The Pirates hosted their annual Curt Roberts Step Up to the Plate Diversity Recruitment Event on Oct. 13 at PNC Park. Named in honor of the team’s first African American Major League player, the initiative provides students from area universities with the opportunity to interact with Pirates hiring managers and gain insight into the business of professional baseball. It is designed to be inclusive of persons from all backgrounds.

Among the day’s activities was a panel discussion featuring six members of the Pirates’ front office who shared their thoughts on how they got into baseball, their current job within the organization and advice for those seeking to break into the business. In addition, the 40 students on hand -- from the Community College of Allegheny County, Indiana University of PA, West Virginia University and Point Park University -- had an opportunity to compete for 2022 summer internships with the Pirates via a strategy development exercise and participate in networking sessions with team officials.

Roberts made his Major League debut with Pittsburgh on April 13, 1954, against the Phillies at Forbes Field. At the time, the Pirates’ general manager was Branch Rickey, who was the GM of the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Roberts appeared in 134 games for Pittsburgh in 1954 and was the team’s starting second baseman. He also spent parts of the 1955 and 1956 campaigns in a Pirates uniform before future Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski took over that position.

Roberts’ son, Curt Roberts Jr., who attended the event on Oct. 13 and spoke to the students, said afterwards: “I firmly believe in this program. I think it’s a really good thing. When you start talking about diversity, sometimes organizations are slow to move, but the Pirates have taken steps that I think other organizations may want to take a peek at to see where it’s going and how it’s going to get there. I’m very happy they chose to do this.”

The Pirates honor Roberts each year with diversity events, paying tribute to his role in paving the way for other minorities to play baseball in Pittsburgh. Earlier this year on Sept. 1, the team celebrated the 50th anniversary of the day it fielded the first all-minority lineup in Major League history. On Sept. 1, 1971, against Philadelphia at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh’s starting lineup consisted of five African American players and four Latin American players. Roberts’ debut with the Pirates 17 years earlier put the wheels in motion for that moment.

“Having a recognition for somebody like Curt Roberts -- who broke the color barrier for the Pirates -- and being able to translate that to young people who are trying to break into the sports industry is a wonderful thing,” Pirates president Travis Williams said. “After the death of George Floyd, we’ve reflected on where we are as an organization and finding more ways -- and better ways -- to be more diverse, more equitable and more inclusive in terms of our hiring practices and other aspects of our business. Actively seeking a more diverse group of candidates for every job opening we have is a part of that process. This type of event helps us make sure we focus on that and execute it well.”

During communication with local colleges regarding the Curt Roberts Step Up to the Plate event, the Pirates emphasized that they are seeking a diverse mix of student participants representing different racial, ethnic, religious, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability demographics.

Joel Gray, the Pirates’ manager of community outreach, has been a driving force behind the program since it was launched in 2017. He is pleased with what it has helped to bring about.

“When we first started this, we weren’t getting a diverse body of student applicants, and we asked ourselves, ‘How can we change our talent pool? How can we make it more diverse?’” Gray said. “The idea was to work with local universities and say, ‘Send us your top diverse talent.’ And with their help, we’ve made strides. This is a great opportunity for exposure for that top diverse talent from local universities to learn about what it’s like to work for a Major League Baseball team, and specifically for the Pirates.

“We want to make sure we’re doing the right things to attract and hire the top diverse talent, and we’ve seen a lot of progress.”

In his closing remarks to the students, Curt Roberts Jr. eloquently stated:

“You have the opportunity to talk to a lot of people here today. Take advantage of it. We all have possibilities we don’t even know about yet, and we’re all capable of accomplishing things we haven’t even dreamed of yet. Today may be a first step. Make sure it’s not the last.”