Generations of American children grew up playing catch with their fathers. Rare is the man who doesn’t get a little choked up as father and son play one last game of catch in “Field of Dreams.” Perhaps more so than any other sport, there is a deep connection in history between father, son and the game of baseball. It turns out backyard games of catch are more than the best way to pass a spring afternoon or a father’s pretext to get his son talking.
In terms of factors that might lead to a Major League Baseball career, one crucial factor has been overlooked, until now: fatherhood.
In a new report from the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, research shows a tight connection between a father’s presence in childhood and those who go on to become professional baseball players. Obviously, having a father around does not guarantee a kid will be good at baseball. But our research shows that not having a father around makes it much more difficult and rare, almost impossible, for a player to reach the major leagues.
Take Giancarlo Stanton, for example. He is in the second year of the largest contract in baseball history: $325 million for 13 years. Asked about his father, with whom he has a very close relationship, Stanton said, “Obviously, you feel your father in the stands, but I like to think that he still listens to the radio just like he did when he’d take me [to Los Angeles Dodgers games]. It’s like I grew into the player he would take me to go see and watch.”
We compared nationwide birth data at the county level to a database of roughly 85,000 college and professional baseball players. The data showed that as out-of-wedlock births go up in a county, the future production of baseball players goes down.
We then played devil’s advocate. We took a sample of more 600 current Major League Baseball players, approximately 20 from each team, and researched their family structure. More than 80 percent of professional players come from a home where their father was present, almost double the percentage in the general population. Half of the rest had a stepfather present.
Some might be tempted to wave off the findings and say family income has more to do with the findings. That’s not likely. Although African American representation has been dropping, Major League Baseball players hailing from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, many having grown up in impoverished conditions, have dramatically increased.
Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones sparked debate in September when he said, comparing his sport to professional football, “baseball is a white man’s sport.”
While in recent decades baseball has become more racially diverse overall—with an influx of players from Japan, Venezuela, Cuba and the Dominican Republic—a curious demographic trend may lie at the heart of Jones’s comment: the disappearance of African American players in Major League Baseball. That is to say, Jones’s statement is less true than it’s ever been, but African American players like Jones may feel that way because of their dwindling representation.
The percentage of African American players in Major League Baseball is lower now than at any time since Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers for the final time in 1957. It has dropped by more than 60 percent since the high point in 1981. At that time, 18.7 percent of professional players were African American. Now, it’s about 7 percent. As with any large social development, the causes are complex and multifaceted. But our findings suggest fatherhood is more important than previously thought.
Jones is not wrong to feel a trend going against African American baseball players. The connection between the enormous demographic change of baseball in the last 35 years and family structure, hidden until now, indicates not only one major cause of the problem, but also points us in the direction of a solution: fathers who are involved in the lives of their children.
More than just to become a great baseball player, children need a father to help them thrive.
Kevin Stuart is the executive director of the Austin Institute for the Study of Family & Culture. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
