With big-name former NFL players including Deion Sanders at Jackson State and Eddie George at Tennessee State, HBCU football is all the rage.
The increased attention is great. It certainly helped get four HBCU players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, compared to zero in 2021.
Major League Baseball’s Black participation level is dreadful. Just 7.2% of its players on Opening Day 2022 rosters were African American, down from 18% in 1991.
Yet, there could be a new, and old, portal to unknown Black baseball players that MLB should become involved with in a big way.
The 2022 Minority Baseball Prospects [MBP] HBCU All-Star Game was held in June at Truist Park near Atlanta. Sixty players from 57 HBCUs were invited to display their respective talents in the game.
These teams were coached by former Florida A&M and Atlanta Braves outfielder Marquis Grissom and former Jackson State and MLB pitcher, Marvin Freeman.
Team Freeman prevailed 6-2 over Team Grissom.
Joseph Smith, an HBCU All-Star outfielder from Savannah State, told the Florida Star, “I love this opportunity.”
“A lot of African American people don’t really get the exposure and experience to do stuff like this so it’s a once in a lifetime dream.”
Morehouse College pitcher Casey Coates also called the game and accessibility to coaches and scouts “a dream at first.”
“[It] also proves that we, just like other people who aren’t minorities, can do what they do as well. We’re just as talented as they are.”
Malik Bell, an Albany State University infielder, was proud to represent his HBCU, and all the respective baseball programs throughout the nation.
“It’s awesome because at Albany State it feels like we put our school on the map. For somebody else outside of Albany State to notice our efforts and hard work we put in during the season. I like that, he said.
Fellow Albany State player, outfielder Lavoisier Fisher said before the game, “it’s going to be lit.”
“We get to come out, perform, show exactly what our coach has been teaching us. It’s going to be a fun experience out there.”
Rashad Webster, a Stillman College assistant coach, said there is a will among HBCU players to reach the Major League level.
“There is more fire inside of these gentlemen to make it to the next level because everybody wants to be the next pioneer when it comes to the game of baseball,” Webster said.
“A lot of trials and tribulations come with being a minority baseball player. Whether that be on the field or off the field there’s a lot of things that you must handle mentally before you get out on this baseball field. A ton of struggle comes with being a minority baseball player.”
Freeman said, “it is not where you’re at it’s how you play.”
“HBCUs are not as funded as some of the other larger schools, but we still have some of the best talent in the country and hopefully these guys will get an opportunity to show that they compete on whatever level they are on.”
Savannah State coach Roberto Alonso Jr., also let MLB know that it will take more than talk to increase Black participation in the game, and on HBCU campuses.
“If we continue to build the HBCU schools and help them with the funding that is needed to promote baseball, get these kids more acclimated, more educated on a baseball diamond instead of on a street corner we’re going to have a lot more success stories,” he said.
The Reid Roundup
Jack Flaherty left his third start of the season last Sunday with “a dead arm.” The outing against the Chicago Cubs was to be his longest stint of the season, it did not happen. I’m as big a Flaherty fan as there is, but he’s got to get healthy, and start winning games before a dead arm puts his career in critical condition…Like Flaherty, Chris Archer of the Minnesota Twins has been dealing with injuries over the past two seasons. Archer is having an impressive season, pitching five scoreless innings in a 6-0 win over Colorado last Saturday. In five June starts, he allowed four earned runs over 23 innings for a 1.57 ERA while working on limited pitch counts like Flaherty…With NBA free agency opening on June 30, several teams are angling for a shot at Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal. If you are a Wizards fan, don’t panic if he opts out of his current deal. It could mean he would sign a new ‘super-max’ deal with the team. If he does not opt out, word is he could then ask for a trade.
