Braves fan and Atlanta native Corey Ross coaches youth baseball, and he said money is the key to keep programs going in Black areas.
“We just need sponsors in our area,” Ross said. “They finally [revamped] Gresham Park [in east Atlanta’s DeKalb County]. That’s long overdue because Gresham Park puts out a lot of talent. If you spread that around Atlanta, the inner cities and everywhere around, you can get that. Baseball costs a lot of money, man.”
Money is also what White Braves fan Logan Marshall believes created the disparity between Black and White kids playing baseball at an elite level. Marshall went to high school with Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson, where the student population is 40% Black and 18% White, according to US News.
“I think there’s such a big gap between travel ball,” Marshall said. “I think it’s so expensive that it cuts out a lot of kids. Black, Hispanic, a lot of White kids can’t afford it. That’s really how you get fast-tracked to these elite college programs is when you’re playing year-round ball and that’s just expensive as hell. I think it’s almost become too exclusive in a way.”
