A large part of the problem is college scholarships. A large portion of the African-American teens who would continue to play baseball are 2-3 sport athletes. Baseball scholarships rarely cover all of tuition while basketball and football scholarships (for those that can earn them) generally cover all of tuition and room/board. They could earn a quick payday by signing a baseball deal straight out of high school, but then it's still a long time until they would make their pro debuts (and the real money). Football and basketball generally offer a free edjucation and a quicker consistent payday for those who are actually drafted. I'd say it all comes down to money. Having said that, if that 9% figure has you worried, you had better pray MLB doesn't start a hard slotting system for the draft.

thats what i do in the summer too but we just have two OF a Left and Middle IF a firstbaseman and a pitcher but it sucks when you dont have a catcher. so sometimes it would be 2OF 1IF 1B and a catcher and we would leave our gloves at that spot so guys who dont have a glove could use um. Didnt have bases or enough balls tho. Game was over when you hit the HR