The 2021 MLB Draft produced five promising first-round Bros. It was a huge improvement over past drafts and indicated an upswing in the Black talent pipeline that baseball has been trying to resuscitate.
The 2022 Draft was a different beast. And a watershed moment for the MLBbro community. The draft featured a significant amount of Black players taken in the first round. This was not only exciting for Major League Baseball, but it further advanced the new era in which an emphasis has been placed on Black players once again impacting America’s pastime.
Former Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees legend CC Sabathia is a former MLBbro, one of the last two Black Aces (Black pitchers to win 20 games), along with David Price. The Melanated Mound Marauder is totally enjoying the recent uprising in exposure of Black and brown players, especially with his son Carsten Sabathia about to embark on his college career at Georgia Tech.
CC Sabathia and NBA icon Lebron James have partnered together to produce a two-part docu series that will cover the pre-draft process of some future MLBbros that were drafted in 2022 and one whose future is yet to be determined.
The series will be titled ‘New Wave: Baseball’s Next Generation.’
However, the docu series will follow four of those Black players; Termarr Johnson and Justin Crawford, who are currently in the minor leagues. Also, Jayson Jones and RJ Austin, both of whom elected to go to college. It should be noted that Justin Crawford has MLB pedigree being the son of former All-Star Carl Crawford, and the cousin of MLBbro J.P. Crawford. Not only will it highlight these four stellar young players but it will shed light on a monumental draft.
MLB Diversity Programs Advancing The Game
Major League baseball, to its credit, has been making strides to address the decline of the Black MLB player in the past two decades. Sabathia, along with his wife Amber, wanted to share the stories of these four Black athletes, along with their successes and failures and challenges encountered as they strive towards this ultimate goal in their career paths.
These four players, and their documented stories will help provide an in-depth look at the journey of a Baby Bros trying to break through in a league where less than 7 percent of the rosters have MLBbros.
Seeing these talented ballers go through the steps towards MLB excellence could undoubtedly inspire more representation for young Black kids around the nation. This series will shed light on two players that are on the fast track to stardom, while also showing the different paths that players take on the road to MLB.
Major League Baseball (MLB) Hall Of Famer and legend Willie Mays who began his baseball career in the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948, before joining the New York/San Francisco Giants from 1951 to 1973, is now the subject of an upcoming HBO Sports released documentary “SAY HEY, WILLIE MAYS!”, in association with with Company Name, UNINTERRUPTED, and MLB.
“Over the years, the fans have given me so much joy, and I am excited to express my thanks again through this wonderful documentary and its telling of the story of my career and life,” Mays said. “I have worked hard and been fortunate to do many amazing things over the course of my life, and I am excited and proud that the people who see this film, including younger fans who never saw me play, will have the chance to relive this great journey with me and have a few laughs along the way.”
Mays is known for his dynamic plays on the field. His over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series is one of the most famous baseball plays that has withstood the test of time. The former National Rookie of the Year, 12-time Gold Glove recipient, MVP, and World Series champion truly has a story to tell. One of education and inspiration for all viewers. Directed by Nelson George, the documentary includes exclusive interviews with Mays and his family.
It’s been one of the highlights of my life to get to talk with and document the life of Willie Mays, perhaps baseball’s greatest player and certainly its most charismatic personality,” George said. “Not only was he a staple on the Baseball Game of the Week but crossed over into talk shows and nighttime entertainment when Black faces were rare. The film is very much a tale of mentorship. Willie was schooled in life and baseball by his father Cat and Negro League players. Later Willie looked out for scores of young Black players including his godson Barry Bonds. An epic American life.”
The film takes an incredible, eye-opening look through Mays’ formative years from the Negro League baseball years in Birmingham, to landing in the country’s biggest stage in New York at the inception of televised games and expanding with baseball to the west coast during the peak of the Civil Rights movement. Mays transfixed fans from coast to coast with his style, jubilant persona and contagious smile, and helped to erode racial barriers in attempts to move the sport of baseball, and the American dialog forward.
The documentary film also features new interviews with Mays, the MLB home run king Barry Bonds, and son Michael Mays. Additional interviews include Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal, along with broadcasters Jon Miller and Bob Costas, and a special feature from the late great Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully.
Mays was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 with over 94% of all votes, the fourth-highest total ever at the time of his election. In 2015, former President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Just a year after his 90th birthday, fans will have an opportunity to hear from and witness the history of a living legend in the “Say Hey Kid” himself, on Wednesday November 8th at 9PM ET/PT on HBO. The film will be premiered at the 2022 UrbanWorld Film Festival on October 27.
The film is produced by Colin Hanks, Sean Stuart and Glen Zipper; executive producers from UNINTERRUPTED are LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, Philip Byron and Major League Baseball’s Nick Trotta. For HBO, executive producers are Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Bentley Weiner along with coordinating producer, Abtin Motia.
Before we can discuss LeBron James’ attempt at trying to play with his sons in the NBA, we must all recognize the legacy and standard that was set with Griffey Sr. and Griffey Jr. decades ago.
The legend of superstar outfielder and Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. continues to live on even years after his retirement in Major League Baseball. Griffey Jr. was recently announced as the hitting coach for Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
On August 31, 1990, Griffey Jr. and his father Ken Griffey Sr. made history as the first father and son to play on the same team in MLB history.
Griffey Jr. and Sr. would also have more legendary moments as they hit back-to-back home runs in a game on September 14, 1990. Griffey Sr. was a three-time All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds for eight seasons. As time progressed, Griffey Sr. was no longer ‘cutting the mustard’ as the Reds gave him an ultimatum: either retire or be released.
Forced into retirement, Griffey Sr.‘s love for the game never diminished. His desire was to join a hot new 20-year-old phenom in Griffey Jr. and play alongside him somehow. In order for that vision to come to fruition, Griffey Sr. had to unretire then be rebased.
Finally, after the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed contractually, Griffey Sr. joined his son and the two became the first father and son duo in league history to be active on the same playing roster. On their first at bats as members of the Seattle Mariners, Griffey Sr. connected on a single while Griffey Jr. also hit a single.
The two players were the first father-son duo to reach base in the lineup. Griffey Sr. played left field while his son played center field. A season later Griffey Sr. would retire for the final time in his baseball career. While Griffey Jr. went on to be the elite superstar transforming the game in many ways while being received in millions of households across the country.
From the backwards hat, to having some of the most legendary shoes by Nike to hit the turf since Deion Sanders’ Nike Turf Trainers. Truly putting the Mariners on the map with his exquisite and gifted style of play, Griffey Jr. would eventually be traded to the Reds in 2000.
As a member of the Reds, he changed his number from 24 to 30 in honor of his father who wore the number when he played for the team. Griffey Jr. finished his career with 630 home runs and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.
He received 99.32% of the vote, breaking pitcher Tom Seaver’s record of 98.84%, a record that stood for 24 years.
LA Dodgers part-owner Magic Johnson hangs out with NBA star Lebron James at a Rams game on Sunday.
In March 2012, Johnson was a part of the ownership group – Guggenheim Baseball Management – that bought a majority stake in the LA Dodgers when the MLB franchise went bankrupt. The group bought the team for $2.15 billion
Right before the MLB season kicked off, LeBron James took his burgeoning business empire to the next level, becoming the latest NBA superstar, to take an ownership stake in Major League Baseball.
James and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners are set to purchase stakes in the Boston Red Sox totaling 12%, according to a report by Axios. Majority owner John Henry has agreed to sell around 11% to RedBird and 1% to James.
Voice Of The People
The Boston Globe reported that James along with his business partner and friend Maverick Carter had recently joined Fenway Sports Group (FSG).
In doing so, they become the first Black partners in the 20-year history of the organization. Since purchasing the Red Sox and Fenway Park in 2002, the team has claimed four World Series Championships.
Shares aside, the deal extends far beyond the boundaries of the diamond.
The two now also have partial ownership of other FSG subsidiaries, in areas ranging from NASCAR (Roush Fenway Racing), the NESN regional sports cable network, and Fenway Sports Management (FSM).
As James continues to grow his portfolio and do business with all races of people, he continues to support any and all efforts to end systemic racism in this country. The newly-minted MLB owner applauded the league’s unanimous decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game and Draft out of Atlanta
James’ relationship with Fenway Sports dates back to 2011 when FSM acquired 50% of his marketing and brand rights while he was still a member of the Miami Heat, making it the exclusive representative for James in partnership with his LRMR firm. James also received a 2% ownership stake in Liverpool Football Club of the English Premier League.
FSG, with an estimated value of more than $6.6 billion dollars is one of the largest sports conglomerates in the world, ranking only behind Kroenke Sports ($8.4 billion) and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ($6.9 billion).
They now unite with perhaps the most recognizable athlete in the world, and certainly one of the wealthiest. James has an estimated fortune of $500 million and a burgeoning business empire of his own.
Besides owning shares in two sports franchises, he operates his own production (SpringHill Entertainment) and media (Uninterrupted) companies, a health and wellness company, and is an owner of several Blaze Pizza franchises and an investor in the company.
Carry On Tradition
LeBron joins fellow Laker great Magic Johnson in the owner’s box. Johnson successfully led a $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. His $50 million investment gave him 2.3% stake in the defending world champs.
Former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter currently has the highest ownership percentage of any Black investor, with his 4% stake in the Miami Marlins. Both Johnson and Jeter have seen success. After missing the playoffs the last two seasons, perhaps the Sox are thinking LeBron’s winning touch can get them back on top.
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