HBODisclaimer: You probably need to enjoy Chris Rock's stand-up to enjoy his explanation of why Major League Baseball is hemorrhaging both black fans and black players. And you might want to care about baseball to begin with, too.
Because this very interesting argument, which Rock made for HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, is told in monologue fashion, is peppered with expletives and sounds perfectly reasonable.
"I'm an endangered species—a black baseball fan," he launches right in. The Brooklyn-raised comedian and filmmaker reminisces about the New York Mets' 1986 World Series win, featuring assists from Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Kevin Mitchell and Mookie Wilson, back when "20 percent of all major leaguers were African-American."
"Now if I say to a black person, 'Did you see the Met game last night?' they'll say, 'What the f--k's a Met?'" he adds.
Rock goes on to point out that neither of last year's World Series teams, the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, had a black player on its roster.
"How can you be in St. Louis and see no black people?" he cracks, chuckling at his own observation.
And the statistics, including the current amount of black baseball players at historically black colleges, get even more mind-boggling as the segment goes on.
But is the explanation for the sport's declining popularity among black America simply that baseball is "uncool"? Watch and find out why MLB should be "terrified"!
(Warning: This video contains NSFW language)