Before the first pitch of Game 1 of the World Series in Houston is thrown on Friday night, Major League Baseball will have made a disgraceful mark in history:
it's possible that neither team's roster will contain a single American-born Black player for the first time since 1950.
"According to Dusty Baker Jr., manager of the Astros, AP. It demonstrates to the public that getting here didn't require a long period of time, or even a decade.
It represents a significant shift for Philadelphia in particular from the 2008 World Series, when the Phillies prevailed thanks to Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard
For the Astros and Phillies, 52 players. None of them are of African American descent.
It's not a good picture for a league that honors Jackie Robinson every year for becoming the first Black player in the modern era of the sport in 1947. But should it come as a shock?