On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and became the first African-American ballplayer in the major leagues. After that historic day, it seemed as though a strong African-American presence in baseball was inevitably going to blossom and become a mainstay in baseball forever.

Throughout the next thirty years, this perception held true, as the composition of the major leagues grew to 27 percent African-American during the 1970s. After this period in the 1970s however, a decline would begin that would alter the racial composition of baseball for decades to come, as African-American representation on the playing field would drop to as low as 8.2 percent in 2007, a 70 percent drop compared to the 27 percent figure reached in the 1970s.

The reason for the decrease in African-Americans in baseball is tough to pin-point, it is comprised of many economic and societal factors, ranging from the high cost of baseball equipment, which eliminates many youths the opportunity to participate, to the limited number of college scholarships, which often drives athletic African-American teenagers to pursue sports like football and basketball, and others. Also, nobody is sure exactly how to fix this problem, but I think the Yankees may have found a way...

It has been a while since the Yankees had a team of prominent African-American players. Since the days of Strawberry, Doc, Cecil, Rock Raines, and Gerald "Ice" Williams, there was certainly a presence lacking. Finally, in the past 2 off-seasons, the Yankees have added CC Sabathia, Curtis Granderson, and Randy Winn to complement Derek Jeter of course. What better way to get African-American kids more interested in the sport than having 3 stars (and 1 TBD) on the best team in the league, not to mention the most marketed team. If kids start to see more of these players on a regular basis, and see them marketing in New York, I think it could go a long way for the future of MLB.