Fade from black: reasons and perceptions of sport racialization in baseball and socializing experiences of interscholastic student-athletes

African American participation in baseball has declined over the past 20 years. This study looks into reasons for this decline, as well as perceptions of race and sport of high school students at a predominately African American high school through an instrumental case study design. A stratified random sampling approach was used in order to elicit data from four baseball players and four non-baseball athletes. There were two Black students and two students that are from other racial groups excluding Black in each group. Using semi-structured interviews and open-ended surveys, data was analyzed through an interpretive approach along with a social reproduction framework. Results from participants show that African American students choose not to play baseball for various reasons including social reproduction, socialization patterns, and stereotypes. Findings from participants in this research also revealed the experiences and socialization of the African American athlete into sport participation patterns: a) to be dependent on socializing agents; b) dependent on stereotypes present at this given site; c) affected by feelings and personal perceptions of the student-athlete. Hypotheses related to sport racialization and baseball commitment appear to account for the decline. Implications for the continuation of racialized sports are discussed.