“New Wave” follows high school baseball players as they go through the 2022 MLB draft. Photo: Courtesy Major League Baseball
A recent documentary follows Major League Baseball’s attempts to increase the number of black athletes on its 30 teams. The two-part documentary — called “New Wave: Baseball’s Next Generation” — will follow high school baseball players Termar Johnson, Jayson Jones, RJ Austin and Justin Crawford as they head into the 2022 MLB draft.
Eligible high school baseball players are offered two options when they graduate – if selected, they can commit to play for college or go straight to a professional team. Players who decide to play in college don’t get a chance at the draft for another three years. This decision between college and “going pro” is one of the most important decisions of their athletic career.
The four players attended several events prior to the draft to showcase their skills and athleticism in front of scouts from all major league teams. Ultimately, Johnson and Crawford were selected to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. Austin decided to play at Vanderbilt University, and Jones at the University of Arkansas after not being selected in the first round of the draft.
The documentary comes after MLB committed $150 million to increase black representation in baseball by 2021 — one of the largest investments in diversity by a major sports league in North America. The money goes to the Players Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of current and former black major leaguers working to produce more black baseball players at the professional level.
This funding from MLB provides players with equipment and increases the number of black employees at all levels of professional baseball, and provides scholarships and financial aid to leagues to support baseball in public schools and urban schools.
The documentary is funded by MLB and produced in partnership with UNINTERRUPTED, the athlete enhancement brand founded by basketball player LeBron James and his longtime agent and business partner, Maverick Carter. James and Carter are minority owners in Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox starting in 2021. They are the first black owners in the team’s history.
The percentage of black players in MLB today is 6.1% – about 58 of the 945 players on all 30 teams. In addition, five teams do not have a black player on their team and nine teams have only one.
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