Hall of Fame East-West Classic Honors Our History: The MLBbros Were Outside

On Saturday, May 25 a special baseball game was held in Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame East-West Classic was at Doubleday Field and featured 30 former MLBbros.

 

An instant classic it was as the East defeated the West 5-4 in six innings.

 

Ryan Howard Wins East-West Classic MVP 

 

2008 World Series champ Ryan Howard was named MVP after hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth to give the East the lead.

 

“It’s always been a fraternity,” Howard said after the game. “The cool part about it is you have your teammates that you play with coming up in the Minor Leagues. And a lot of the guys you play against at each level in the Minor Leagues, so in a sense you’re coming up together with them, as well. … And just to have this kind of brotherhood and continue to have it is special.”

 

Over 5,700 fans came out to watch former All-Star and Hall of Fame players.

 

Curtis Granderson hit the first home run of the game.

 

 

“It’s cool,” he said, wearing a Newark Eagles jersey. “Anytime I got a chance to play in these [Negro League throwbacks] throughout the course of a season, I always looked forward to it and loved it, so I’m happy to get a chance to put it back on again today.”

 

 

Your Favorite MLBbros Competed 

 

What a better way to honor the Negro Leagues than to have former MLB players coming together for a game?

 

It was a wonderful sight witnessing generations of MLBbros out there on the diamond.

 

Edwin Jackson took the mound to start the game, and it was good to see him reminiscing about his time in the big leagues and he let people know that he still has a little left in the tank.

 

Adam Jones Defeated Prince Fielder In Home Run Derby 

 

Before the game, they did a home run derby contest and Adam Jones defeated Prince Fielder. One player who received a lot of recognition from the crowd was star outfielder and Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. Along with the game, the weekend featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Souls of the Game exhibit.

 

 

Rowan Ricardo Phillips, an award-winning poet, was one of the consultants who was included in the development of the project, and he was pleased to see all the support.

 

“The fact that people really want to start and think about the roots of the story, the voices, from the beginning, people we don’t often think about — Bud Fowler, Octavius Catto, those types of players, it really excites me,” he said. “I think what’s really wonderful about the exhibit is, we can rethink the story of baseball that we want to tell to ourselves and to our future selves. Instead of thinking, well, let’s pick this up from 2020 or 2024 or whatever.”

 

Expect a lot more events similar to this in the near future and we can’t wait to see more of our MLBbro’s come together and fellowship with one another.