because kids are introduced to sports through male figures. However, the demographics of African American athletes grew in other sports while baseball numbers dwindled.

https://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/baseball-demographics-1947-2016/

The black demographics in baseball plateaued in the 1970s, while Football and Basketball numbers increased. Black kids just flipped sports

AFL-NFL merged to create the Super Bowl in the 70s. ABA-NBA merged creating mega stars like George Gervin and Dr.j. Kids wanting to go see them play at Rucker Park in the summer time instead of playing baseball.

Baseball had zero competition in the 40s,50s,60s...

So for me 3 factors pulled kids away

- football and basketball becoming more popular and entertaining
- the birth of hip hop in the black community in the late 70s
- crack cocaine era pulling kids into the streets to make easy money

I’m also willing to throw in the arcade and video game explosion of the late 70s and 80s as well. Kids wanting to hang out at the arcade during the summer, and staying at home playing Atari, Nitendo, etc.

So there isn’t just one factor, but so many factors across the board that pushed baseball to the back in the black community.