Topic: Ethnicity in Major League Baseball

Purpose: To show the audience that each wave of ethnicity has added to Baseball and made it more entertaining and more worldwide.

Introduction

Baseball has long been called America’s Pastime, but the constant growth of ethnicity has made the sport grow internationally and made it more than a pastime for just one nation. There’s no other sport other than soccer that is more international than baseball.

The various Ethnicities in the sport have brought their own style and swagger to the game, making it more entertaining for all nations.

Throughout Major League History there have been three waves of ethnic talent entering the game. These three waves are the African American wave, the Latino wave, and the Japanese wave.

Transition: The Most significant wave was the African American wave.

Body

A. The impact of Jackie Robinson and the African American wave.

Transition: The event of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier shortly followed by the African American wave opened the door for the Latinos

B. The flow of Latin American baseball players taking over the game.

Transition: Once Latin Americans were being successful in the major leagues, other nationalities wanted to take their turn at the major leagues.

C. Japanese players making their impact on the baseball world.

Transition: The Japanese ballplayers proved that baseball is a worldwide sport, where anybody could be successful regardless of size.

Conclusion

The impact of ethnicities entering Major League Baseball such as the African Americans, the Latinos, and the Japanese has incorporated many different styles of play, which has increased its popularity throughout the world. Without the inclusion of these ethnicities in the game, baseball wouldn’t be where it is today. With the constant flow of international popularity, Baseball could possibly surpass Soccer as the most international sport in the future.

For my research I used a couple books that talked about the different ethnic periods that influenced baseball. I also used an online source that showed the current variation of ethnicity in the sport in a percentage form.