HAI showcase 'epitomizes what baseball is'
ATLANTA -- There’s an incredibly high standard associating anything with Hank Aaron.
Saturday morning’s Hank Aaron Invitational showcase and the events surrounding it at Truist Park certainly lived up to that.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association teamed up to put on a tremendous show of generosity to youth in the Metro Atlanta community, then doubled down by putting on a sneak peek of what’s coming on the field in the showcase game.
“The culmination today of seeing our top 44 boys come to a Major League park, after working with former Major League players, coaches and baseball executives, the mentoring, the camaraderie and the understanding of the hard work of forefathers in baseball such as Hank Aaron, has been a powerful experience,” said Jean Lee Batrus, executive director of the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation. “The Youth Development Foundation is a joint initiative of both MLB and the Players Association. I want to stress that this is a joint initiative because we don’t have a game if we don’t have the players involved. The partnership epitomizes what baseball is and where we should be -- working together in partnership.”
The day began at the Chop House, where a collection of former players representing The Players Alliance held a meet-and-greet, taking pictures and handing out baseball and softball equipment as part of the “Gear For Good” initiative.
“It’s huge. You know that you don’t want to be the only kid without -- whether that’s without a glove, without a bat, without a ball,” said Players Alliance president Curtis Granderson. “Making sure that you look and feel like everybody else on the field evens it to allow your playing ability to come out. That’s one of the things we want to do.”
The kids had an opportunity to meet Granderson, CC Sabathia, Gary Sheffield, Ryan Howard and other former Major Leaguers.
“Seeing the kids’ faces in here reacting to Ryan Howard, reacting to Curtis Granderson, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Sabathia, Players Alliance vice president. “Then being able to see the teenagers out there representing Mr. Aaron is awesome for the future of our game. The future of the game is in a great place.”
“It’s all about growth and giving kids opportunity and enhancing and making the game better and doing everything the right way,” said Sheffield. “When I was a kid, I always wanted the opportunity to meet certain players. I met a couple when I was in the Little League World Series. I know what that meant to me and I know what it did to my life.”
Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. did, too. That’s why he came to Atlanta, where his dad played and where he had a memorable Home Run Derby showdown with Sammy Sosa during the 2000 All-Star festivities.
On Saturday, preparing all the kids for the showcase was more than enough.
“The name on your chest, that means a lot. It means a lot to the guys here, to the city, and everything else,” Griffey Jr. said to them. “I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t do what he did. He transcended the game because he allowed my dad to be himself. In return, I’m allowed to be me.
“I want you to enjoy this game. Have fun. Play hard. I want you guys to enjoy this day because being on a big league [field] is not given to everybody. It’s not owed to anybody. But the few people who play on it enjoy it. Take what you see here [with you] when you go home, think about it. Think about how you want to get back here.”
Team Aaron won the hard-fought, 6-5 affair, which saw three ties, four lead changes and neither side leading by more than two runs -- that came once, following the top of the first and didn’t last through the bottom half of the inning. Team Aaron went ahead for good in the bottom of the seventh, then held off Team Robinson, which drew consecutive walks to start the ninth before Anthony Anderson struck out the next two hitters and induced a foul out to end the game.
“The kids had a good time, a good experience, an opportunity to play on a Major League field,” said Team Aaron manager Marquis Grissom. “I don’t think they’ll ever forget it.”
His third baseman/center fielder Cam Collier certainly won’t.
“Me and my teammates battled today, played together, got the win. It’s been exciting. It’s been tiring but, most of all, it’s been fun.” said Collier, who had a first-inning sacrifice fly and got the last laugh against his dad, Lou, a coach on Team Robinson. “It was really fun because I’ve always wanted to beat him and it’s my first time beating him.”
The players on Team Robinson left Truist Park winners, even if the scoreboard said they came up a run short.
“We played amazing. I feel like we left it all on the field,” said first baseman Genesis Prosper, whose fifth-inning, two-run triple gave his side a 5-4 lead at one point. “We could have cleaned a couple of things up, but as a whole I’m proud of what we did and how we played the game.”