SEATTLE (AP) - Ken Griffey Jr. holds a plethora of titles, particularly on this a part of the nation. Hall of Famer. Cultural icon. The man who made baseball within the Pacific Northwest related. Arguably, the best of his era.

He even holds a title in affiliation with Major League Baseball as a particular adviser to Commissioner Rob Manfred.

But what’s most significant to Griffey at present is his affiliation with Friday’s HBCU Swingman All-Star Classic that serves as the primary main occasion of All-Star Game festivities, that includes gamers from 17 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The occasion was an thought generated by Griffey, fostered into actuality with assist from MLB and comes at a time when U.S.-born Black illustration within the majors is at its lowest stage since monitoring started greater than 30 years in the past.

“It’s all about trying to get seen. I mean, if I can give an opportunity for a kid, one kid, two kids, three kids to be seen, how many kids can that be over the next five, 10, 15 years?” Griffey stated. “How many lives will that one person change? That’s all we’re trying to do.”

Fifty gamers in whole had been chosen to participate. For some, it might be the largest stage they’ve ever performed on and the perfect alternative for scouts and executives to see that regardless of restricted sources in comparison with others in Division I baseball, their expertise deserves to be showcased.

“It’s huge. I think a lot more people see his name and they get drawn to it just because he’s Ken Griffey Jr.,” stated Trey Paige, who performed this previous season at Delaware State. “Having his name on it draws attention from people who would have had no idea about it.”

That’s partly the aim, particularly with how present numbers have tracked.

A current examine from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida discovered Black U.S. gamers represented simply 6.2% of gamers on MLB opening day rosters, down from final yr’s earlier report low of seven.2%. There wasn’t a single HBCU alum on a serious league roster on opening day this season, both.

That is why Griffey pushed for this occasion to be a part of All-Star weekend fairly than his unique considered having it happen in the course of the Hank Aaron Invitational in Florida, an MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation sponsored occasion targeted on youth gamers. It’s one other title Griffey hopes can ultimately be added to his profession resume - somebody who helped develop and create alternatives for under-recognized Black gamers.

“I would love to see the numbers to my dad’s when he played, but that’s so far from now,” stated Griffey, whose father performed from 1973-91, overlapping with the careers of HBCU standouts like Lou Brock and Andre Dawson. “I just want for these kids to have an opportunity to believe in themselves and go out and play.”

Griffey’s participation within the occasion will not be passive. This isn’t merely his title and emblem connected to the title for the sake of curiosity and a spotlight. He’s seen firsthand among the useful resource limitations dealing with HBCU colleges, however from a barely totally different perspective - his youngest son Tevin performs soccer at Florida A&M.

“I just threw out a very big idea … but it was one of those things that needed to be done,” Griffey stated.

Griffey isn’t alone on this mission, or the primary sport. Jerry Manuel and Bo Porter are managers for the sport. Others serving to embody Dawson, Marquis Grissom, Harold Reynolds, Rickie Weeks Jr. and Griffey’s dad - identified at this level as Senior.

The elder Griffey, now 73, reminisced at a time throughout his enjoying profession when demographic participation charges weren’t tracked, however anecdotally practically 30% of the majors comprised of U.S.-born Black gamers.

When Senior and Junior had been teammates with the Mariners in 1991, it was the primary yr of the TIDES examine. At that point, 18% of gamers within the majors had been Black. It’s now to the purpose the place final yr’s World Series was the primary since 1950 that didn’t have a U.S.-born Black participant on both roster.

“We’ve got to keep going and passing it down from generation to generation,” stated Bethune-Cookman’s Hylan Hall. “When I go back home, I train younger guys. I’m around younger guys and show them that it’s fun. … The younger generation is looking at me and looking up to me and I know that’s a great responsibility.”

MLB’s present lack of Black gamers is incessantly attributed to the rising prices of elite-level youth baseball, amongst different components. The league has sought to deal with that inequity, and there are indicators these investments are starting to repay.

Four of the primary 5 picks in final yr’s MLB novice draft had been Black. Those 4 had been among the many lots of who had participated in range initiatives such because the MLB Youth Academy, DREAM Series and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program. MLB has additionally pledged $150 million in a 10-year partnership with the Players Alliance. The nonprofit group of present and former gamers works to extend Black involvement in any respect ranges.

“Running this organization from the beginning as the first executive director, I am confident that we’re already making an impact,” stated Jean Lee Batrus, government director of the joint MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation. “The numbers are growing when you look at youth sport. There’s more kids playing youth baseball and softball and I can speak specifically to underrepresented in diverse communities that there’s a desire there.”

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