baseball researchers Mark Armour and Dan Levitt. About 15 percent of the players were African-American and another 11 percent were Latino.
Last year those numbers looked very different. Only 63 percent of the players were white and the African-American number declined to about 6 percent. But the Latino number has grown by nearly 20 points to roughly 29 percent.
Read the full article here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/all-star-game-returns-changed-washington-n891511
Originally published: July 17, 2018. Last Updated: July 17, 2018.