The Boys & Girls Clubs of America honored MLB's chief baseball development officer Tony Reagins in a meaningful way on Thursday night, when he was inducted into the organization’s Alumni Hall of Fame. Reagins was honored alongside six others -- Erroll Brown, Maia Chaka, Tamyra Mensah-Stock, Matt Pfaltzgraf, Michael Collins and Leonard Fournette -- at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.

Reagins has been part of the BGCA since he was 7 years old. He later became a board member and is now part of the national Board of Governors in Atlanta.

“It’s an organization that I believe in deeply, an organization that has been a part of life since the age of seven,” Reagins said. “Without the opportunities that the Boys and Girls Club provided me, I’m probably not achieving what I was able to accomplish in baseball.”

Each year, the BGCA looks forward to adding to its outstanding list of accomplished Hall of Fame members, while growing its alumni network in order to encourage young people that their dreams are possible.

Reagins became familiar with the BGCA while spending his formative years in Coachella Valley, Calif. The organization sent him to his first baseball game at the age of 12. It was at Dodger Stadium, and he saw the Dodgers face the Reds on Helmet Night.

“That was pretty cool,” Reagins said.

After his father passed away, Reagins looked up to his local club’s executive director, Dave Ison, as a trusted mentor who always had his best interest in mind and encouraged him to achieve his dreams. He would go on to achieve a lot over the years.

Reagins became a trailblazer in his own right, having made history with the Angels in 2007, when he became the fourth African American to run a Major League Baseball team. His run with the Angels was a successful one -- the club went 363-285 from 2008 to 2011 under his watch.

During that period, Reagins signed free agent Torii Hunter in 2007, and he drafted Mike Trout in 2009. Reagins’ best trade was arguably acquiring Mark Teixeira from the Braves at the 2008 Trade Deadline. The Angels ended up winning 100 games that year.

In his current role with MLB, the 55-year-old Reagins oversees the growth of youth and amateur levels of baseball and softball, both domestically and internationally, as well as the streamlining of amateur scouting around the world and the operation of the Arizona Fall League.

“I’ve been blessed to run a Major League organization, and now be included in and be inducted into the Hall of Fame of a national organization that I feel very passionate about,” Reagins said. “It’s cool because sometimes the impossible is possible.”