MLB, MLBPA host HBCU Swingman Classic luncheon ahead of All-Star Week

ATLANTA -- Just a few blocks from the historic Atlanta University Center -- the home of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement -- Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association hosted an extended set of supporters at Paschal’s Restaurant & Bar on Tuesday during a luncheon celebrating the upcoming third HBCU Swingman Classic.

The HBCU Swingman Classic, presented by T-Mobile and powered by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, celebrates the history and legacy of HBCU baseball. The event leads off All-Star Week at Truist Park on Friday, July 11, and features 50 of the top HBCU players in the country, selected by a committee of representatives from MLB and the MLBPA, baseball scouts and Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

Local radio host Big Tigger facilitated a luncheon panel consisting of Angels second baseman Christian Moore and outfielder Jo Adell, Braves center fielder Michael Harris II, MLB senior vice president of baseball development Del Matthews, MLBPA consultant Reggie Waller and former Braves All-Star Brian Jordan, who will manage the National League team in the Classic. Fellow Braves All-Star right fielder David Justice will manage the American League team.

“This event is a great opportunity for HBCU players to play on a national stage under the lights at the All-Star Game, to get an opportunity to showcase their talent and prove that, given the opportunity, they’re just as good and deserve a chance,” Matthews said.

Matthews also noted opportunities for HBCU students to sharpen photography, journalism and broadcasting skills around the game, as well as plans to implement modern ball-tracking technology at HBCU stadiums for teams to learn from.

“It’s just a great opportunity, I think, for not just the players, but for everyone else, that wants to come partake in the game,” Matthews said.

From the MLBPA perspective, Waller echoed Matthews’ thoughts about the importance of ensuring Black players have opportunities to show their mettle.

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“It’s about separating yourself from the crowd for the right reasons,” Waller said. “It’s great if you have outstanding tools, because this is a tool game. But it’s the best player that has an application of his tools that, for me, are the ones that stay around. We’re always looking for that someone special, the one that’s going to impact his team, his community and our nation. The tools are there.

“Unfortunately, if the scouts aren’t showing up and attending these games, then you don’t have an opportunity to be selected sometimes. Unless there are more people that look like us in that room making those decisions, it’s still going to be a struggle.”

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Harris credits MLB and MLBPA ventures like the Classic, and MLB Develops programming, for helping to prepare Black players to excel, especially as professional athletes.

“It just created better men,” Harris said of his MLB Develops and Hank Aaron Invitational experience. “We were in high school, didn’t know what professional athletes went through on a day-to-day basis, but when we left there, we felt like we were in the league. ... Just aside from making us better players and showing us the way to be a professional, just being better men and teaching us how to play the game and how to treat the game.”

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Adell likewise highlighted professionalism as what has stood out to him most in his exposure to MLB Develops.

“You’re talking about setting up rides and buses for these kids to go to and from the ballpark, the meal setup, the way that practices are set up, having former 10-to-15-year veterans around helping these kids,” Adell said. “How professional and clean and just done the right way. And that’s what this is about. It’s one thing to get an opportunity and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to set up an event.’ But it’s another thing to do it professionally on a high level.”

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Moore (Angels' No. 1 prospect, MLB Pipeline's No. 52 overall) emphasized the core of that professionalism and one’s identity must stay true to why baseball matters dearly, throughout the road to The Show.

“For those guys competing in that Swingman game and also in the Draft, you better know who you are as a person first and foremost,” Moore said, based on his 2024 MLB Draft experience and rapid rise through the Angels’ system. “It can go so many different ways -- you will hear a thousand, a million different things about where you might go, money, this and that. Just understand who you are and understand why you play this game. And it’s because we love it so much.”

Proceeds from ticket sales to the Classic benefit the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, an MLB-MLBPA initiative focused on improving the caliber, effectiveness and availability of amateur baseball and softball programs nationwide and internationally.

Visit here for more information, including episodes in comedian and HBCU alumnus Roy Wood Jr.’s tour of HBCU baseball programs’ histories and cultures on the Path to the HBCU Classic.

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