Bo Porter Joins MLB Network| He Brings 30 Years Of MLB Experience As A Player, Manager, Executive, Broadcaster, Culture Cultivator

Bo Porter Joins MLB Network| He Brings 30 Years Of MLB Experience As A Player, Manager, Executive, Broadcaster, Culture Cultivator

by | Mar 18, 2022 | THE THREE SPOT

MLB Network has reportedly signed former MLB manager, executive and baseball analyst Bo Porter to a three-year deal to join the network and offer his decades of expertise to the midweek game, in studio and MLB Tonight coverage.

“I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to join the MLB Network Broadcast team,” Porter told MKBbro.com. “I look forward to sharing my 28-plus years of experience as a MLB player, coach, manager, executive and analyst while covering America’s favorite pastime on the number one network for baseball.”

Bo Porter Academy 

Bo is a font of baseball knowledge and the founder of Bo Porter Academy, where 75 select minority baseball talents from across the country attend junior high and high school at the facility Porter has built to help develop the next generation of Black, educated baseball stars and positive, strong-minded contributors to society.

 

Porter has held numerous positions throughout baseball and understands the game from every perspective. He’s also the author of several books.

MWB: Managing While Black 

Bo had a three-year MLB career as a player with the Cubs, Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers, then had a greater calling. Leader of men was a natural fit.

 

As a former Houston Astros manager, Porter purged the club’s losing culture in less than two seasons, was fired and never managed again. The former Astros skipper received countless texts, social media posts, and fan mail, congratulating him for laying the foundation, developing young talent and babysitting a dumpster fire during the 2013-14 seasons before the many jewels of the team’s farm system burst into World Series form by 2017.

With no immediate offers on the table for a young baseball mind who is known for team building and doing more with less, Bo remained in pro baseball, expanded the scope of his professional trajectory and has become a vessel transporting the game into the future.

Porter, 49, holds the prestigious position of MLB director of coaching development and has served as special assistant to GM and former third base/outfield and base running coach for the Atlanta Braves.

No.1 Baseball Network In The World 

As one of four new talents on the network, Bo can speak to his experienced as a MLB player and one of a handful of Black managers in MLB history.

(Bo Porter/FB)

Bo is very active in MLB’s diversity programs which promote mental health and provide pro level tutelage and increased visibility and educational opportunities for minority student-athletes who play baseball.

Driving Diversity 

As MLB’s director of coaching, Porter has an obligation to help provide minority athletes with the highest caliber of fundamental training and state of the art mentoring and facilities while working with Del Matthews, Tony Reagins, Jerry Manuel and the masterminds of the Breakthrough Series, Dream Series and Hank Aaron Invitational — all of MLB’s minority pipeline programs, which have helped increase the number of African-Americans drafted in the past half decade by more than 20 percent according to MLB PR. 

Inspiring, educating, and nurturing future generations of ballplayers is Bo’s passion. If he’s not working in his field, he’s trying to even out the playing field for kids like him, who grew up in a single-mom home in Newark, New Jersey, played football and baseball at Iowa University and crafted a career that has elevated him to one of the most influential Black minds in the “business and development” of baseball. 

His reach extends to the grassroots levels as well as the Founding President & CEO of Bo Porter’s Future All-Stars Baseball Development Academy in Rosharon, Texas. So everything he does in life is connected to baseball in a spiritual, healthy and productive way. 

During spring training in 2018 he orchestrated and ran the MLB Players Association free agent camp. In 2019, he got a broadcast gig with the Washington Nationals on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), where he offered brilliant insight and personal perspective to the broadcast. Bo also has a familiarity with the players in the game and his contributions and in-studio energy was invaluable as the Nationals shocked the world and won the franchise’s first World Series title. 

Porter’s media work also includes appearances on MLB Central and previous appearances on MLB Network.

 

As well as being the founder and EIC of CORE Magazine, a digital and print-on-demand magazine. CORE (Champions Of Real Excellence) offers engaging stories uniquely targeting a well-read, diverse audience of business owners, sports enthusiasts, forward-thinking leaders aspiring growth and those who want to make a difference in the lives of others through their philanthropic platforms.

Bo’s addition to the MLB Network rotation is a huge win for the channel, as he represents a large cross section of baseball fans and is a culture-driver and sound adviser to the future of baseball.

Dusty & Fabulous Baker Boys Down To Last Strike

Dusty & Fabulous Baker Boys Down To Last Strike

by | Oct 31, 2021 | THE THREE SPOT

ATLANTA – Here we go again.

On Saturday Night, The Houston Astros blew a 2-0 lead to the Atlanta Braves in dramatic fashion and eventually fell 3-2 at Truist Park.

The victory puts the Atlanta Braves just one win away from their first World Series title since 1995.

As for the Houston Astros head honcho, it’s just more of the same.

The joy of becoming the first Black manager to capture both a National and American League Pennant has quickly subsided, and now Dusty Baker yet again finds himself one game from playoff elimination.

The Astros jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, mainly due to the heroics of Jose Altuve, who was berated with “Cheater” chants every time he stepped in the box. But even with a lead, Houston failed to deliver the kill shot early, which proved to be costly.

Houston was a disastrous 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 men on base throughout this game. Seven of those 11 men were stranded in the first three innings alone, a mistake that gave Atlanta more than enough time to battle back like they’ve done all season long.

“Usually they do, usually we pick those runners up,” said a disappointed but not defeated Dusty Baker after the game. “We left quite a few runners on base, I think we left 11 runners on base. Then we didn’t have a bunch of chances other than the first four innings.”

The first sign of trouble for the Astros came in the bottom of the 6th, when an Austin Riley single put the Braves on the board to cut their lead in half. Fortunately for Dusty, his bullpen was able to strand two runners on second and third to end the inning.

Unfortunately for Houston, that small spark carried over to the next inning, where the Braves would take the lead once and for all.

Dansby Swanson sent an 0-2 pitch high into the Cobb County sky to tie the game and  then 2019 AL home run champ Jorge Soler smoke a 2-1 rocket into the left field bullpen to put the Braves up for good.

“Javier has been outstanding,” said Baker when asked about losing pitcher Christian Javier. “He just found too much of the plate on a two strike count to Swanson, and then he hung a breaking ball on the inside to Soler.”

Two mistakes. That’s all it took to push Dusty’s squad to the brink of elimination.

If this is truly his last shot at a World Series title — something that would be considered the crown jewel of an already exquisite baseball resume — those two pitching mistakes by Javier may echo in history forever.  Or at least until next season.

But that’s baseball. Dusty’s already exceeded the expectations and executed one of the finest managerial jobs of his career considering all of the external issues he’s had to deal with while winning  games on the field.

 

Dusty Baker & Tony La Russa | First Face Off Between Two 70-Year-Old Managers In MLB History

Dusty Baker & Tony La Russa | First Face Off Between Two 70-Year-Old Managers In MLB History

by | Jun 18, 2021 | THE THREE SPOT

Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa have a combined 68 years of managerial experience and 4,703 wins between them, including Thursday night’s 10-2 win by the Astros over the White Sox. 

Baker, the most accomplished African-American manager in MLB history, and La Russa made history in the first meeting between two managers over the age of 70 in the modern era (1900). 

MLBbro and All-Star candidate Michael Brantley set the tone with a three-run blister to give the Astros a 3-0 lead and they never looked back. 

These guys are meeting for the first time as 70-year-olds, but they have a long history of battling between the lines and from the top step.

 

 

This is their fourth freakin’ decade coaching against each other. Most people don’t know their spouses that well. However, it is the first time in a decade and there were certainly some senior citizen bragging rights at stake.

All jokes aside, these guys are still sharp as swords. Like the masters in the old Wu-Tang videos who looked 100 but were untouchable in hand-to-hand combat against younger, stronger adversaries.

The Astros are now 40-28 and just two games behind the Oakland A’s in the AL and are one of just five teams in the American League with 40 wins. 

The Chicago White Sox are 43-26 and share the American League’s best record. 

This meeting of the minds didn’t live up to its potential as the Sox had an off night and the Astros bats continue to torch teams led by Jose Altuve who has 9 homers this month.

 

 

Expect to see both of these teams in the playoffs and the senior citizens at the helm will both be at the top of their games if they happen to meet.

It would be quite a show to see old Dusty going head up and matching wits with the three-time World Series mastermind. 

Both managers have taken teams with talent and elevated them to the next level. True contenders.

Baker has seamlessly taken over for former disgraced manager AJ Hinch and helped the Astros regain some integrity along the way.

As long as the Astros continue to win games under Dusty’s leadership, Houston’s front office will look like geniuses to the fans and the rest of baseball for bringing in the OG skipper and further separating the front office and ownership from the World Series scandal that rocked MLB.