Jordan Walker Says It Loud
By Kenneth Miller | Publisher
After St. Louis Cardinals 24-year old outfielder Jordan Walker smashed his sixth consecutive home run to capture the 2026 Home Run Derby title in Philadelphia on July 13, he said what baseball executives cringe about.
“I mean, I hope it means a lot to them. I want to be a role model for the Black kids, you know, and I want more Black kids in baseball,” said Walker, who hit a total of 31 home runs on his 50 swings over three rounds. “Hopefully this raises some awareness.”
As his proud parents looked on, the unexpected spokesman for Blacks representation in the lily white sport of Major League Baseball embraced the opportunity to speak out against the just 6.8 percent or 64 Blacks on MLB Opening Day rosters.
Ironically Walker hails from a region, the south, and specifically Georgia which didn’t end racial segregation until 1961, a time if born a Jordan Walker could not play alongside his white teammates.
And, Walker was drafted in the first round for a team that did not allow Blacks to play on their team until seven years after Jackie Robinson has broke baseball’s dubious color barrier.
The hometown Dodgers, the team Robinson made history with has been abysmal in outfitting Black players, choosing instead to stake its reputation with Hispanics and Asians over Blacks, with one lone ranger in Mookie Betts on its roster.
To their credit, the Dodgers as an organization through its Dodgers Foundation sponsors The Dodgers Dreamteam Leagues throughout Los Angeles County in hopes of attracting and introducing the game of baseball to Blacks.
Young Blacks kids would instead rather chase their dreams playing basketball and football, but Walker is aspiring to change it.
“I know a lot of them are playing basketball, football route, but I want them to know the baseball route is open to them, too,” Walker said. “And there are a lot of kids that are athletic enough and mentally strong enough — Black kids that can play this game — and I want to see them do it.”
Regardless of whether it inspires more Blacks to play the game of baseball, Jordan Walker demonstrated remarkable courage in the face of an ugly scar that remains carved deep into the face of America’s Pastime and the unapologetic nation itself.
“I really do believe we are making progress in terms of the participation of Black athletes, particularly at the elite level,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said. “… Look, this is one of those issues that you have to continue to invest, grind it out, do that kind of grassroots work to attract more people to the game and then nurture them in a way that gets them into this elite pipeline.
