MINORITIES IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 1952-1987

Abstract

We inspected over 4000 baseball cards every fifth season from 1952 through 1987. We found that among whites, pitchers and catchers were overrepresented and fielders were underrepresented, whereas the opposite pattern occurred among blacks. Among Latinos, pitchers were under-represented (a new finding) and shortstops were overrepresented. Contrary to claims that segregation by playing position changed during the years we studied, these patterns were stable.