There's been a lot of press about the falling numbers of black Americans in professional baseball. On Stereohyped, we've alternately asked "Why?" and "Who cares?" I suppose it's because die-hard baseball fans, a group to which I do not belong, would hate to see all of the hardships players like Jackie Robinson went through to be in vain. Below, check out photos of five black players — Josh Gibson (from the Negro Leagues), Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron — who represent the not-so-strong anymore tradition of African Americans in baseball.

A daily Black History Month fact that has nothing to do with George Washington Carver, MLK, Jr., or Harriet Tubman. Promise!

“It’s not that I don’t like Babe Ruth, I just don’t think he was the best of his time. Satchel Paige was striking people out from his wheel chair at age 63! And he was tenth best. There were nine Negro players better than him! It’s almost like saying, 'I won the New York City Marathon this year, but no Kenyans ran.' It’s not a sport until brothers show up. It’s just a game.” — Chris Rock

Josh Gibson was probably smiling from the grave when Chris Rock made that statement recently. Gibson never had the "fortune" of playing baseball alongside Babe Ruth in the Major Leagues, but in the Negro Leagues, the 6'1 catcher was a force to be reckoned with and was known, incidentally, as the "Black Babe Ruth." Gibson, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, is considered by baseball historians to be one of the best catchers and power hitters to play in any league. Ever. Just three months before Jackie Robinson made history by joining the major leagues in 1947, Gibson died of a stroke at the age of 35.