SEATTLE, Wa. – The inaugural HBCU Swingman All-Star Classic is in the books Friday after giving some of the best and brightest in HBCU baseball a night to shine.
Junior Alabama State infielder Randy Flores hit a double with one out in the eighth inning, stole third and finished with the go-ahead run on a dive home after a wild pitch. His American League team went on to a 4-3 victory late Friday over the National League squad in the inaugural classic at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners. The MLB All-Star game was held Tuesday at the same stadium.
North Carolina A&T pitcher Xavier Meachem threw two scoreless innings for the American League team while Daalen Adderley of Texas Southern drove in two early runs to give that squad a 3-0 cushion.
The National League rallied to tie the game at 3 in the top of the eighth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Adderley’s Texas Southern teammate Alexander Olivo, but the American League had a one-man response in the bottom of the frame.
Alabama State pitcher Omar Melendez picked up the win, retiring the National League in order in the top of the ninth. The 50 players from the two teams came from 17 historically black colleges and universities.
The HBCU Swingman Classic was the kicker for Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game. It is the brain child of Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., who spent the majority of his career with the Mariners in Seattle. The game was a collaboration between MLB and Griffey’s Nike Swingman line. The classic gave HBCU baseball players the opportunity to play in a major league ballpark and be seen by MLB scouts.
“It’s all about trying to get seen,” Griffey told the Seattle Times on Friday. “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 said. “How many lives will that one person change? That’s all we’re trying to do.”
Griffey’s son, Tevin, is a redshirt junior defensive back at Florida A&M. His father, Ken Griffey Sr. was a coach in the classic. The opening pitch was thrown out by another baseball Hall of Famer in Andre Dawson and caught by former St. Louis Cardinal and Mariner Vince Coleman. Both players attended Florida A&M.
Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, Grambling product and MLB hitting star Ralph Gar and former Southern head basetball coach Roger Cador were among those in attendance.
MLB Network’s coverage of the game included commentary from Dawson and Coleman, who regaled listeners with their stories of their baseball – and in Coleman’s case, football – while at FAMU. Also joining the broadcast were former Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia and ESPN’s Clinton Yates.
“It’s been great to see the smiles on the guys’ faces and their attitudes about being here, which is what we wanted,” Griffey said.
