MLB Hall of Famer and FOX Sports 1 analyst Frank Thomas led a discussion on this afternoon’s edition of AMERICA’S PREGAME alongside host Mike Hill and former professional athletes Jim Jackson and Ephraim Salaam.
The panel spoke in response to Chris Rock’s comments on baseball’s popularity — or lack thereof in the African-American community. Rock’s segment aired on HBO’s “Real Sports.”
Thomas believes Major League Baseball has a responsibility to get young African-American players back into the game: “Major League Baseball has got to take initiative and put academies in the inner cities across America. [They] do it in the Dominican Republic, [they] do it in Venezuela and as soon as Cuba is open, they’re going to do it in Cuba because these kids play baseball 24/7. If they get something in the inner cities, provide cleats, baseballs, and bats, the black kids will play…we’ve got ex-black baseball players that would be willing to take jobs with Major League Baseball to teach baseball in the inner cities at these academies if they build them.”