September 4, 2024
Richmond, VA
By Ron Harris – For many years, fans of baseball had Black American stars to look up to. Names like Mays, Aaron, Gibson, Robinson, Wills and many more. In the last 2 decades, American Black players have been a dying breed on all levels. Young kids are simply not playing the game of baseball. Some kids say the game is too slow. Some kids say the ball is too hard and if hit by the ball, it will hurt. Baseball is the hardest game to play of the major sports in this country. Hitting a ball is the most difficult skill there is in all sports. Young Black kids gravitate to football and basketball and don’t even try baseball growing up.
Back in 1966, a young boy in Richmond, VA. wanted to play baseball but could not find a team or a field that would allow him to play due to the segregated times during that period. That boy’s father, William Forrester, Sr. decided to do something about. He contacted other businessmen in the city, and they started the Metropolitan Junior Baseball League for Black kids to have a chance to play baseball. That league has been flourishing for over 40 years. Ironically, it is an all-inclusive league for boys of all races. William Forrester, Jr. is currently the Executive Director of the MJBL and his league has been available for kids from 10 years old to teenagers. “We provide baseball for all. When we started, baseball was not available for Black kids in Richmond,” says Forrester, Jr. “We have remained all-inclusive for kids from all walks of life, and all are welcome to be a part of this league. At first some white kids did not want to play in our league, but we always provided the funding for the kids to play, so the white kids played, but our league remains 90% Black.” MJBL runs an annual league in Richmond, Va. with teams coming from Florida, the Carolinas, and up the east coast. The league features teams in the 10- and 12-year-old age brackets, all the way up to 19 and under. The final tournament ended in August and is called the Black World Series.
Jimmy Williams, a great high school player in his day from Washington, DC is an officer of the MJBL for over 20 years and can see the importance of a league like this. “The primary goal of the MJBL is to teach baseball at an early age and prepare players to earn scholarships to primarily Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” says Williams, whose pro playing career took him as far as AAA ball and he ended his time playing in Japan. He currently coaches’ baseball at Prince George’s Community College, a perennial CC playoff program. “I never knock coaches that coach youth baseball. Some may not teach the fundamentals, but young kids just need and want to play the game. I am proud when I see a coach out there working with young players.”
Dusty Baker, the soon to be Hall of Fame manager, said out loud how disappointed he was in baseball having such a small representation in professional baseball and certainly on the big-league level. “During my time, there were Black American stars everywhere you looked. I mentioned during a recent World Series that there were hardly any Black American players on Major League rosters,” says Baker. “I would say the same thing every year during Black History Month and during Jackie Robinson day in the majors, but it’s going to take more than just me saying it.”
If William Forrester, Jr. has anything to say about it, Black American players will be filling college rosters and major league rosters, and many will come from his Metropolitan Junior Baseball League. Good job Mr. Forrester, Jr.
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