When Gary Sheffield raised eyebrows with his theory behind declining number of black players in major leagues

Gary Sheffield, a former outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, raised eyebrows in June 2007 when he put forward his explanation for fewer black players in the major leagues.

Apparently, the percentage of African-Americans playing Major League Baseball hit an all-time low of 8.2 in 2007. Having African ancestral origins, Sheffield decided to share his perspective on the situation.

As per Sheffield, the population of Latin players had increased in the MLB, surpassing African-Americans because the former group is easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out. (It's about) being able to tell (Latin players) what to do -- being able to control them," Garly told the GQ Magazine.

He added:

"Where I'm from, you can't control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that's a person that you're going to talk to with respect, you're going to talk to like a man.

A decade ago, MLB constituted 59.5 percent whites, 28.7 percent Latinos, and 2.5 percent Asians, according to a report published in 2005 by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

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Gary Sheffield accused New York Yankees of treating African-Americans differently

Gary Sheffield of the New York Yankees (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

In July 2007, after Gary Sheffield was traded to the Tigers from the Yankees, he opened up about getting different treatment in New York in the wake of his racial background.

Sheffield spilled the beans during an interview with HBO's "Real Sports." He accused former Yankees manager Joe Torre of exuding such behavior:

"I know when I was (with the Yankees), the couple of blacks that were there, every one of them had an issue with the organization. They weren't treated liked everybody else."

He added:

"I got called out in a couple of meetings that I thought were unfair. ... (Torre) had a message to get across to the whole team, so he used me to get the message across. Since I was there, I just saw that they run their ship different."

When the interviewer pinpointed that the former Yankees captain, Derek Jeter has an Afro-American origin, Sheffield said that the HOFer is not "all the way black."