HBCU Sports
  • SECTIONS
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Track & Field
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Bowling
    • Other Sports
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Features
  • BANDS
  • VIDEOS
  • AWARDS
    • Support the HBCU Sports Awards
    • Donor Wall
  • FORUMS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • DONATE
  • SHOP
No Result
View All Result
HBCU Sports
  • SECTIONS
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Track & Field
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Bowling
    • Other Sports
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Features
  • BANDS
  • VIDEOS
  • AWARDS
    • Support the HBCU Sports Awards
    • Donor Wall
  • FORUMS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • DONATE
  • SHOP
No Result
View All Result
HBCU Sports
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

The MLB Combine invited 250 draft-eligible players this year. There isn’t an HBCU participant

Kendrick Marshall by Kendrick Marshall
June 17, 2022
0
Photo: Florida A&M Athletics

Photo: Florida A&M Athletics

1.1k
VIEWS

For the second year in a row, Major League Baseball is taking a page out of the NFL and NBA playbook book with its own version of a professional prospect draft combine. This year, the multi-day event will be held at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.

The baseball combine, which will be televised live on MLB Network starting Friday, more than 255 players will be given the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of general managers and scouting directors in games and drills.

Players in the top 300 of draft-eligible prospects — from a pool of college and high school athletes — will attend. A notable and significant absence is the lack of HBCU baseball players in San Diego.

In fact, it’s the second consecutive year since the creation of the combine that not a single Black college baseball player was invited to participate in the event. In 2021, none of the 167 players who were in Raleigh, North Carolina represented an HBCU.

Also read: Grambling pitcher Shemar Page named Division 1 All-American

This development does not align with MLB’s intentional partnerships with HBCU baseball programs. For example, the Andre Dawson Classic (formerly the Urban Invitational) a round-robin collegiate baseball tournament designed by Major League Baseball, was put together to highlight Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their baseball programs.

Coppin State’s baseball program in April teamed with the Baltimore Orioles and MLB to host a community event. This year’s event was originally scheduled to be featured at least a dozen HBCUs across the country prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to David James, Major League Baseball’s vice president for baseball and softball development.

While current HBCU baseball players will be participating in MLB-backed summer league organizations, including the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, the Appalachian League and the MLB Draft League in the coming months, the absence of HBCU players at the combine is hard to explain.

It isn’t as if HBCU clubs feature a dearth of talent, either. Prior to the start of the 2022 regular season, Jackson State’s Ty Hill was one of many Division I players named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list, an honor once won by former Southern infielder Rickie Weeks as the nation’s top amateur baseball player.

Shemar Page, Grambling’s stud pitcher and hitter, was named a Division I Second-Team All-American. Jordan Hamberg, Coppin State’s NCAA Tournament Game 1 starter, was named a national finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player Award, which recognizes the best dual-position player in America.

If MLB wants to continue to grow the sport among African Americans, those inside the game must make an intentional effort to showcase HBCU baseball talent in the same way the NFL did for HBCU football players.

There should be HBCU players in San Diego this weekend and granted the same opportunities to workout in front of scouts and team executives as all the other diamond prodigies.

Tags: Coppin StateGramblingJackson StateSouthern
Kendrick Marshall

Kendrick Marshall

Kendrick Marshall is an award-winning journalist and a graduate of Jackson State University.

Related Posts

SWAC Media Day: Long-term plans for conference network revealed

by Chris Stevens
July 16, 2025
0
Charles McClelland

Good things come to those who wait, and in the case of the SWAC, a really good thing has come with the launch of the SWAC TV network....

Read moreDetails

SWAC to launch ‘a gamechanger’ with league-run streaming platform

by HBCU Sports
July 16, 2025
0
SWAC football

The SWAC has taken a significant leap into digital sports broadcasting by announcing an exclusive streaming platform that will start televising all 18 conference-sponsored sports this fall. In...

Read moreDetails

3 HBCU baseball players taken in 2025 MLB Draft. Where they were picked

by HBCU Sports
July 14, 2025
0
3 HBCU baseball players taken in 2025 MLB Draft. Where they were picked

A trio of SWAC baseball players were taken in the later rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft on Tuesday. The highest-drafted HBCU baseball player on the day was Florida A&M...

Read moreDetails

HBCU Swingman Classic signified the passing of Black baseball torch

by Kendrick Marshall
July 12, 2025
0
HBCU Swingman Classic

The score of the third annual HBCU Swingman Classic was immaterial. On a Friday summer night in Atlanta, the baseball game played inside Truist Park showcased the best...

Read moreDetails

HBCU establishes fund to support athletes amid House settlement commitment

by HBCU Sports
July 11, 2025
0
Is the 2024 season already over for Prairie View? The Panthers don’t think so

Prairie View A&M announced the launch of a newly established fundraising initiative designed to bolster support for the school's 350 student-athletes. The introduction of the Panther Athletic Fund...

Read moreDetails
Next Post
Allen Johnson, North Carolina A&T

North Carolina A&T names former Olympian Allen Johnson track and field director

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe

RSS HBCU Sports Forums

  • SWAC Announces "SWAC TV"
  • Teddy Bridgewater suspended for giving impermissable benefits to his players
  • TPs Pre-Season Rankings
  • NCAA Hirings, Firings And Retirings 2024-2025 Part 2
  • Can we 12 PV fans + 5 probationary PV fans have some WIC, Welfare, Stamps, Section 8, something for the sTu game ticket?
  • Texas Southern, y'all hard-headed and don't listen.
  • If you're subscribing to the "SWAC TV" sTu vs PVAMU football game, can you sign in please?
  • Song Requests Thread for the 2025 Band Season
  • Listings of FCS Schools Opting In and Opting Out of the House settlement
  • The 24th thread about Trump

  • TERMS & CONDITIONS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • COMMENT POLICY
  • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
 CONTACT US

© 2025 RASHAD MEDIA - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PARTNER OF IONE DIGITAL / CASSIUS NETWORK

No Result
View All Result
  • SECTIONS
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Track & Field
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Bowling
    • Other Sports
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Features
  • BANDS
  • VIDEOS
  • AWARDS
    • Support the HBCU Sports Awards
    • Donor Wall
  • FORUMS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • DONATE
  • SHOP

© 2025 RASHAD MEDIA - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PARTNER OF IONE DIGITAL / CASSIUS NETWORK

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • SECTIONS
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Track & Field
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Bowling
    • Other Sports
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Features
  • BANDS
  • VIDEOS
  • AWARDS
    • Support the HBCU Sports Awards
    • Donor Wall
  • FORUMS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • DONATE
  • SHOP

© 2025 RASHAD MEDIA - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PARTNER OF IONE DIGITAL / CASSIUS NETWORK

X