Report: Bug Selig to create task force on blacks in baseball

The Seattle Mariners are one of four MLB teams that did not have a single African-American player on their opening day roster. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Major League Baseball is set to announce the creation of a task force on Wednesday to help reverse the record low of African-Americans playing the sport, reports USA Today.

On opening day, African-Americans made up 7.7 percent of major league rosters, which is an all-time low. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has yet to announce the move.

Four major league teams did not have a single African-American on their roster on opening day. Those teams were the St. Louis Cardinals,San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers. The Giants have won two of the last three World Series championships but did not have one black player in their major-league camp.

From USA Today:

The 17-member committee will consist of owners, executives and coaches, including Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, Chicago White Sox vice president Kenny Williams, Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and Southern University baseball coach Roger Cador. "I never thought I'd see anything like this,'' Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan said to USA Today. "But I've seen it coming. There, for a long time, there were a lot of African-American players to look up to and emulate, but there's not enough big stars now to dissuade them from basketball and football.''