Filed under: Baseball
Although there are a good percentage of black players throughout Major League Baseball, the teams have no African-American owners.
Martin Luther King III is hoping to change that.
The son of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is currently in discussions to become a minority owner of the New York Mets:
"I believe in the merit and American value of creating an example," King said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "and if I personally, or as part of a collective, can advance the vision of a more diverse ownership group in professional sports, domestically or internationally, then, like my father, I am prepared to act in that spirit.
"There has been a lot of discussion and speculation about my participation in the acquisition of the New York Mets. The public release of those discussions was premature."
King wouldn't discuss any specifics about the talks, which is rumored to involve participation from Mets legend Ed Kranepool; entrepreneur Donn Clendenon Jr., son of the 1969 Mets World Series MVP; and TV executive Larry Meli, according to the New York Post.
King and the other participants are scheduled to visit New York this week to meet with the Mets, who are looking to sell 25 percent of the team. Apparently, the group wants 50 percent.
"It's fitting with the legacy of Jackie Robinson essentially transferring to the Mets - what better place to have African-American ownership than with the Mets," Meli told the Post. "Martin Luther King Jr. died for the common man to do better in his life. That sort of legacy is going to take hold here."