Over the past two weeks, 200 high school baseball players have been participating in the Hank Aaron Invitational at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla. They have received coaching from some of the most decorated names in baseball, including one of the most famous players in MLB history, Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

The participants were working on their defense earlier in the week when Griffey made a surprise visit and offered them his knowledge on baseball and life in general.

• How Griffey and Hank Aaron Invitational changed a young player's life

These players have dreams of becoming Major Leaguers, and Griffey made it known to them that they should give their all to the game. He should know. Griffey was the face of baseball for years and went all out during his 22 years as a Major League player. He was an All-Star 13 times, won the American League MVP Award in 1997 and won 10 Gold Glove awards. Griffey also hit 630 home runs, which ranks seventh all-time.

One of the participants was Rashaad Glenn, a student-athlete at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, the same high school that Griffey attended in the 1980s.

“He was talking about advice he would give to his younger self,” Glenn said. “He was [telling us] the game of failure, you have to bounce back from all that stuff and stay focused. The guys that put in 100 percent are the ones that are going to get 100 percent better.”

Griffey fit in well in this group. He spoke to the high schoolers as if they were long-time pals, and encouraged them to chase their dreams and always have a plan B in case their baseball dreams don’t come true.           

Third baseman Eric Green of Bowie, Md., was in awe of Griffey. On this day, Green was on the mound when Griffey stepped into the batter’s box without a bat in his hand. Green just stood there. He couldn't believe his idol was right in front of him. Griffey then told him to throw the ball.  

“I was shocked. I didn’t know if he wanted me to throw it. He told me to throw it,” Green said. “I just threw it in there. … I wanted to throw a curveball and play around with him a little bit. But I said, ‘Let me throw a fastball and make sure I don’t hit him and get it over the plate.’”

The Hank Aaron Invitational is a diversity-focused baseball development initiative, powered by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation in partnership with USA Baseball. On Sunday, 44 of the top performers will travel to Atlanta to play in the Hank Aaron Invitational showcase game, which will air live on MLB Network at 8 p.m. ET.

The number of participants chosen to travel to Atlanta, 44, was selected specifically as an homage to the number that Aaron wore throughout his Hall of Fame career.