Blacks in Baseball, Hope for a Brighter Tomorrow

Smiles adorned the faces of little black boys seated throughout Truist Park Friday night for the Ken Griffey Jr HBCU Swingman’s Classic. All-stars from HBCU programs put on nine innings of exciting baseball, ending with the National League team defeating the American League 7-4.

In my 2005 article “Blacks in Baseball: A Disappearing Act”, the number of African Americans in Major League Baseball was already critically low. All efforts by the league to increase those numbers over the last 20 years have not had the intended effect. The numbers have declined from 13% to 6.2%.

“According to the Northeastern University Center
for the Study of Sport in Society’s 2001 Racial &
Gender Report Card, African Americans made up
just 13% of Major League Baseball.”

College baseball programs have not fared well. Over 50 college programs, including seventeen at HBCU campuses, have ceased operations since 1972. Baseball isn’t the only Intercollegiate program that has found its way on the chopping block due to tightening budgets and unsettled finances. 

a- Howard has a club baseball program
b- Morris Brown College closed its doors in 2002.
c- Announced baseball will return no later than the 2028 season
d- The conference suspended baseball as a sport in 2017.

Investing in the Future

Former major leaguers entered the conversation to give aspiring major leaguers instructional guidance and leadership. Minority Baseball Prospects and the Players Alliance host showcases and other events to create pathways to college and the pros by offsetting the cost of participation and skills development. 

Baseball is one of the most expensive sports and beyond the reach of most parents, especially given the wage gap for Black Americans. Getting up enough players to play a game like in the movie The Sandlot is not happening often enough, if at all, today. 

Inner-city programs like James Mosher Little League Baseball in Baltimore City have been developing players for over six decades. It continues in the vein of league ball instead of travel ball. 

Little League emphasizes skill development and competition between teams from an area with rosters of equal caliber in a league format. At the end of the season, the players who perform the best participate on the all-star team that plays against other all-star teams from different parts of the city, then the state, and finally the nation. Travel ball skips all of those steps, selecting the best of the best for the A-squad that competes against similarly loaded teams at tournaments around the country. 

The concept of travel ball began to spread around the country in the late 80s. It resembles American Legion Baseball, which was formed in the late 1920s to allow players 14-19 to continue playing the sport during the summer. The cost of travel ball on average is $3,000 plus equipment and travel costs (hotel, air, food, gas, entry fee) for a 2-3 day tournament. It is a huge sacrifice for the average household when multiplied over the average number of years (8)  the child plays and the number of tournaments they play each season. The amount grows substantially when families have more than one child participating in both the spring and fall seasons.      

Travel Baseball vs American Legion Baseball

Participating in travel ball is no guarantee that a pro baseball contract looms at the end of the road. Parents and players hope it translates into a draft day party out of high school or a college scholarship. The majority of players end up at a junior college program. There are fewer programs at 4-year colleges and even less scholarship money. 

HBCUs aren’t the only programs making fiscal decisions about baseball. The University of Virginia won its first and only national baseball championship in 2015, fourteen years after a task force recommended defunding the program. Baseball doesn’t generate revenue on most campuses and is an easy target for administrators looking to cut costs.   

Funding for HBCU baseball programs limits most coaching staffs to a head coach and an assistant. Jackson State is a rarity with its four-man staff. The Southwest Athletic Conference is the largest and most complete Division 1 HBCU baseball conference, with all twelve of its members fielding teams. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has that distinction in D2 with 11 of its 12 members (Spring Hill is a predominantly white institution with membership in the conference).

Scouting is a major component of the baseball pathway to the pros. That is where the Players Alliance and MBP step in. The Swingman’s Classic and the HBCU All-Star game leverage the combined connections of former players to shine a spotlight on players from HBCUs.  

Comedian and Florida A&M alumnus Roy Wood, Jr., went to four campuses to check out the programs. Watch what he had to say about the experience.

Former Braves David Justice and Brian Jordan skippered the American and National League squads. Each was optimistic about the future of the players selected to participate. Cooperstown Hall of Fame 2025 nominee Carsten CC Sabathia predicted correctly that some of the players would hear their name called at the MLB draft. The AL 2007 Cy Young Award winner will receive his plaque on July 27. 

Words from the AL and NL managers

NL Skipper Brian Jordan

AL skipper David Justice

Hope Springs Eternal 

Swingman Classic participants Kyle Walker (Grambling State), Cardell Thibodeaux, Jr. (Southern University), and Kameron Douglas (Alabama State) were selected two days after the game in the 2025 MLB draft. Douglas caught everyone’s attention with a 417-foot solo blast straight over the centerfield wall. The power-hitting outfielder took the mound in the top of the ninth and promptly struck out the first two batters of the inning. 

A 40-minute rain delay in the top of the third inning sent fans onto the concourse. The break in the action led to a tailgate-like atmosphere as alumni and Divine Nine members reconnected. 

The American League squad’s bats heated up when play resumed. JT Taylor doubled, scoring KJ White, Jr. and Darryl Lee to take the lead 2-1. Taylor scored two batters later on a line drive by Andrey Martinez.

 Jay Campbell hit a two-run blast off Logan Darnell over the left centerfield fence to tie the game at 4 runs apiece and give the National League team new life. Nkosi Didder shut down the middle of the American League lineup 1-2-3 in the top of the 8th. 

Jordan’s squad took the lead on DeMarckus Smiley’s grounder to first that allowed Trey Bridges to score from third. The American League added two more runs before the side was retired.

Douglas and Jay Campbell struck out the side in the top of the 9th to end the game.

New Life

A week before the classic, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced it would reinstate baseball after an eight-year hiatus. The news gives little leaguers and current high school players something more to smile about.

All photos by Jason McDonald, JM Photography for CORE360 Sports

2025 Ken Griffey Jr. HBCU Swingman's Classic