Comic and CNN persona Roy Wooden Jr. is utilizing his platform to do greater than ship punchlines. He’s serving to to shift the highlight onto part of the sports activities world that has lengthy gone ignored — Black faculty baseball.
Via a partnership with Main League Baseball and the Ken Griffey Jr. Household Basis, Wooden not too long ago traveled to a number of Traditionally Black Schools and Universities (HBCUs) throughout the South to doc their baseball applications within the lead-up to this 12 months’s Swingman Traditional, a showcase of high HBCU expertise held throughout MLB All-Star Weekend.
“The tradition is as essential as the rationale that you simply’re going to the varsity,” Wooden mentioned throughout an look on the HBCU Sports activities Podcast. “It doesn’t matter what Black faculty you select… you’re nonetheless going to get some good tradition. And that’s essential.”
Wooden’s video collection, produced by MLB Community, options stops at Texas Southern, Grambling State, Southern College, and others. The mission is to focus on not simply the gamers’ abilities but additionally the distinctive power, legacy, and mentorship that outline HBCU athletics.The Swingman Traditional, created by Corridor of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., brings collectively 50 of the highest HBCU baseball gamers for a nationwide stage. This 12 months’s sport can be held on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Truist Park in Atlanta and televised on MLB Community.
“Ken Griffey Jr. is a humble god, man,” Wooden mentioned. “He could possibly be someplace chilling on a yacht… however as an alternative, he comes by means of and he pays it ahead.”
Griffey, who bypassed faculty for the key leagues, launched the occasion in 2023 after observing how restricted scouting entry was for gamers at HBCUs. Wooden praised Griffey’s efforts as greater than symbolic.
“He appeared round and mentioned, ‘Wow, this sport has modified from after I performed. What can I do to make it possible for individuals are at the very least getting the seems to be they deserve?’ That’s selfless, man,” Wooden mentioned.
Within the podcast hosted by HBCU Sports activities contributor author Chris Stevens, Wooden mentioned the deeper challenges confronted by Black baseball. He cited rising prices, declining municipal recreation applications, and a sports activities tradition that now prioritizes early specialization and NIL cash.
“You may’t say no to being a large receiver as an alternative of a middle fielder should you’re attempting to care for your loved ones,” Wooden mentioned. “It’s onerous.”He additionally famous that many HBCU baseball groups right now embody Latino gamers and others from underrepresented backgrounds, increasing the narrative of what Black faculty baseball seems to be like right now.
“Baseball’s a journey sport,” Wooden defined. “It prices cash. And in case your mama ain’t received the logistics to be gone with you for 10 days whilst you’re hitting baseballs in Oklahoma someplace, it’s powerful.”
Regardless of the challenges, Wooden’s storytelling provides moments of pleasure and authenticity, together with one Texas Southern participant who mentioned the meals tipped the size on his determination to signal.
“He mentioned the coach despatched him to a restaurant in Houston, and that was the tiebreaker,” Wooden laughed. “That’s the sort of stuff that makes HBCUs particular.”
As a part of the broader effort to revive baseball participation in Black communities, MLB has additionally invested in native infrastructure. One latest instance is the refurbishment of Willie Mays Park in Birmingham, Alabama, with fashionable turf and drainage to fight weather-related cancellations.
“That’s large,” Wooden mentioned. “You don’t even get the reps it’s worthwhile to get higher if the sector’s underwater for 3 days.”Because the Swingman Traditional prepares to take middle stage, Wooden hopes the tales he’s helped inform will resonate lengthy after the cameras cease rolling.
“I believe there are numerous silent giants like that inside the world of retired Black baseball gamers,” he mentioned. “They simply transfer in silence… and so they do lots for the sport.”
For extra on Roy Wooden Jr.’s tour and the total Swingman Traditional video collection, go to MLBNetwork.com and search “Swingman.”
Editor’s Notice: This text was generated with the help of synthetic intelligence and reviewed for accuracy and readability by the HBCU Sports activities editorial crew.
