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by Martin Stringer

© 2009, Houston5ABaseball.com 

On a hot, humid, Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the temperature over 100 degrees, and sun shining clearly with no cloud cover; a parking lot is filled with African American men sitting clustered beneath a patio umbrella erected to provide a little shade to keep them cool. Laughing and sharing past stories, these weren't just ordinary men.These men were mentors, business owners, and other professionals who are committed to inspiring and teaching baseball skills and other life skills to African American youth.

The aroma of barbecue chicken on the pit and a big black pot three feet deep filled to the brim with steamy hot jambalaya is being stirred with a miniature boat paddle. Parents with their youngsters bustling around the parking lot with energy that suggested they were on a tight schedule. These youngsters were attired in color coordinated uniforms of black and red, blue and grey, powder blue and gold, and blue and white. They sported name brand equipment such as Nike, Under Armor, Oakley, and Champions. They were wearing their uniforms with pride, but not too much pride to get them dirty in the name of victory.

These teams were not called the Kansas City Monarchs, Homestead Grays, Birmingham Black Barons or the Pittsburgh Crawfords of the old Negro League. On this day, the teams were named the New Orleans Cubs, Georgia Yard Dogs, Southern Jaguars, Baton Rouge Heat, Baton Rouge Braves, New Orleans Monarchs, and the St John Warriors; just to name a few. The names of the players were not Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Roy Campanella, Monty Irvin, Hank Aaron, Josh Gibson or Buck O'Neil. The names of this generation of players were Austin Craig, Keith Mennard, Rashaad Ramie, Toi Jenkins, Bryan Scott, and Jason Williams. These young players were here to compete in the first annual Southern University Youth Baseball Classic, held June 26, 2009, in Baton Rouge, LA. The tournament was held in Lee Hines Baseball Stadium. This tournament featured twelve all African American teams playing in honor of Coach Reginald Graynard Swain. Coach Swain passed away and was being remembered for his dedication to the game of baseball, total commitment to teaching baseball to inner city youth, and passing on life lessons outside of the game of baseball.

The tournament founder and director was Alton Sartin, a Southern University baseball alumnus. He was assisted by other Southern alumni including Ron Smith, Phil Adams, Stan Adkins, Miles Potier, and Gregory Joseph, a former Grambling baseball player. These college educated professional gentlemen came together and worked tirelessly to initiate this first annual baseball classic. They weren't complaining or blaming others for the plight of blacks in baseball. Nor were they waiting for organizations such as Major League Baseball to make token efforts at garnering African American support by placing an academy in their area. Instead they took it upon themselves to mentor, coach and train youth and to put together a tournament that would further the spread of baseball enthusiasm in the African American community. Their mission was also to teach this next generation the values that made baseball great in past generations.

There were several Major League scouts from the Los Angeles-Anaheim Angels and Detroit Tigers organization present. They assisted Allen Parker and John Bolton, former players in conducting a baseball skills camp at this tournament. This camp dealt with the basic skills of baseball along with providing life skill information to the camp participants.

As we entered the stadium, the sounds of baseball filled the air. On the field of play, there were deep fly balls, line drives, homeruns, stolen bases, walks, strikeouts, errors, and backhands, coaches going to the mound, game rule instructions, and close calls by umpires. There were shouts that could be heard from the stands such as "catch the ball," "hit the ball," "he doesn't want to swing," "come on blue!" "don't walk this batter, " and "throw him a strike!" All of these statements were signs of the enthusiasm and competitive nature of the fans observing these games. The tournament ended with champions at every age level. The New Orleans Cubs were the 13 year old champions, the New Orleans Monarchs who entered into this tournament with a record of 45 - 17, won the 12 yr old bracket, and the Southern Jaguars were the 11 year old champions.

In my conversation with the director, Alton Sartin, he shared with me that these teams have been together from five to seven years. They have traveled, stayed in hotels, played in elite integrated tournaments, and have grown together. Some of their accomplishments include: USSSA State Championships, Triple Crown Championships, and Dizzy Dean World Series titles. This is a testament to their competitiveness, skill of play, and their desire to achieve excellence. This traveling and pursuit of excellence is reminiscent of how past generation Negro League players approached the game. This generation of players has traveled throughout the country, played in integrated tournaments, stayed in integrated hotels, and ate at the same restaurants as other teams. While just a couple of generations ago, Negro League players barn stormed across the country competing and playing competitive baseball in obscurity and isolated from the American white baseball establishment. In contrast today, these young men are not dealing with segregation, obscurity, or as much discrimination, and have a unique opportunity to compete and gain sports opportunities. As I watched this tournament, I wondered if any if these young men realized that they represented a continuing generation of African American players. There have been many articles written over the years about the decline of baseball in urban America and the lack of participation by black males in this American sport. However, this tournament suggested to me that there is a pulse of baseball in this particular community. As long as there is a pulse there is potential for life; and in this corner of the United States there is life indeed.

About the author: Martin Stringer has been involved in baseball for over 33 years. He has been a player, coach, scout, and is an expert in player development. He is the president and founder of the CAAPS School of Baseball.

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