| Abstract: |
The racial makeup of Major League Baseball (MLB) has changed over time with
the percentage of Blacks in the league peaking at eighteen percent in the late
1980s and then declining to only seven percent today. While the percentage of
Hispanics has grown steadily over time reaching fifteen percent in 1990 and
continuing to grow to twenty-eight percent today. To provide insight into both
the decline in Black players and rise in Hispanic players, we use panel data
from 1990 to 2004 to explore both the racial and ethnic positional segregation
and career length of players. When it comes to career length, we find that
foreign born Hispanic players have a higher probability of exit while Hispanic
players who were born in the United States or the territory of Puerto Rico
have no difference in the probability of exit than nonHispanic White players.
In addition, we find that non-Hispanic Black players have no difference in the
likelihood of exit than non-Hispanic White players when there are no controls
for the position played. However, we do find that Black non-Hispanic players
have a lower probability of exiting the league when position controls are
included. Focusing on position, we find that nonHispanic Black players are
most likely to be in the outfield, least likely to be a catcher, and
outfielders have shorter careers than catchers. Lastly, we find that Hispanic
players are most likely to be a shortstop and least likely to be a catcher Key
Words: Discrimination, Training, Sports, Major League Baseball (MLB) |